Natural forest coverage reaches 200 million hectares in China

The coverage of natural forests in China has grown by 150 million mu (1 hectare is 15 mu), or 10 million hectares to nearly 200 million hectares thanks to the protection efforts over the last 20 years, cctv.com reported on Oct. 10.

The Natural Forest Protection Project, carried out in 1988, has made great achievements in the protection of forest resources, growth of forest and forest quality improvement.

Sichuan was the first Chinese province to implement the forest protection project. Zhaohua district in Guangyuan city of Sichuan saw 440,000 mu of new forests planted over the last two decades.

According to statistics, by the end of 2017, China had allocated 331.4 billion yuan to the project, making it one of the most heavily invested forest projects in the country.

“Before we implemented the project, we could hardly see the footprints of protected wild animals. But after the project was carried out, the number of wildlife under second class protection reached 13, and at present 90 animal species are under our protection,” said deputy director of the forestry department in a county in east China’s Jiangxi province.

Jin Min, director of the national forestry protection office at the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said the number of wild giant pandas in China has reached 1,864, and the number of Siberian tigers has also surpassed 30 thanks to the recovery efforts.