The State Forestry Administration has launched a nation-wide probe into illegal requisition of woodlands, in a bid to prevent China's already limited forests from being nibbled away by unauthorized practices.

Xiao Xingwei, director of the department of forest resources under the State Forestry Administration (SFA) made it clear at a press conference that priority will be given to woodlands taken over by development zones and golf courses illegally set up by local authorities.

Meanwhile, forestry authorities will also look into unapproved uses of woodlands and illegal transfers for non-forestry uses.

According to China's Forestry Law, projects that take up woodlands must be approved by forestry authorities with fees charged for vegetation rehabilitation of an area equivalent to the one destroyed. And those who destroy farm or woodland could face up to five years in jail.

However, according to Xiao, some local governments, driven by profit, have involved in various illegal woodlands projects.

In north China's Shanxi Province, for instance, a freeway project between Yuncheng and Sanmenxia took more than 161 hectares of woodlands owned by local farmers without any approval.

Although SFA has urged Shanxi to check the two cases since 2002,no reports have been submitted.

China's forests coverage rate is less than 17 percent, and only accounts for 61 percent of the world average due to chronic land reclamation for farming, SFA experts said.

Driven by profit, projects by local governments have repeatedly become more numerous to parallel the country's rapid economic growth.

"Forest resources are thus suffering serious damage while some local authorities either illegally occupy woodlands for projects or back up such misdoing," Xiao said.

(China Daily April 7, 2004)