Erik Solheim, former executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), has commended China’s environmental protection and tree-planting campaign.

Mr Solheim gave the commendation during a virtual awareness campaign on tree planting to encourage environmental protection in Beijing, China. He said a beautiful picture of ecological progress could unfold globally, saying China could play a unique role in forest conservation and prevention of deforestation.

“During tree-planting activity in Beijing on April 4, President Xi Jinping told students around him to encourage children to plant trees when they become parents someday,” stated Mr Solheim. “As a man who grew up in Beijing, he had memories about Chinese scholar trees, Ebenaceae, malus spectabilis, pomegranate trees and jujubes always seen in traditional courtyard houses in the Chinese capital.”

He said, based on official statistics, China had added over 22 million hectares of forest in the past 10 years and contributed a quarter of global new forest area, the highest globally.

Mr Solheim also explained that there was a special holiday in Spring in China known as National Tree Planting Day thousands of years ago.

He described the tradition as sticking willow branches on doors during the Chinese Qingming Festival.

“In the country, tree planting is a matter of everyone, from national leaders to citizens. The Chinese people have always placed huge importance on tree planting. It symbolises revitalisation, sustainable development and inheritance of Chinese civilisation,” added Mr Solheim. “The Chinese government has even introduced a policy that awards every Chinese citizen who plants three to five trees a year with an honorary certificate.”

Emperor Shun, a traditional leader of the Tribal Alliance in the primitive society of China, regarded as one of the ancestors of the Chinese nation, had been appointed minister for the management of forestry affairs.

(NAN)