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The State Forestry Administration has announced that sandstorms
in northern China are to be a thing of the past.
By the year 2010, trees and grass will cover 21.4 percent of the
land in 75 counties and districts in Beijing, Tianjin, provinces
of Shanxi and Hebei and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Zhou Shengxian, head of the administration, mapped out the blueprint
for the "Beijing-rim Sandstorm-preventing Project" at
a meeting attended by provincial forestry authorities held Thursday
in Beijing.
One of the principle causes of sandstorms is considered to be a
lack of vegetation, which currently covers only 6.7 percent of
the land in the regions.
The project is a part of the State Forestry Administration's ambition
to make a thorough face-lift of China's ecology system.
According to Zhou, six key forestry projects will be launched over
the next few years to complete the missions.
* Protecting natural forests. Cutting down trees will be banned
in regions along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the
upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River, with timber output
reduced by about 20 million cubic metres.
A total of 96.2 billion yuan (US$11.6 billion) will be used to plant
trees on 12.6 million hectares.
* Planting 23 million hectares of forests in the "three norths"
areas -- northern China, northwestern China and northeastern China
-- and the regions along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze
River.
* Fighting soil erosion.
Major tree and grass planting will take place on former cultivated
lands. By 2010, soil erosion on 23 million hectares should be under
control.
* Saving rare wild animals.
Up to 10 species of wild animal
s, including pandas and golden monkeys, will be protected, along
with various ecosystems. More natural reserves will be established,
accounting for 16.14 percent of the country's area by 2010.
* Establishing commercial forests Once the project is completed,
a volume of roughly 133 million cubic metres of timber will be turned
out every year, satisfying 40 percent of domestic demand.
(China Daily 02/16/01)
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