OB plants 'green hope' in Mongolian desert

OB CEO Frederico Freire, center in the back row, poses with Korean and Mongolian volunteer workers in Erden Soum, an arid land 50 kilometers east of Ulaanbaatar, where the company has planted numerous trees since 2010 to curb desertification. The company will plant 150,000 trees in the region by 2020. / Courtesy of Oriental Brewery

By Park Si-soo

ERDEN SOUM, Mongolia ― On this sprawling arid land where the daytime temperature can reach 40 degrees Celsius or higher, a group of young volunteer workers were busy moving around with a water bucket in one hand and a shovel in the other.

They had their heads and faces shielded with wide brimmed blue hats and scarves, and used sun cream to protect themselves from the sun’s scorching rays while they planted trees. Nevertheless, their faces soon turned red from sunburn and their bodies were caked with dust and sweat.

“It’s tough to work here, but I feel happy because I’m contributing to making this arid land greener,” said a volunteer from Seoul.

The desert 50 kilometers east of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital, is a source of the powerful sandstorms that blanket the Korean Peninsula with dust throughout April and May, causing various respiratory diseases and economic damage.

Oriental Brewery (OB), Korea’s largest beer maker, has planted tens of thousands of trees here since 2010 to fulfill its corporate responsibility. It has formed a partnership with Green Asia, a non-governmental environment protection group, to successfully implement the “CASS Forest of Hope” project. Hundreds of college students from Korea and Mongolia have so far taken part in the program as volunteers.

By 2020, OB will turn this area into a green field with 150,000 trees that can survive Mongolia’s boiling hot summers and bitterly cold winters. To ensure the growth of the trees, the company hired Mongolians living in the desert to water them regularly.

Last year, the CASS Forest of Hope campaign was recognized as a model campaign of its kind by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

“Six years have passed since the beginning of the campaign, and finally our attempts have had a good outcome,” OB CEO Frederico Freire said, referring to the recognition the program has received. “This campaign could not happen without the devoted effort and support of volunteers. The passionate Mongolian and Korean students worked hard digging wells and planting trees and all their hard work gave great inspiration to our project. Last but not least, the Erden Soum residents helped with this project.”

He said the company is committed to continuing the tree-planting campaign until the region turns green.

“OB promises to spare no effort in making a better world through the preservation of the environment in the future,” the CEO said.

Meanwhile, Freire said the company will step up its efforts to cement its position as the No.1 premium beer supplier in Mongolia. To that end, the company will launch a vender certification campaign and sponsor a number of cultural and sporting events.

OB sells nearly 600,000 boxes of its best-selling brand CASS, each containing 20 500-mililiter bottles, here, accounting for six percent of the Mongolian beer market, according to Cass Town Company, OB’s local partner.