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China Injected 20bn into Ecological Construction in West Regions
It has become the first and foremost task to protect and build up the ecological environment for the development of west China, according to the sources from a meeting on forestry and environmental protection in Hohhot. China has so far injected a total investment of RMB 20 billion yuan on seven ecological construction projects in progress.
Currently, the soil erosion and desert areas in western region account respectively for 80 and 95 percent in all China and the areas are expanding at an annual speed of 10,000 and 2,460 sq.kms respectively.
According to Li Zibin, deputy director of the Office of the Leading Group under the State Council for the Development of the Western Region, the Chinese government has accelerated the construction speed on seven key projects to promote the ecological construction in west China. The seven projects are as follows: natural forest resource protection project; building shelter belts in northwest, north and northeast China; returning farmland to forest and grassland; desertification control in areas around Beijing and Tianjin; setting up nature reserves for wild animals and plants; resuming and protecting natural grassland vegetation; and water and soil erosion control. These projects will be mainly taken in two areas--the upper reaches of the Yangtze and the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, and dry and windstorm regions in northwest, north, and northeast China.
Statistics show that currently, China has returned altogether 14.33 million-mu farmland to forest and grassland and turned barren mountains into 11.80 million-mu grassland. The natural forest protection project has reduced the logging output to 13.33million cubic meters in 2000 from 32.05million cubic meters in 1997. In the meanwhile it has completed an afforestation area of 1.63million hectares, closing hillsides to facilitate afforestation of 5.17million hectares, and rearranged over 500,000 employees to do other jobs.
So far, the sand control project in areas around Beijing and Tianjin has completed some 2.972 million-mu forest by manpower, 1.379 million-mu forest by closing hillsides and plane-seeding, 3.223 million-mu grassland by manpower and plane-seeding. Besides, it has also completed 280.8 sq.km river control construction and 1,654 projects on water resource and water saving irrigation all told.
By PD Online Staff Huang Ying
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