"三北" 防护林工程 (sanbei fanghulin gongcheng)

Three-North Shelterbelt Program

A program to plant trees, shrubs and pastures in the northwest, the north and the northeast of China, where deforestation and soil erosion are most severe across the country, in order to improve the ecological environment there. Started in 1979, the program covers 551 counties in 13 provinces and autonomous regions in the three areas, with a total area of 4 million square kilometers. Before 2050, 35.6 million hectares of forests are to be planted, which would raise the rate of forest coverage in the three areas to 14.95 percent from 5.05 percent in the late 1970s.

(China Daily 05/09/2008 page8)