China to plant 36,000 sq km of new forest a year till 2025

SHANGHAI • China will plant 36,000 sq km of new forest annually - more than the total area of Belgium - from this year till 2025 as it bids to combat climate change and better protect natural habitats, a senior forestry official said yesterday.

Tree planting has been at the heart of China's environmental efforts for decades and is a major part of plans to bring carbon emissions down to net zero by 2060.

Mr Li Chunliang, vice-chairman of the State Forestry and Grasslands Commission, told a press briefing that large-scale "land greening" programmes would complete 36,000 sq km of afforestation every year through 2025.

"By 2035, the quality and stability of national forest, grassland, wetland and desert ecosystems will have been comprehensively upgraded," Mr Li added.

China aims to raise its overall forest coverage rate to 24.1 per cent by the end of 2025 from 23.04 per cent at the end of last year, according to its forest and grassland five-year plan published this week.

The plan warned that China's forest and grass resources were inadequate, especially in drought-prone regions in the north and west.

Mr Li did not say what type of trees would be planted, but the document said the strategy would rely in part on "natural reforestation", implying different types of trees would be planted according to the local environment.

Over the next five years, China will also expand its national park system, create corridors to alleviate habitat fragmentation, and crack down further on illegal wildlife trade, said Mr Chen Jiawen, an official in charge of drafting the new plan.

Separately, market research group comparethemarket.com said yesterday that the city of Beijing alone would need to plant more than 15 million trees a year in order to offset annual emissions.

Singapore and Hong Kong would each have to plant more than nine million trees a year, while London would need to plant just over four million, it said.

REUTERS