China’s forest conservation program is paying off, according to a Michigan State University study that reported significant tree recovery in 1.6 percent of China’s territory between 2000 and 2010, the Christian Science Monitor reported.
The recovered territory was larger than the 0.38 percent of land that continued to lose trees, making it China’s first net gain in tree cover in decades.
"Before, there was widespread deforestation," study author Andrés Viña told the Monitor. "Now that has stopped, and there is a net gain in forest cover."
The recovery is due to China’s implementation of the Natural Forest Conversation Program in 1998, heralded by flash flooding that caused $20 billion in damage. Between 1998 and 2000, the government invested $2 billion in that targeted forest rehabilitation in areas around river headwaters and other regions upstream, the Monitor reported.
China isn’t slowing down its efforts. The president has pledged to increase forest cover by 40 million hectares by 2020, according to the MSU study.
