China Building Ecological Shelterbelt along Yangtze River

The Chinese government plans to inject 100 billion yuan in the next 10 years to recover the once high vegetation coverage rate of 48 percent along the Yangtze River valley from the present 22 percent.

In 1998, the central government issued regulations that not a single tree could be cut down in the area and began to help lumberjackers find other means of making a living, said Shi Liren, an engineer at the Yangtze River Water Conservancy Committee.

From the 1960s, the eco-system along the river has deteriorated due to decreasing acreage of forests. As a result, 470 million tons of silt along the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River has washed away annually.

To raise the vegetation coverage, more than 6 million hectares of trees have been planted along the Yangtze River over the past decade.

Meanwhile, the government encourages farmers to return farmland to forests. In return, farmers can receive 2,250 kilograms of grain, 750 yuan of seedlings and 300 yuan in living expenses for each hectares of farmland.

The government has begun such pilot work in 174 counties along the Yangtze River and the Yellow River this year.

People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/