Aerial photo taken on Jan. 15, 2021 shows visitors enjoying their leisure at Ahahu national wetland park in Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
BEIJING, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's forest stock volume exceeded 17.5 billion cubic meters by the end of the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-2020), according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
In 2016-2020, China's forest coverage rate rose significantly to 23.04 percent compared with the 21.66 percent in 2011-2015.
China's eco-system has been continuously improved during the period. Some 545 million mu (about 36.33 million hectares) of land has been afforested, 637 million mu of forest tended, and 48.05 million hectares of national reserve forest established.
Commercial logging is prohibited in order to protect natural forest nationwide, protecting 1.944 billion mu of natural arbor forest from harm.
Comprehensive vegetation coverage of natural grassland has reached 56.1 percent. Meanwhile, China also launched projects to protect and recover mangrove forest, thanks to which the total wetland area has increased by over 3 million mu. Desertification in China is also better-managed than before.
Large-scale afforestation will continue to be one of the top priorities for the following five years, said Guan Zhiou, director of the administration. Compared with the figure in 2005, China's forest stock volume has to be increased by 6 billion cubic meters by 2030 to contribute to the country's target of bringing carbon dioxide emissions to a peak before 2030 and becoming carbon neutral before 2060 to tackle climate change, according to Guan. (Edited by Wang Jing, Niu Huizhe with Xinhua Silk Road, niuhuizhe@xinhua.org)
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