The first Asia-Pacific Urban Forestry Meeting was held in southern China's Zhuhai City from April 6-8. More than 250 international experts and scholars attended the meeting and discussed issues concerning forestry development in the urban areas of the Asia-Pacific region.

Zhuhai to become national forest city

The meeting was jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Urban Forestry Research Center of the State Forestry Administration of the People's Republic of China and the City of Zhuhai.

China has attached great importance to forestry development, which is included in the country's economic and social mid-to-long term development guidelines, said Peng Youdong, the vice administrator of the State Forestry Administration of China.

Statistics illustrate that, on average, every Zhuhai resident enjoys 19.5 square kilometers of green land. On January 29, Zhuhai was listed as one of the first seven eco-garden cities in China, becoming the first city in Guangdong Province on such a list. Zhuhai aims to become a national forest city by 2017.

Wang Cheng, the director of the urban forestry research center of the State Forestry Administration of China, suggested that Zhuhai should exert greater effort on its soil so as to build a "sponge city"to effectively collect and use rainfall.

"In the future, China will not only build forest cities, but will also build forest counties, towns and villages," said Peng Youdong.

Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)