The area of forests affected by pests, animals or diseases in the first half of this year reached more than 8.4 million hectares, a 9 percent increase compared with the same period last year, according to statistics from the State Forestry Administration.

 

The administration said the overall situation remained stable in the first half of the year and there was a decline in the number of pests or diseases affecting large-scale forests.

 

However, the situation has become more acute in some regions, it said.

 

Among the affected areas, over 7 million hectares saw the damage brought by pests, nearly a 7 percent rise compared with the same period last year, while 423,000 hectares were hit by diseases, down 26.6 percent.

 

In addition, more than 980,000 hectares of forests were affected by rats or rabbits, up 66.5 percent, the statistics said.

 

Problems brought by invasive alien species have become more and more noticeable as several alien grass species have spread rampantly in areas like southwest China's Yunnan Province and south China's Guangdong Province, affecting 10 million hectares of forest.

 

The administration predicted that the area of forests affected by pests or diseases in northeast and north China will increase slightly, while the impact of rats or rabbits in forests in northwest China will become more serious.

 

The administration has ordered all levels of forestry departments to take effective measures to prevent and fight against pests or diseases in forests.

 

One of these efforts took place in a 660-hectare forest located in the Great Hinggan Mountains, which is one of the nation's important forestry base. The forest was damaged seriously by pests due to dry weather.

 

After three months, more than 3,000 kilograms of pests were killed in the forest by the end of August and the situation has been brought under control, according to the People's Liberation Army Daily newspaper.

 

(China Daily September 5, 2003)