China has achieved its goal of establishing a "forest chief" scheme as scheduled, with nearly 1.2 million forest chiefs appointed in a year and a half, the country's forestry authority said Wednesday.

China issued a guideline to implement a forest chief scheme nationwide in December 2020, urging the nationwide roll out to conclude by June 2022 amid its unremitting efforts to protect its forests and grasslands.

With focus on the protection and development of forest and grassland resources, local governments across the country have promoted the reform of the forest chief scheme, basically establishing organizational and responsibility systems that link the upper and lower levels with clear responsibilities, and gradually forming the institutional systems with strong support and high efficiency.

"At present, there are nearly 1.2 million 'forest chiefs' at all five levels in the provinces of the country. We will establish a comprehensive assessment system for the 'forest chief' scheme, scientifically determine assessment indicators and strictly strengthen the supervision and assessment of the 'forest chiefs,'" said Xu Jide, director of the Department of Forest Resources Management under the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

Indicators measuring the performance of forest chiefs include forest coverage, forest stock volume, comprehensive vegetation coverage of grassland, and the area of desertified land restored, among others.

Forest and grass resources have been effectively protected by implementing the forest chief scheme. In 2021, 3.6 million hectares of land were planted, and 1.44 million hectares of land were tamed from desertification and stony desertification. For the first time, afforestation has been carried out directly to counties and registered on maps. The system of nature reserves, with national parks as the mainstay, continues to improve.

(Cover image via CFP)

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at nature@cgtn.com.)