Offices sought for forest chief scheme

Forestry departments at all levels are urged to set up specific offices to better implement the "forest chief" scheme and draft specific goals for matters such as forest coverage and forest stock volume to better protect the country's ecological system.

"Forestry departments at all levels should set goals in accordance with their own conditions and build a supervisory system to better evaluate the work," Guan Zhiou, head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said on Friday.

"To better protect and develop forest and grassland resources, the head of the new office should play a vigorous role in promoting cooperation with other departments responsible for development and reform, as well as with the public security department and the legislature," he said at a conference in Beijing.

China started exploring the forest chief scheme in Anhui and Jiangxi provinces in 2017. Top Communist Party of China or government officials at provincial, city, county or township levels should assume the role of forest chief in their areas of administration.

Forest chiefs are charged with the protection and development of forest and grassland resources and must come up with targets in aspects such as forest coverage, forest stock volume and treatment of land desertification.

The plan was later expanded nationwide. In January, the general offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council released a guideline on comprehensively implementing forest chiefs across the country. So far, 25 provincial-level regions have piloted the project, according to Guan.

He noted that related policy trainings among enforcement staff are in urgent need, and positive experiences gained in the pilot cities should be widely recommended.

In addition, Guan emphasized the importance of public education on forest and grassland protection.

"Participation from the general public is crucial," he said. "Only with joint efforts from every member of society can our goal to improve the environment be achieved earlier."

Data from the administration showed that China led the world last year in its total area of afforestation, which reached 79.54 million hectares. The country has also set a goal to increase its forest coverage rate from 23 percent in 2020 to 26 percent by 2035.

In Anhui, the pilot scheme has made progress. Between 2017 and last year, Anhui saw 388,000 hectares of newly added forest, and the occurrence of forest fires dropped by 80 percent, according to the Anhui provincial forestry department.

So far, forest coverage in Anhui stands at 30.22 percent, and it has 270 million cubic meters of forest stock volume, which is defined as the total volume of the stems of all living trees per unit area.

"Apart from environmental protection, we aim to boost more green industries in the province, such as eco-friendly tourism, and bring more green benefits to the local residents," said Niu Xiangyang, director of Anhui Forestry Administration.