China’s amount of forested land will reach 207 million hectares by the end of 2015 and will be able to process 8.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide, a senior forestry official said Tuesday.
Jia Zhibang, chief of the State Forestry Administration (SFA), made the remarks at a national work conference on the management of forestry resources held in China’s southwest Chongqing Municipality.
China will retain 309 million hectares of forested land by the end of the country’s 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), said Jia.
“To achieve these goals, we have to turn strategic decisions into practical actions,” he said.
He said the country will establish creative mechanisms to promote the management of forestry resources.
“As for the 60 percent of forested land that is under collective ownership, we will lease these lands to local farmers and ensure their property rights,” he said.
He said the government will also create an integrated control system to provide more efficient services concerning forestry management.
China invested 297.9 billion yuan (about 45.71 billion U.S. dollars) in its forestry sector during the 11th Five-Year period (2006-2010). This investment was mostly directed toward ecological construction and forestry sector reforms, said the SFA.
In China, forested land is defined as forest covering an area of more than 1 mu (about 0.07 hectare) with a crown density of 20 percent or more, according to the SFA. Crown density refers to the amount of coverage created by the tops of trees.
