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China Launches Prohibitive Project to Save West Forests
China is gearing up to spend 100 billion yuan (12 billion U.S. dollars) within next 10 years to protect natural forests in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, China's largest and longest, and in the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, the second longest, according to official sources.
As part of the monumental protection project, the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was the first to start its protective operation this month.
Deteriorating biological sphere along the Yellow River has resulted in severe soil erosion, silting-up and frequent drying-up,which to a large extent hampered economic development in the whole Yellow River's Valley. In Inner Mongolia, forest coverage is only five percent while soil erosion area amounted up to 10 million hectares, pouring 180 million tons sand to the river per year.
While China is developing vast western regions as its long-term sustainable development strategy, biological protection and reconstruction were also high on the agenda.
"Biological improvement is the cornerstone and starting point for the west development. It will be handled with top priority as a key component of the infrastructure," Zhang Zhongfa, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, said.
The heavy floods last year showed intolerable devastation of the biological environment, which shocked the country and highlighted its determination to conduct comprehensive and intensive ameliorative work to restore biological balance, Zhang added.
The project concerning two rivers involves 13 provinces, autonomous regions and Chongqing Municipality.
In the Yellow River area, seven provinces and autonomous regions are engaged to cease deforestation and preserve extant woods and bushes while afforesting by air sowing. Inner Mongolia alone will receive 70 million yuan (8.4 million US dollars) from the Central Government to start up the prohibitive project.
Many years efforts have paid off. China's planted forests have exceeded 34 million hectares, the world's largest. The forest coverage rate doubled from 8.6 percent to 16.55 percent since 1949.
While world overall forests reserve is declining, the country's is growing faster than those consumed, according to the statistics.
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