China plans to green its more than 50,000 cities and towns, the
embankments of its rivers, coastlines, and areas along its major
railway and roads, and to restore vegetation in leading forest
areas.
The plan was initiated by Prof. Jiang Zehui, vice-chairperson of
the Human Resources and Environment Subcommittee of the National
Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
(CPPCC), a national advisory body, in a bid to build a forest and
ecological network covering the country.
According to the initiative endorsed by the Chinese government,
forests and woods will constitute a main part of the network while
the rest will be covered with shrubs and grass.
The plan together with six major afforestation projects will help
China double its forest coverage to 28.3 percent by 2050, said
Prof. Jiang, who is also president of the Chinese Academy of
Forestry.
The State Forestry Administration, which is in charge of China's
ecological conservation and construction, has started to improve
its strategy to green the country's 50,000-plus cities and
towns.
Compared with current strategy of merely planting trees and grass
to green the urban areas, the administration will try to shift its
focus to creating "forest cities" with a diversified landscape of
trees and grass thereby improving the ecological system and
bio-diversity.
China began large-scale biological conservation and construction
projects in the late 1970s. The first included planting a 4,480 km
shelterbelt in northern China, and later in areas along the Yangtze
and Yellow rivers and the 18,000 km coastline.
(Xinhua News
Agency September 24, 2002)