| On 10th September, 2003, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council formulated The Decision of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Accelerating the Development of Forestry, which states explicitly that great importance should be attached to forestry in implementing the strategy of sustainable development. This year, investment in forestry from the central government amounts to RMB42.9 billion yuan, a 26% increase than in the last year. In addition, a respective RMB50 billion and RMB49.6 billion yuan have been invested in natural forest protection and returning farming land to forests. This year, 160 million mu of land will become afforestated, 266 thousand square kilometers of land will be protected from soil erosion, and 85.5 million mu of desertified land will get treated. Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, a major ecological defense line in northern China, has basically achieved a balance between its pace to treat desertification and the speed of desertification expansion, which marks the Region’s stride of historic significance. The ecological shield along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River has begun to take shape, with the forest coverage of Sichuan, the priority Province included in the Natural Protection Project, rising to 26.62% and its 34 thousand square kilometers of soil erosion area being under effective control. Moreover, 320 million mu of forest in this Province has been protected from logging. In 2004, a mode that features major projects promoting great development will be adopted in China’s forestry sector in an effort to push forward the stable and coordinated social progress and economic development.
|
