China contributes most to global greenery expansion
By
Gu Zhongyang, People’s Daily
China is the source of a quarter
of global increase in green leaf area between 2000 and 2017, ranking the first
in the world regarding the contribution rate, said a recent study by the US
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
In recent 20 years, China’s
forest area and stock volume kept growing, making China a country of the world’s
largest increase in forest resources, according to the country’s
National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
China forest area stands at 208
million hectares and the forest stock volume 15.137 billion cubic meters. 21.63
percent of the country’s territory is covered by forests, according to the
eighth national investigation on forest inventory.
China saw a rapid rise of forests
and grasslands in the recent two decades. It thoroughly implemented key
projects, conducted voluntary tree-planting campaign among the citizens,
promoted forestation in both governmental departments and the society, and
enhanced efforts in grassland ecological protection.
As a result, the coverage of
China’s man-made forest has reached 786,667 square kilometers, topping other
countries around the world. In addition, China has nearly 4 million square
kilometers of natural grasslands, with a grassland comprehensive vegetation
coverage reaching 55.3 percent.
Key forestation projects played a
significant role in making China greener. China has created 298,000 square
kilometers of forest since the Grain for Green Program was launched in 1999,
raising the forest coverage rate in project areas by 3.6 percentage points. In
addition, 1.296 million square kilometers of natural forests were
well preserved in the past 20 years thanks to the Natural Forest Protection
Project.
China has launched a series of
major projects to restore ecology, including the treatment project of
desertification in the source area of the sand and dust endangering Beijing and
Tianjin, and wetland restoration programs. By doing so, forest coverage in
those areas steadily increased and desertification was effectively curbed, and
ecological situation substantially improved.
The coverage of China’s
desertification and sandy land showed a descending trend over three consecutive
monitoring periods. In late 1990s, China’s total sandy land was expanding by
3,436 square kilometers on a yearly basis, but now it is shrinking by an average
of 1,980 square kilometers per year. It is a historical change from “sand
advancing and people retreating” to “green advancing and sand retreating.”
To date, China has built more
than 11,000 natural protection areas including
nature reserves, forest parks, wetland parks, scenic spots, geological parks
and special marine protection areas or marine parks, protecting 90 percent
of terrestrial ecosystem types, 85 percent of wildlife
species, 65 percent of higher plant communities and 50.3 percent of natural
wetlands.
Saihanba Forest Farm shows its charm in winter. (Photo by Xiao Ke/CFP)
China contributes most to global greenery expansion
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