China will replace its current method of afforestation by simply planting trees with a policy closing hillsides to livestock grazing and fuel gathering over the next few years, a senior forestry official said in Beijing Saturday.
   
"Banning livestock grazing and fuel gathering on hillsides is a practical afforestation method that can also protect the diversity of plant and animal species in those areas," said Wang Yanhui, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Forestry.
   
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Chinese people were called on to "conquer the nature," in which cutting trees as fuel for steel-making and filling lakes to reclaim land were popular. As a result, large areas of forests were destroyed.
   
Since the 1980s, artificial afforestation has been done every year as a way to improve natural environment. However, this way of afforestation sometimes does not fit in all places.
   
"In some areas, excessive tree-planting or lack of varieties of trees didn't improve the local ecological environment, but led to deterioration of it," Wang said, adding that closing hillsides to facilitate afforestation is more in compliance with "natural law."
   
Statistics from the State Forestry Administration show China's afforestation area hit 7.2 million hectares in 2004, 1.87 million were created by closing hillsides.
   
China's per-capita forest area is 0.12 hectare, and its per-capita forest volume is slightly more than nine cubic meters, about one fifth and one eighth, respectively, of the world's averages.
   
In 2005, China aims to achieve afforestation area of 7.3 million hectares, half of which will be accomplished through closing hillsides to livestock grazing and fuel gathering, said Wei Diansheng, director of the afforestation department of the State Forestry Administration.
   
"The most important thing is to know how to achieve this aim. The answer lies in obeying natural law," Wei said.

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2005)