Forestry plan to green suburbs

Forestry officials have said that a massive afforestation project will start Saturday to help with environmental protection and to accelerate growth in rural areas of Beijing.

However, a forestry expert has told the Global Times that the trees are being planted too far away from the downtown to have any beneficial effect on the city's PM2.5 pollution.

In 2013, it is planned to plant 23,000 hectares of trees, equal to four times the area inside the city's Second Ring Road. Ninety percent of the planting will take place in spring. For every 0.06 of a hectare planted, the cost averages out at 30,000 yuan ($4,830), according to the bureau's press release, which could mean a total cost of 10 billion yuan this year.

The project is part of a plan to plant 66,666 hectares of trees in five years, a goal that was set during the 11th Beijing Municipal Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012.

Yuan Shibao, the division chief for tree-planting at the forestry bureau, said that they have chosen trees such as willows and poplars that are suitable for Beijing.

"These trees will have a beneficial influence on improving Beijing environment. It will take six months for trees planted with a leafy crown to start having a protective influence on the environment. Other saplings [with no leaves] will take around two years to grow," said Yuan.

The trees will mainly be planted in Tongzhou, Shunyi, Daxing, Changping and Fangshan districts and alongside major roads, railways and rivers.

Sun Zhenyuan, a professor from the Chinese Academy of Forestry, said that such a large investment into this afforestation project will have few positive effects.

"The areas chosen to plant the trees are so far away from the city center that they will have little effect on improving the downtown environment. They may have a certain ability to absorb dust," said Sun.

According to Sun, the only benefit of the project will be to provide job opportunities for local farmers.

"Most of those places chosen to plant forests are deserted places in rural areas. By planting trees there, those farmers can be employed to plant and keep those trees," said Sun.

Yuan disputed Sun's comments, and pointed out most of these trees will be planted inside the Sixth Ring Road and will contribute to improving the air quality in Beijing, including both PM2.5 and PM10 pollution.

"Afforestation is both good for the environment and can accelerate economic growth and create employment opportunities for locals," said Yuan.

But Sun said that the most efficient way to treat Beijing's poor environment is to tackle the source.

"Take PM2.5 pollution as an example, vehicle emissions are the major reason for this pollution. This can't be solved by planting more trees along the roads. On the contrary, the trees planted downtown are only good for trapping PM10 rather than PM2.5," said Sun.

PM10 particles are larger and mostly derive from dust and sandstorms.

"The dispersal of PM2.5 is mainly by wind these days. The trees along the road will decrease the wind speed which actually has a negative influence on the treatment of PM2.5 pollution," Sun said.

Liu Bing, a forestry expert with Greenpeace, said that generally speaking, afforestation projects are good for the environment, but we should wait and see just how effective this project will be.

"Forestry planting should follow two rules. The first is to put the appropriate biodiversity in the appropriate places. This means we should take into consideration the characteristics of those plants and the local environment, such as its temperature and soil conditions," said Liu.

The other cardinal rule to follow is to avoid planting only one kind of tree in the same area, which may attract pests and diseases, he said.

"Besides, not only trees can be planted. Grasses and bushes can be planted together with trees," noted Liu.

In 2012 in Beijing, 16.71 million trees were planted on 16,973 hectares of land.