Area of new forests in China increased 8.46% in 2017

Beijing. March 14. Silkroadnews - The total area of new forests created in China last year was 7.36 million hectares, which is 8.46% more than a year ago, the newspaper “People’s Daily” reports.
This increase is partially explained by public participation in voluntary tree planting, the National Afforestation Committee’s report says.
Last year, the committee approved participation in tree planting through voluntary contributions made via Internet in Beijing, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Anhui and Shaanxi Provinces, to facilitate easier participation in the greening process based on information technology.
Local authorities have also sought new ways to encourage the public participation, including the creation of thematic or memorial forests.
Over the past few years, China has raised “ecological construction” to an unprecedented level, with planting forests as one of the most important projects in this regard.
The country aims to increase the forest coverage to 23% by 2020 to combat climate change and soil erosion, compared with 21.7% in 2015.