210mn trees planted in Beijing in 40 yrs

Beijing, March 12 (IANS) Over 100 million people have participated in Beijing's voluntary afforestation campaign, planting a total of 210 million trees from 1980 to 2020, authorities said on Friday.The forest coverage of the national capital rose from 12.83 per cent to 44.4 per cent during the period, with forest stock totalling 25.2 million cubic meters, according to information released by the Capital Greening Office.The green spaces coverage of the capital's urban areas rose from 20.08 per cent to 48.5 per cent during the period, with the per capita green space area reaching 16.5 square metres, Xinhua news agency reported.China launched the voluntary tree-planting campaign in 1981. Through decades of afforestation, China's forest coverage rate has risen from 12 per cent in the early 1980s to 23.04 per cent currently, said Liu Dongsheng, deputy director of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
--IANS ksk/