By Yin Shuanghong, People\u2019s Daily<\/p>\n
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China accounts for 25 percent of the global net increase in leaf area in the past nearly 20 years, leading the world in greening effort, and the country\u2019s forest coverage rate has increased from 12 percent in early 1980s to 23.04 percent today, according to data.<\/p>\n
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Forty years ago, China\u2019s top legislature, the National People\u2019s Congress (NPC), passed a resolution on carrying out a public voluntary tree-planting campaign, a nationwide event that has been participated in and promoted by governments at all levels and in both urban and rural areas.<\/p>\n
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Tao Fengjiao, a fisherwoman in Changjiang Li autonomous county, south China\u2019s Hainan province, has planted 5.88 million trees in quicksand with her female friends since 1992. The forests they have created cover an area of 33,800 mu (about 2,253 hectares), and have given a brand new look to the island province of Hainan.<\/p>\n
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On the Saihanba mechanical forest farm in north China\u2019s Hebei province, three generations of residents covered 1.12 million mu of wasteland with green trees.<\/p>\n
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In the Greater Khingan Range in north China\u2019s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, 16,000 forestry workers have changed their job from cutting down trees to protecting trees.<\/p>\n
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Many more areas in China, including Yulin city of northwest China\u2019s Shaanxi province, Youyu county of north China\u2019s Shanxi province, and Minqin county of northwest China\u2019s Gansu province, are seeing more and more shelter forests be created and vegetated areas get better protection, while the \u201cGreen Great Wall of China\u201d, the country\u2019s Three-North Shelterbelt Forest Program designed to improve the environment in the Northwest, North and Northeast China, continues to extend across the country.<\/p>\n
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From finding the suitable tree species to preparing trees for inclement weather, changing people\u2019s traditional views about exploitation, and protecting the growing environment of seedlings, Chinese people\u2019s understanding of the relationship between human and nature has deepened constantly.<\/p>\n
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China has realized profoundly that it needs to correctly understand and handle the relationship between economic development and environmental protection, and should neither follow the way of developing economy at the cost of the environment nor slow down economic development for fear of environmental pollution.<\/p>\n
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As it turned out, afforestation is a wise decision of the country, as it has not only improved the natural environment, but also benefited the well-being of the Chinese people.<\/p>\n
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Many forestry workers, farmers, and herdsmen in the country have enjoyed significant improvement in their living standards after securing stable incomes, thanks to China\u2019s endeavors to reduce poverty through the development of local industries and its ecological poverty-relief programs.<\/p>\n
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By developing ecological tourism, China\u2019s seventh largest desert, Kubuqi Desert located in Ordos city of China\u2019s Inner Mongolia, has seen a great number of visitors and thriving ecological industry, which have brought considerable economic benefits to the local people.<\/p>\n
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The Saihanba mechanical forest farm, where yellow sand could block out the sun and birds couldn\u2019t find a single tree to rest on in the past, is now covered with boundless forests and witnessing an endless stream of visitors. The development of green and ecological industries of the locality has helped nearly 40,000 people embark on a path to a more prosperous life.<\/p>\n
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China\u2019s remarkable achievements in promoting afforestation and miracles in economic development have fully demonstrated that guided by the philosophy of green development, the country has made ecological and environmental protection, economic development, as well as improvement in people\u2019s livelihood inseparably interconnected with one another and supplement one another.<\/p>\n
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China aims to make new progress in building an ecological civilization, cut the energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) and its carbon dioxide emissions by 13.5 percent and 18 percent, respectively, continue to reduce the total amount of emissions of major pollutants, and raise its forest coverage rate to 24.1 percent during its 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).<\/p>\n
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Such specific goals have pointed the way for the country\u2019s endeavor to a kind of modernization that promotes harmonious coexistence of man and nature.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s believed that by surmounting difficulties and continuing to work hard, the country will not only realize its dream of building a beautiful China, but bring greater fruits to its people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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