Over the past 30 years, 58.9 billion trees have been planted under China’s nationwide compulsory tree-planting campaign, said the State Forestry Administration at a press conference marking the 30th anniversary of the launch of the program on December 13, 2011. The administration said great progress in the campaign has helped China foster a good image as a responsible country committed to coping with climate change and gain a greater say on the international stage.

The Fourth Session of the Fifth National People’s Congress, China’s top legislature, adopted a resolution on launching the nationwide compulsory tree-planting campaign on December 13, 1981. A year later, the campaign was brought under the legal framework with the release of the State Council document--Measures for the Implementation of the Nationwide Compulsory Tree-Planting Campaign.

The non-profit campaign has since been in full swing across China and become a public service program with the largest number of participants, longest duration, greatest salience and most profound influence in the world.

State leaders such as Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao have taken the lead in planting trees, setting an example for Chinese people to join the campaign. Also, President Hu Jintao has given several instructions to guide the tree-planting campaign.

The campaign has helped speed up China’s afforestation and expanded and consolidated achievements in ecological conservation. As one of the major measures to promote conservation, it has played an important role in increasing China’s forest resources, making the country green and improving its ecological conditions. In the newly released Ten-Year Program for Nationwide Afforestation, China plans to involve billions of tree planters in compulsory tree-planting events and plant 26 billion trees in the next 10 years.

The compulsory tree-planting campaign has promoted the sustainable growth of China’s forest resources. Over the past three decades, China’s forest area has expanded from 115 million hectares to 195 million hectares. Its forest coverage rate has soared from 12 percent to 20.36 percent. Its forest reserves have climbed from 9.028 billion cubic meters to 13.721 billion cubic meters. The area of manmade forests has increased from 22 million hectares to 62 million hectares, ranking first worldwide.

The tree-planting campaign has helped improve the living conditions of rural and urban residents. Flourishing trees in mountains and cities have changed China’s landscapes. Urban greenbelts have reached 1.444 million hectares. Green space in parks total 441,300 hectares, 11.18 square meters per capita on average. Trees and grass now cover more than a third of urbanized areas in China.

The compulsory tree-planting program has not only increased China’s forest area, but also imbued people with a sense of conservation. Eco-friendly notions advocating “afforestation benefits both present and future generations,” “tree planting is a virtue” and “more forests are a blessing” have been widely accepted. The government has vowed to embrace eco-friendly policies and pursue green development, while acknowledging a good environment is one of the yardsticks for good governance. Many provinces and cities have given priority to ecological conservation and sought to enrich residents by developing the forestry industry.

China has put in place a forestry industry development strategy focused on ecological conservation. It has underlined the strategic importance of tree planting to safeguarding ecological security, promoting a conservation culture and implementing the Scientific Outlook on Development. It has developed a distinctive approach to afforestation, which is characterized by the mobilization of the whole nation, the involvement of everybody and the participation of the entire society.

Since trees can symbolize people’s good wishes and aspirations, commemorative forests celebrating friendship, growth, love as well as the commitment of women and young people to environmental protection have been created across China. Also, an increasing number of Chinese choose to plant memorial trees to bury ashes and buy carbon credits in honor of their deceased loved ones. Many people also plant trees to offset their carbon dioxide emissions.