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"Grain for Green" Project Kicks off along Middle Yangtze
The "grain for green" program, an ecological recovery project, has been launched in Hunan Province on the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.
In March this year, provinces and regions along the upper reaches of the longest river in China began to implement the project in response to the Chinese government's call for fighting deteriorating soil erosion.
The project now underway in Hunan is estimated to cost 80 million yuan (about 9.6 million US dollars) to return 13,000 ha of farmland to grassland and expand afforestation by another 13,000 ha.
According to related regulations, farmers will be compensated with 300 yuan for each ha of farmland they surrender. The government is also responsible for paying for the afforestation.
The regulations also point out that farmers who plant trees should be beneficiaries of the afforested area.
The Yangtze River valley is one of the world's important ecosystem zones. It suffers from serious soil erosion and desertification as a result of heavy logging.
In 1998, China began to take measures to restore the natural forests along the river by returning farmland to grassland and forests on a small scale.
The efforts have been considered crucial for harnessing the rampant flooding on the river, which has been attributed to the deforestation.
Some 400 million people, or nearly a third of China's total, live in the river valley. The river's ecological environment is vital for sustainable economic development of the region.
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