China to up reforestation

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BEIJING, Oct. 14 (UPI) -- China has plans to increase its forest coverage to 21.66 percent by 2015 in an effort to improve the country's ecological environment, an official said Sunday.

Sun Zhagen, vice head of the State Forestry Administration, unveiled the plan at a forum on sustainable forestry development, Xinhua reported.

Sun said the effort is to cope with global climate change. Some $7.22 billion have been set aside to subsidize farmers whose farmland was reclaimed and turned into forests.

China's forest coverage reached 20.36 percent in 2009, up from 18.21 percent in 2006, the SFA said. Some 20.54 million hectares of forests have been restored so far in the country.