学进去

During Yang Zhongkai’s early years, a 500-year-old majestic ginkgo tree that did not sprout leaves for two to three years at a stretch used to be a daily sight for him on his way to and from high school. Since villagers widely regarded the tree as having the power to make their wishes come true, they used to kneel down in front of the “lucky” tree and burn offerings under it, which led to prolonged heat exposure at its roots, stunting its growth.

“Millions of such old trees are in urgent need of protection given their importance as vital biological resources and symbols of ecological civilization,” said Yang, who started the team — Zhiyue — dedicated to protecting ancient trees.“But the recording and management of ancient and famous trees nationwide commonly rely on Excel spreadsheets (电子表格), which present issues such as information silos, lack of real-time updates and incomplete content,” he said.

However, things have changed of late. Yang and his team now use the artificial intelligence technology developed by Tencent Cloud to identify and register trees accurately based on individual traits and GPS tracking. “With the acceleration of a new generation of technological revolution and industrial transformation, new technologies bring more excitement to the protection of ancient trees.” Yang said. “We can now collect data on the trees’ growth, health and environment in real time, which helps us make informed decisions on how to better protect them.”

“In addition to applying cutting-edge technologies such as AI and large models to assist in the development of traditional industries, the company also makes great efforts to promote the development of charitable causes through technological and platform advantages, “Wu Yunsheng said, vice-president of Tencent Cloud, adding that“the power of technology can change the world”.