China's charcoal forests have approached 4.29 million hectares after 20 years of painstaking cultivation, thus easing the deficiency of China's rural energy sources and the short supply of yule logs.

News from the State Bureau of Forestry shows that the newly developed charcoal forests are equivalent to 11.43 million to 14.29 million tons of standard coal, making it an effective way for solving the energy problem in rural China.

China began to launch the charcoal forest project in the early 1980s and established 100 charcoal forest pilot counties in 1985. From 1991 on, charcoal forest has been added to the key project of shelter forests in the Three North's" (north, northeast and northwest China), with 200,000 ha of such forest being built each year.

The development of the charcoal forest has not only made the best use of poor land good for forest, speeding up the pace of forestation, but also has, due to the use of more arbor and shrub broadleaf species in charcoal forests, improved the structures of trees and forests. At the same time, it has reduced pressure on forest resources and effectively protected commercial forests, shelter forests and other kinds of forests.

Experts point out that charcoal forest is a kind of renewable energy resource, and clean energy recognized internationally, developing charcoal forests will play an important role in solving rural China's energy problems for a long time to come.

In view of this, the State Bureau of Forestry has decided to increase 12 million ha of charcoal forests and build 50 bases in areas acutely short of firewood in 20 years.