The Origin and Significance of Arbor Day

Arbor Day is a festival to publicize and protect trees according to law, and to organize and mobilize the masses to actively participate in afforestation. According to the length of time, it can be divided into Arbor Day, Tree Planting Week and Tree Planting Month, and * * * is called International Arbor Day.

It is advocated to stimulate people's enthusiasm for afforestation through such activities and realize the importance of environmental protection.

The Arbor Festival in China was initiated by forest scientists such as Ling Daoyang, Han An and Joseph Bailie in 19 15, and the time was originally set in Tomb-Sweeping Day every year.

? 1928, the National Government changed Arbor Day to March 12 to commemorate the third anniversary of Sun Yat-sen's death. ? 1979 after the founding of new China, at the suggestion of Deng Xiaoping, the 6th meeting of the 5th the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) decided to designate March 2nd every year as Arbor Day.

On July 1 2020, the newly revised Forest Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) came into effect, and March 12 is designated as Arbor Day every year.

First, the origin of Arbor Day

? (A) the tradition of planting trees in China

In ancient China, there was a tradition of inserting willows and planting trees in Tomb-Sweeping Day. The earliest roadside tree planting in history was initiated by a man named Wei Xiaokuan in Shaanxi more than 400 years ago. Wei Xiaokuan was a famous soldier in the Western Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties, and he was from Ling Du, Jingzhao. According to the fifty-second record of li yanshou's Biography of Northern History in the Tang Dynasty, in the second year of the Western Wei Dynasty (AD 552), Wei Xiaokuan was awarded the secretariat of Yongzhou for his exploits.

Since ancient times, an earthen platform has been erected on the roadside every other mile on the official road as a mark for calculating the road mileage, which is now a milestone.

After Wei Xiaokuan took office, he found that the soil platform had many shortcomings. After weathering by wind and sun, especially by rain, it is easy to collapse and needs frequent maintenance, which not only increases the state expenditure, but also makes the people suffer from hard work, which is time-consuming, laborious and inconvenient.

After investigation and understanding, Wei Xiaokuan resolutely ordered all the places where earthen platforms were set on Yongzhou Road to replant a locust tree instead of earthen platforms. In this way, it not only does not lose its marking and sliding functions, but also provides shelter for pedestrians and does not need maintenance. Wei Xiaokuan's practice is undoubtedly an important measure to benefit Mulberry, reduce the burden on the people in his hometown and benefit the country and the people.

Shaanxi, as the earliest place to plant trees on official roads in history, was once a model of road greening in China. Wei Xiaokuan's earliest planting of Sophora japonica has been deeply loved by people for thousands of years, especially Shaanxi people, who have a special liking for this kind of Sophora japonica and are very fond of it and widely planted. Now this locust tree has been identified as a city tree as a symbol of Xi.

? (2) Revision of Arbor Day date in China.

Due to the evolution of the times, the Arbor Day in China has been revised three times.

1, in the 4th year of the Republic of China (19 15), at the initiative of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Zhou Ziqi, the chief minister of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, proposed to the President-elect that Tomb-Sweeping Day should be designated as Arbor Day every year, and the tree species should be selected, and governments, institutions and schools at all levels throughout the country should attend as scheduled, so as to hold Arbor Day ceremonies and plant trees. Approved by 1965438+2 1, in July 2005, the whole country was ordered to comply with it as scheduled.

2. On April 7th, the Republic of China 17 (1928), the Kuomintang government ordered the whole country: "The Qingming Arbor Day in the old calendar should be changed to a tree planting method to commemorate the death of the Prime Minister". On February 9th, the Republic of China 18 (1929), the Ministry of Agriculture and Mines promulgated by ministerial order. In February of the Republic of China 19 (1930), it was submitted to the Executive Yuan and the National Government, and the week from March 9 to 15 was the "Tree Planting Campaign Publicity Week", and a tree planting ceremony was held on the anniversary of the death of Dr. Sun Yat-sen in June of 12.

3. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), in February 1979, at the sixth meeting of the Standing Committee of the Fifth NPC, Luo Yuchuan, director of the General Administration of Forestry, submitted the Forest Law (Trial Draft) for deliberation and stated that "March 12 was decided as China Arbor Day", which was adopted by the General Assembly.

4.19811213. The Fourth Session of the Fifth National People's Congress discussed and adopted a resolution on launching a nationwide voluntary tree planting campaign. Since then, the nationwide voluntary tree planting campaign has been implemented as a law throughout the country. The following year, the State Council promulgated the "Implementation Measures for Carrying out the National Voluntary Tree Planting Campaign".

5. From July 1 2020, the newly revised Forest Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) came into effect, and March 12 was designated as Arbor Day. The new forest law classifies forests into public welfare forests and commercial forests. Public welfare forests are strictly protected, and commercial forests are operated independently by forestry operators according to law, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of various forestry operators and realizing the sustainable development of forestry construction.

China has a vast territory, the climate is quite different, and the time suitable for planting trees varies from place to place. Therefore, many provinces and cities have also stipulated their own tree planting days, tree planting weeks and tree planting months.

? (C) the origin of modern Arbor Day

The modern Arbor Day was first initiated by Nebraska.

19 century ago, Nebraska was a barren plain with few trees and yellow sand all over the sky, and people suffered greatly.

1872, Julius Sterling Moreton, a famous American agronomist, proposed to stipulate Arbor Day in Nebraska to mobilize people to plant trees in a planned way. At that time, the state agricultural bureau adopted this proposal through a resolution, and the governor personally stipulated that the third Wednesday of April would be Arbor Day every year.

In the following 16 years, 600 million trees were planted one after another, eventually turning the 654.38+10,000 hectares of wilderness in Nebraska into dense forests.

In recognition of Moreton's achievements, 1885, the state legislature officially designated April 22nd, Mr. Moreton's birthday, as the annual Arbor Day, with one day off. Later, after discussion, the world's first Arbor Day stamp was issued in 1932, and two children were planting trees.

In the United States, Arbor Day is a national holiday, and there is no unified national date. But every April and May, every state in the United States organizes Arbor Day activities. For example, Rhode Island stipulates that the second Friday in May is Arbor Day, which is a day off.

Other states have fixed dates, and some temporarily decide the date of Arbor Day by the governor or other state government departments every year. Whenever Arbor Day comes, people from all walks of life, mainly students, form a mighty army of tree planting and devote themselves to tree planting activities.

According to statistics, 1/3 of the United States is covered by forest trees, which is inseparable from Arbor Day.

Second, the significance of Arbor Day

? 1. The significance of Arbor Day is that planting trees plays a role in regulating climate, conserving water, preventing wind and fixing sand.

① Climate regulation: Afforestation can beautify the environment, improve air quality and improve climatic conditions. Dense canopy can block sunlight, reflect about 20% heat back to the sky, and 60%-70% heat is absorbed by canopy. In addition, the maintenance of plant transpiration also needs to absorb a lot of heat. Because of the high air humidity, large heat capacity and small wind force in the forest, the temperature changes slowly.

(2) Water conservation: In the water shortage season, part of the water stored in the forest ecosystem will be supplied to streams, reservoirs and rivers through soil evaporation or leakage, so as to achieve the functions of "peak shaving to supplement drought" and regulate water quantity; The other part is absorbed from the soil by plant roots, participates in the life cycle of plants, and returns to the atmosphere again through transpiration, increasing rainfall and regulating microclimate. Most rivers and lakes on the earth flow through forests and are protected by forests, which provide us with clean water indispensable for life.

(3) Wind prevention and sand fixation: the forest reduces wind erosion intensity by reducing wind speed and changing wind direction; The strong roots of trees, especially shrubs, can fix soil particles. Building windbreaks with agricultural and water conservancy measures will achieve good results.

Afforestation has brought us many benefits, which can not only beautify our living environment, but also expand forest resources, prevent soil erosion, prevent sand from being fixed, protect farmland, adjust climate, maintain ecological balance and promote economic development.

? Arbor Day is a festival for mobilizing the whole people to plant trees.

In order to achieve the purpose of improving forest function, increasing forest resources and improving ecological environment. In order to protect forestry resources, beautify the environment and maintain ecological balance, many countries in the world have set up Arbor Day according to their own actual conditions. With the enhancement of people's awareness of environmental protection and their active participation in afforestation activities, our living environment will be continuously improved.

? Arbor Day is to protect and encourage people to plant trees, encourage people to care for trees and remind people to pay attention to trees.

Trees play a very important role in human survival and the ecological environment of the earth. In addition, the significance of Arbor Day lies not only in planting all kinds of trees, but also in conveying to people a concept of caring for nature and living a low-carbon life.

The above is the origin and significance of Arbor Day.

A 50-year-old tree, calculated cumulatively, produces about $365,438+0,200 worth of oxygen;

The value of absorbing harmful gases and preventing air pollution is about $62500;

Increase the value of soil fertility by about 365,438+0,200 USD;

The value of water resources protection is $37,500;

Providing breeding grounds for birds and other animals is worth $365,438+$0,250;

To produce a protein worth $2,500,

The total value is about $ 196000.

Arbor Day is set up to encourage people to plant trees, encourage people to care for trees and remind people to pay attention to trees. Trees play a very important role in human survival and the ecological environment of the earth.

The fundamental purpose of setting up China Arbor Day in China is to protect forests and plant more trees. The growth of every big tree has a considerable positive effect on human society. March 12 Arbor Day is only half a month away. Have you thought about how to spend Arbor Day this year?