About forty ancient Elm-trees have been identified in the Korqin Sandy Lands, of which 32 are more than one-hundred years old. It is believed that this total of 40 trees encompasses almost the totality of ancient elm-trees in the region. These ancient trees have survived all kinds of natural calamities such as wind, sand, inundations, drought, fire and pests for over one hundred, and in some instances even two to three hundred years (see Photos 1–28). They escaped felling because once an Elm-tree reaches a certain age, it is regarded as “sacred”.
These old trees are a valuable genetic resource. They are extremely well adapted to the climatic and soil conditions in the area and have demonstrated resistance characteristics better than any introduced Elm species. The township government of Dayushu Township in Kailu County of Tongliao City has adopted active protection measures (soil-filling and fencing-off) for the largest ancient Elm in the Korqin. These measures have enabled this ancient Elm to grow again vigorously. Tongyu County in Jilin Province has also adopted strict protection measures for the ancient Elm-trees around the Yuanxiangmei Temple.
Still, the significance of ancient Elm resource protection is not everywhere fully understood and a lack of protection measures is the rule. Very often the root systems of the ancient trees are uncovered due to wind and, sometimes, water erosion, and the trees are in a bad shape.
Of the 32 ancient Elm trees surveyed and from which vegetative cuttings were collected, one is a Hemiptelea davidii and the remainder are all U. pumila. The trees are located in 10 banners (counties) in the Korqin Sandy Lands, as indicated in the following table.
Table 6.1 : Distribution of ancient Elm-trees in the Korqin Sandy Lands
| Province or Autonomous Region | Banner (county) | Number of ancient trees | Code numbers |
| Inner Mongolia | Kezuohou | 3 | 1–3 |
| Kailu | 2 | 4–5 | |
| Zhalute | 1 | 6 | |
| Naiman | 1 | 33 | |
| Keyouzhong | 5 | 7–11 | |
| Kulun | 4 | 18–21 | |
| Kezuozhong | 3 | 22–24 | |
| Tongliao City | 4 | 25–28 | |
| Jilin | Tongyu | 6 | 12–17 |
| Liaoning | Zhangwu | 2 | 29–30 |
| Kangping | 2 | 31–32 |
Some of these ancient trees are located in population centers and some have become private property, but most of them are in natural open Elm woodland or are individual relict trees. They are testimonies of the once rich Elm open woodlands in the Korqin Sandy Lands.
The inventory of the ancient trees includes geographical location (latitude, longitude), tree height, DBH and crown diameter of each ancient Elm.
