China has reassigned more than 60,000 soldiers to plant trees in a bid to to tackle global warming and air pollution.
It is hoped that newly-planted forests will cover an area of 32,400 square miles – roughly the size of Ireland – in 2018, as the country aims to increase forest coverage to 23% of total landmass by the end of the decade,The Asia Times reported.
A large detachment of the People’s Liberation Army, along with members of the armed police force, have been withdrawn from their posts on the northern border to work on non-military tasks inland.
China wants its armed forces to play a major role in the massive tree planting campaign
The areas adjoining Beijing are being especially targeted in the tree planting campaign
Chinese soldiers took part in major tree planting activities ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games
Most will be deployed Hebei province, which encircles Beijing and is known as a major contributor to the notorious smog which blankets the capital city.
Earlier this month it was announced that China was constructing the world’s first forest city where all buildings are covered in plants and trees to tackle global warming and air pollution.
The Liuzhou Forest City will be home to 30,000 people once completed in a few years’ time.
Offices, houses, hotels, hospitals and schools will be entirely covered by a total of 40,000 trees and 1million plants of 100 species.
They will absorb almost 10,000 tons of CO2 and 57 tons of pollutants per year and produce around 900 tons of oxygen.
The city will be built in the north of Liuzhou in the mountainous area of Guangxi, south China, in an area that covers 175 hectares along the Liujiang river.
It is hoped that the trees will help reduce Beijing’s notoriously high levels of pollution
Smog can regularly be seen enveloping Beijing with many people in the city choosing to wear air pollution masks
Air pollution in Chinese cities is notoriously bad, with the government under pressure to tackle the causes of smog, especially the country’s reliance on coal-fired power plants, still the primary source of electricity.
The armed police force now has a specially designated forestry wing to patrol and exercise jurisdiction in forested areas – such as the north-eastern Greater Khingan mountain range – dubbed ‘China’s green lungs’ – in Heilongjiang and Inner Mongolia provinces, The Asia Times said.
It reported that Zhang Jianlong, head of the State Forestry Administration, recently pledged that that China would aim to grow at least 6.66 million hectares of new forest this year.
China’s total forested area is now around 208 million hectares, with 33.8 million hectares having been added in the past five years.
Heavily polluted Hebei province has for its part pledged to raise its total forest coverage to 35% by the end of 2020.
It is here where the bulk of the troops pulled back from the frontlines will be deployed for ‘afforestation duties’, The Asia Times reported.