Ningxia to Invest 10 Billion Yuan in Ecological Projects

The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China has decided to invest about 10 billion yuan£šabout US$1.2 billion£© to protect its ecological environment over the next 10 years.

An official with the regional forestry department said this is the largest environment construction program in the region and it consists of eight projects which will help the region increase the forest area by 1 million ha.

By 2010, the region's forest coverage rate will rise 15 percent.

Meanwhile, 50 percent of the desertification land and 60 percent of soil eroded land will be under efficient control.

The ecological environment program in Ningxia aims at natural forest protection, creation of grasslands, forests, protection of wildlife resources, returning of farmland to grass and woods, as well as soil-erosion control, and elimination of desertification.

Ningxia, a dry inland region in northwest China, has long suffered from drought, absence of forests, soil erosion and desertification.

Although the region has carried out a series of environment protection projects in recent years. Its forest area stands at 420, 000 ha and the forest coverage rate here is only 8.3 percent, less than half of the country's average.






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