After three years' construction, the Sunrise Ecological Forest, one of Shanghai's largest artificial forests, is open to visitors.

Currently, the forest includes some 3 million trees covering 400 hectares of land, but it will expand over the next two years.

The forest was initiated by the Shanghai Charity Foundation and Shanghai Sunrise Forestry Co Ltd, a Shanghai-Hong Kong joint venture. They began work on the project in 2002.

According to the plan, the company will spend about 500 million yuan (US$60 million) building a 560-hectare forest at the upper reaches of the Huangpu River in the Maogang Town of Songjiang District by 2007. It is expected to include more than 1,000 species of plants by that time.

"The forest will help improve the environment along the banks of the upper reaches of the Huangpu River and conserve water," said Cheng Rongchang, general manager of Shanghai Sunrise. "The good natural resources will be a huge treasure for our company and for society as well."

So far, the company has spent more than 100 million yuan developing 400 hectares of the forest. In an area within 200 meters of the river, the company planted hydrophilic trees with wide root systems like metasequoias, privets and dogbane oleanders to conserve water.

The interior of the forest includes trees that are popular among local residents such as sweet-scented osmanthus trees, camphors and lotus magnolias.

"In addition to introducing adult trees from other areas, we also breed colorful trees ourselves," Cheng said.

The company rented the land from the town government. The company expects to earn a profit in the future by selling lumber and building facilities like schools, rest homes and villas. It might also charge an entrance fee, although currently visitors aren't charged for wandering through the area.

"Everybody likes a beautiful environment. We believe building forests will bring us a bright future," Cheng said.

One recent visitor to the site, Sang Erxia, expressed his support to the forest construction.

"No matter what kind of job a person is engaged in, it should be a common understanding to protect the limited natural resources," he said.

The municipal government had set a goal of building 101,205 hectares of green space from 2001 to 2005.

(eastday.com April 13, 2005)