Gansu Begins Massive Afforestation Campaign

For several days, thousands of people from all walks of life have participated a tree-planting campaign in Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu province. Lanzhou municipal Party and government officials and soldiers also planted trees on two major mountains, Northern Mountain and Southern Mountain, according to local officials. Lanzhou plans to invest 1.7 billion-yuan (200 million U.S. Dollars) to plant trees on 32,000 ha of barren hills in four years.

It also plans to turn 200,000 ha of farmland into forest and grassland in ten years. The government's call for a massive afforestation campaign to protect the environment has won widespread support. By the end of last year, the province converted 112,000 ha of its farmland into forests and grasslands. Gansu plans to invest 48.9 billion-yuan (5.8 billion U.S. Dollars) in the next ten years to plant 5.3 million ha of trees and grass on barren hills.

The local government wants to build the province into a major base of forestry and animal husbandry in China, local officials said.

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