That means 66,600 hectares of land will be allowed to evolve into forests by 2005, and the "greenery cover" is expected to increase to 30 percent by 2020, the Shanghai Agriculture and Forestry Bureau revealed yesterday.

The largest green plot - at Pujiang Township in Min-hang - will be 6,000 hectares, nearly 40 times the current biggest park, Century Park in Pudong District.

When it's ready in three years' time, the "heat-island effect" will be slashed in downtown Shanghai as cool sea winds from the East China Sea will blow fresh air into the city from suburban forests, officials said.

According to the bureau's plan, four additional big forests, totally covering 8,400 hectares, will also be built in suburban Nanhui, Songjiang and Jiading districts and Chongming County by 2005.

At present, only 10 percent of public land in Shanghai is covered by forests, which is half the national level and one third of the average world level, the bureau said.

"To qualify as an ecological city, at least 35 percent of public land should be sheltered with green spaces," said Zhuang Jinghua, an official with the bureau.

He said 200,000 hectares of arable land on the city's out-skirts - two thirds of farmland - will be used to plant trees in the next two decades.

(eastday.com October 21, 2002)