11 Nov 2009
China's forests will cover 20% of the country by 2010, according to a forestry development plan drawn up by the State Forestry Administration to combat climate change. By 2020, the coverage is expected to expand to 23%, and the country's stocks of standing timber will reach 14 billion cubic metres.
The plan lays down basic principles, targets and initiatives.
The five basic principles aim to combine forestry development targets with the national strategies on climate change. They will involve increasing forest size and improving forest quality, increasing carbon trading and controlling emissions, combining government guidance with social participation, slowing down climate change, and adapting to the change.
The targets involve planting more than 4 million hectares of forest annually and making the national forest coverage rate reach 20% by 2010; and planting more than 5 million hectares of trees each year and making the forest coverage rate reach 23% by 2020. By 2050, the forested area will be 47 million hectares more than 2020 and the coverage will hit more than 26%.
The plan involves 22 actions on climate change, including actively encouraging the public in the voluntary planting of trees, the planting of rare tree species, developing and utilising bioenergy plantations, and expanding forest conservation areas.
Deforestation regulations will be reinforced, forestry law enforcement beefed-up, the prevention and control of forest fires improved, forests better protected against from diseases and animal damage, better use made of biomass materials, the recycling of wood enouraged, key wetlands protected, and pilot areas launched for the sustainable development of farming, herding, and fishing.
Source: China Social Responsibility, http://www.chinacsr.com/en/
