On March 17, reporters learned at a press conference held by the Anhui Provincial Government Press Office that last year the province completed 216,800 mu (about 14450 hectares) of afforestation, 866,900 mu of mountain closure and forest cultivation, 762,100 mu of degraded forest restoration, and 6,875,000 mu of forest tending. Forest stock volume reached 270 million cubic meters, ranking second in the Yangtze River Delta. The total output value of the forestry sector was approximately RMB 700 billion, placing it among the nation’s leading provinces.

The province has widely carried out voluntary tree‑planting activities, and the Provincial Greening Committee Office has continued to advance the “Internet + Voluntary Tree Planting” initiative, issuing 1,075 various duty‑fulfilling activities last year. Efforts to invigorate forestry carbon sinks have expanded new pathways for voluntary planting: the province took the lead in introducing a provincial forestry carbon‑credit certificate system, issuing two batches totaling 10 provincial forestry carbon certificates representing 385,000 tonnes of CO2 reductions, and opened “carbon‑certificate+” channels for consumption. Across the province 25 carbon‑certificate transactions have been completed, receiving RMB 21 million in credit from financial institutions and supporting seven state‑owned forest farms in land greening and forest management. Anqing City issued 66 public‑open duty activities, established 83 new voluntary tree‑planting bases, and completed 69,000 mu of voluntary planting. Tongling City carried out nearly 100 offline voluntary planting events, with over 547,200 participants fulfilling duties.

In addition, the province has launched a “colorful forest” campaign and completed a number of scenic forest belts, including the Xin’an River Landscape Gallery in Shexian County, Huangshan City; the Liudaowan “Southern Anhui Sichuan‑Tibet Route” in Jingxian County, Xuancheng City; and the “Secret Garden” along the Qiupu River in Shitai County, Chizhou City. The province actively promotes sustainable forest management across the full life cycle, implementing 82 provincial forest quality improvement projects and systematically advancing stand transformation and tree‑species structure adjustments. Efforts to build the national reserve forest are being carried out in an orderly manner, with innovative operating models such as “national reserve forest + under‑forest economy” and “national reserve forest + carbon sink.” Seedling and superior‑variety cultivation have been strengthened, with eight national and 14 provincial elite tree seedling bases established, and germplasm resource banks numbering four at the national level and 44 at the provincial level. Overall forest quality has substantially improved: during the 14th Five‑Year Plan period, the per‑unit‑area stock volume of arbor forests increased by 8.85%.

Source: Anhui Daily