阅读理解
Zhu Dejun's first job after graduating from college was as a road design engineer at an institute in his hometown, Alshaa League, North Chin's Inner Mongolia autonomous region. In 2011, when Zhu was conducting a road survey along with his colleagues, he saw a plant that he didn't recognize. Later, Zhu learned that the plant was a saxaul tree which is an excellent tree species for sand fixation and afforestation(造林) in desert areas. It's commonly seen, though easily ignored. Known as a desert guardian, a fully grown saxaul tree can hold together a 10-square-meter patch of desert land, according to Zhu.
Zhu quit his job at the design institute in 2014 and joined a nonprofit organization, the Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology Conservation, or SEE, in the same year, concentrating on tackling desertification.
The organization, devoted to ecological protection and social responsibility, was located in the Alshaa League of Inner Mongolia. During the past eight years, Zhu has been leading a team from SEE to plant saxaul trees in sandy areas in Alshaa League and other places of Inner Mongolia.
In 2014, the SEE launched a project titled "one million saxaul trees", aiming to reach that number from 2014 to 2023, turning the desert of more than 133,330 hectares back into a satisfying ecosystem. By the end of 2018, half of the organization's goal had been achieved.
In 2016, Ant Finance cooperated with SEE to introduce the Ant Forest platform, not only encouraging people to choose "a low-carbon way" of shopping, traveling and living, but also to help control desertification.
Through the participation of a greater number of online users, who grow virtual trees, the SEE Foundation, set up in 2008, has been providing subsidies (补助金) for local herdsmen and farmers while also offering technological support to plant saxaul trees in desert areas. Now, Zhu is the head of the foundation's project to fight desertification. He also gives lectures about saxaul trees and the fight against desertification at schools, hoping to raise awareness among young people.