A north Chinese city's green barrier advances carbon-cutting targets

TIANJIN, March 14 (Xinhua) -- On March 12, China's 44th National Tree Planting Day, more than 300 rangers of green ecological barriers in north China's Tianjin Municipality were busy pruning hundreds of thousands of saplings and reclaiming land for planting new trees.

"The survival rate of the saplings is very high here. Only three percent of seedlings need to be replanted this spring so that we can reach 100 percent survival rate and complete the carbon sink target," said Fu Wenxuan, project manager in charge of the local green construction.

The first batch of 1,800 hectares of artificial reserve forests has completed the verification of carbon dioxide absorption and will soon enter the trading link. According to official data, this part of the reserve forest alone can generate about 250,000 tonnes of carbon sinks in 20 years, bringing at least five million yuan (about 789,000 U.S. dollars) in revenue.

As the world's largest developing country yet to finalize industrialization, China has announced that it would strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

In 2018, Tianjin started to build a green ecological barrier of 736 square km.

"The inside of the green ecological barrier is not only trees but an ecosystem covered with rice fields, lakes, grassland, and forested areas. It aims to combine afforestation and ecological restoration with high-standard farmland and tourism," according to Bian Weiguang, director of the green ecological barrier construction headquarters office.

In addition to the visible environmental improvement, the most significant contribution of the green barrier is the carbon sink.

"After restoration and green construction, the forest area in the first-level control area of the green ecological barrier has reached about 12,487 hectares, which can achieve carbon sink of about 126,000 tonnes per year. It is estimated that by 2035, the carbon sink of the barrier will reach about 206,000 tonnes per year," said Zhao Yichen, head of the planning department of the Tianjin low-carbon development research center.

"Afforestation is the best way to increase carbon sinks," said Niu Guimin, a researcher at the resources institute for the environment and ecology, Tianjin Academy of Social Sciences. "Compared with mature forests and over-matured forests with decreasing growth rates and balanced carbon absorption and emission, the hand-planted saplings vigorously grow with the highest carbon sequestration rate."

According to the data released by National Forestry and Grassland Administration, the total carbon storage of forest vegetation in China reached over 9 billion tonnes. The planted forest contributed nearly 20 percent of this.

The continuous growth of the forest carbon sinks brings ecological value and economic value.

Forestry carbon sink trading, as one of the products of carbon trading, is a significant way for carbon to generate money.

Li Tian, general manager of the Tianjin Climate Exchange, said forestry carbon sink trading in Tianjin is still in its infancy. But with the accelerated construction of the green barriers, forestry carbon sink trading will be promoted by the standardized management of forest land.

It is estimated that the annual transaction value of the forestry carbon sinks in the ecological barrier area will reach tens of millions of yuan by 2035, Li added.

"As a coastal municipality not rich in forest resources, Tianjin's large-scale tree planting and carbon sequestration are amazing. The broad prospects of the forestry carbon sink trading in China are worth the expectation," said Li.

Forestry carbon sink trading has been widely adopted across the country. As an early pilot, east China's Fujian Province has completed a total of 3.5 million tonnes of forestry carbon sink transactions worth about 51.69 million yuan since 2017. Besides, many provinces and cities, including Anhui and Gansu, have completed the first forestry carbon sink trading since 2021 in China.

In addition to forestry carbon sinks, many other kinds of forest and grass economies like wood resources and forestry tourism will enjoy a bright future.

"Against the declining trend of the global forest resources, China's forest coverage rate and forest stock volume have increased for 30 consecutive years. It is China's contribution to the world. It shows people the bright prospects of the green industry," said Zhu Zhonghai, the assistant secretary-general of the China Forestry and Environment Promotion Association.