China Stepping Up Improvement of Forest Ecosystems
9/8/99
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: China Stepping Up Improvement of Forest Ecosystems
Source: Xinhua
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: September 8, 1999
Beijing, 8th September: Editor's note: This year is the 50th
anniversary of the People's Republic of China. The past five decades
of achievements in the economy have attracted the attention of the
rest of the world. Xinhua began issuing a series of stories on the
nation's economy on 17th August. This is the 18th story.
China is attaching greater importance to the improvement of its
forest ecosystem in an effort to raise the forest cover from the
present 13.9 per cent to 19.4 per cent in the next 10 years,
according to the State Administration of Forestry.
The country's afforestation project has enjoyed substantial growth
since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 in terms
of quantity and quality as well as economic returns.
The past 20 years witnessed a drastic annual increase of four million
ha of afforestation plus 2.4bn trees planted by volunteers each year.
So far, China has successfully preserved 34.3 million ha of
afforestation, ranking the first in the world. More than one third of
the country's provinces and autonomous regions have taken full
advantage of the waste land suitable for tree planting.
Since 1978, the country has launched 10 key afforestation projects
including building shelter forests in northern, northeastern and
northwestern China with a view to fending off wind and sand from the
desert lands in the north, tree-planting along the Yangtze River
{Chang Jiang} for soil-erosion control, and anti-desertification
campaigns aimed at curbing loss of arable land.
By the end of 1997, the shelter forests in the north have spread
across 25.8 million hectares with the forest cover rising from 5.1
per cent in 1975 to 8.6 per cent in those regions.
Newly planted trees in China's Loess Plateau, which sheds some 1.4bn
tons of sand and silt into the Yellow River each year, have brought
soil erosion in nearly one third of the area under control.
Meanwhile, the upper and middle reaches of China's longest river the
Yangtze has been covered by 4.1 million ha of afforestation, which
has reduced soil erosion in more than 100 counties in the valley.
The anti-desertification drive has also paid off with 64.4 million ha
of desert reclaimed during the 1992-1997 period.
A total of 13.3 million ha of farmlands in desert areas are now
protected by forests.
In the meantime, China has committed itself to the protection of
natural resources, and a system to protect the country's wildlife is
also taking shape.
Official statistics show that there were 630 nature reserves in China
at the end of 1997, covering an area of 61.5 million ha, 6.4 per cent
of the country.
Among these are 14 zones included in the United Nation's "Man and the
Biosphere" network and seven zones listed in the international list
of important wetlands.
In addition, China has established 873 forest parks across the
country, covering 7.5 million ha.
As a result of the ever-improving ecosystem, rare and extinct species
of animals are now increasing steadily in numbers throughout China.
However, at present the number of wild giant pandas still remains at
a perilously low 1,000 while the number of Chinese alligators is only
a little over 5,000.
"Through the improvement of forest ecosystem featuring protection of
natural resources and wild life, China will take on a new look with
more beautiful scenery and a healthier environment, " said Wang
Zhibao, director of the State Forest Administration.