牧民治沙记 | Herders turn desert into green

The home of Palzang, a Zoige herder, is on the northeastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, near the Yellow River. 

巴让，若尔盖牧民，他的家在黄河边上，青藏高原东北边缘。

He has a handsome horse, a fond mother, a beautiful wife, and a lovely daughter.

他有一匹英俊的白马，有一位慈祥的母亲，有一位漂亮的妻子，和一个可爱的女儿。

巴让的女儿，出生在治沙的季节。Palzang's daughter was born in the season when he is busy planting grass.

Unfortunately, her wife passed away due to a heart attack in the winter of 2018. Since then, his heart was as freezing as the severe winter of that year. Even though the spring of grassland should come on time, and someone should do the anti-desertification campaign. 

只是18年的那个冬天，他的爱妻因突发心脏病去世。从此，他的内心陪着爱人留在那个严冬。但是，草原的春天总是要来的，治沙这件事总是要做的。

“Her passing away might encourage me to make great efforts to the lives, now I plant grass and trees, these are all related to the lives,” said Palzang. 

巴让说：“现在无论是种草还是种树，都是跟生命有关系的，她的去世有可能更加鼓励我为生命而努力。“

牧民靠牛羊，牛羊靠这片土地。Herders rely on yaks and sheep. Yaks and sheep rely on the grassland.

Palzang started thinking about the anti-decertification campaign since he was in school. He spent his childhood on green grassland. Then, he left home for school. Once he returned home for a winter vacation, he was shocked by the sandstorm that he had never seen before in his hometown. While the wind blew, he couldn’t even see his friends who were ahead of him. 

巴让治沙这件事要从他读书时代说起。巴让的童年在绿油油的草原度过，后来到外面读书。一年放假回来，他惊讶地发现，一阵风就能将家乡吹得黄沙漫天，就连走在前面的兄弟都看不见了。这样的家乡让他开始觉得陌生，更让他揪心。

The grassland has turned black. The land was covered by sand instead of grass. The word desertification became known to the herders.

草原慢慢变黑了，草长不出来了，取而代之的是沙子。草原沙化，这个牧民们以前从来没有听说过的词，开始出现了。

Palzang studied the Tibetan language at a university. After graduating, he has been a teacher, a translator, and a tour guide. Even though he has got not bad incomes from these jobs, he couldn’t rest himself down as his hometown was suffering from desertification. In 2010, he got a job in an environmental protection organization, where he had an opportunity to fight the desertification together with herders in his hometown. 

巴让大学读的是藏语言文学，毕业后当过老师、翻译、导游，收入还算可观。但家乡的草原沙化让他一直放心不下。2010年，在环保组织工作的他，寻找到了契机，回到家乡，和牧民们一起治理草原沙化。

In the first year of planting grass, he had no experience. He asked for experience from the old and the experts. He started with buying seeds, fertilizer, and tools. He called on the herders. Since then, he couldn’t stop himself from planting grass every year. He is getting more and more experience in planting grass, and more and more herders are involved. Interestingly, yaks became essential members in planting grass as they could bring other kinds of seed through their mouths and hooves. And they could also mix up the seeds, the sand, and the fertilizer by walking. 

治沙第一年的巴让，什么经验都没有。他就去请教有经验的老人，去问科学家，去买草籽，去买肥料，去买工具，去请来牧民，就这么开始了。此后的巴让，好像治沙成瘾了，一发不可收拾。他一年比一年更有经验，治沙的队伍也越来越庞大。后来，连牦牛都成了治沙的功臣。牦牛的嘴和蹄子能带来其他的草种，牦牛的踩踏能将播种的草籽、肥料和土壤充分混合，牦牛的粪便还是天然的肥料。

一个条播的工具，改进了四年。A planting tool has been improved for four years.

Until 2019, Palzang and local herders have done this for ten years. More than 1,000 herders have participated in this combat, and they have turned more than 14,000 mu of desert green again.

2019年，巴让和牧民一起治沙的第十年，参与治沙的牧民已经多达一千多人，他们成功地把当地一万四千亩沙化的土地变回草原。

In Palzang’s opinion, the grassland suffers not only from desertification but also from loneliness. More and more young people leave their hometowns for cities to gain knowledge. As few of them come back, so the grassland feels lonely. It is good that some of them coming back to combat desertification nowadays. “We work together, we eat together, and we chat with each other, maybe this is the best restoration of the grassland,” said Palzang.  

在巴让看来，草原可能是病了，草原不仅仅得了沙化病，还得了孤独病。年轻人到外面求学，很多就从此离开草原，不回来了，草原开始感到孤单。但治沙这件事，把大家聚集起来，一起干活，一起吃饭，一起聊天，也许这就是对草原最好的修复。

更多的年轻人开始关注草原的时候，草原就不孤独了。Palzang thinks if more young people care about the grassland, the grassland won't feel lonely.

From Palzang’s perspective, the public benefit means that you could contain many elements, including your father, mother, relatives, friends, tribe, nation, and lives. 

他说：“公益的意义就是你的内心开始扩大，你可以放下很多人，自己父亲、母亲、家人、亲戚、朋友、部落、民族、生命。”

There must be someone who loves to tell stories on the grassland when spring comes. He’d love to tell the story about his family, about how herders combat desertification. He is Mr. Palzang, a herder of Zoige. 

草原的春天，一定会有个人在那里讲故事，讲他和家人的故事，讲他和牧民一起治沙的故事。他，就是牧人巴让。

四月份播的种子，六月份就长出了草。The herders scattered the seeds in April. Two months later, the grass came out.

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