Southwest China's Yunnan Province has adopted a set of new regulations aimed at curbing the ecological deterioration caused by the uprooting and replanting of trees in the wild.

In Kunming, realtors have begun uprooting trees from wooded areas and replanting them on their lots for sale to increase their property value, according to an official with the local forest bureau.

In some other cities, using ancient trees for urban landscaping has also become popular, he said.

Such practices have caused severe ecological damage and have even resulted in the deaths of a number of rare trees which were not replanted in properly.

According to the new regulations on forest management, the replanting of wild trees for urban landscaping or scientific research must be authorized by municipal forestry departments. The government has added another condition: New trees must be planted in the place of those removed.

(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2003)