Is this a fluke of nature or global warming? Heavy snowstorms in January and February have some wondering. Southern China rarely sees little if any snow in winter.

"It is a sign of global warming," said Zheng Guoguang, Deputy Head of the Chinese Meteorological Society. "We expect to see more extreme weather than ever before due to the warning of the earth's surface and we should be on alert."

International bodies have adopted two measures to address climate change. One is the direct reduction of emissions through upgrading technology and enhancing energy efficiency. The other is the indirect reduction of emissions by increasing forest coverage to absorb more carbon dioxide and reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

China has made contributions to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, especially through indirect reduction, though China is not obliged to cut emissions under the Kyoto Protocol, said Zhu Lieke, Deputy Director of the State Forestry Administration (SFA).

But the snow crisis, the worst in 50 years in southern China, damaged 10 percent of the country's forests, leading to huge economic losses and widespread environmental destruction. The loss of forest area because of the storms also does great damage to global efforts of easing the greenhouse effect.

Increasing forest coverage

According to Zhu, China has launched a large-scale national reforestation campaign since 1978. In November 1978, the Chinese Government decided to launch a program for building large-scale shelterbelts in northeast, north and northwest China. To now, this huge project, known as China's "Green Great Wall," stretches more than 4,480 km and is the largest ecological project in the world.

Over the past 29 years, people from all walks of life have participated in the tree-planting campaign since China set March 12 as its Arbor Day in 1979 and launched the national voluntary tree-planting campaign in the early 1980s. China takes the lead in artificial forestation in the world, with the afforested area accounting for one third of the world's total. The country has also introduced a series of laws and regulations to protect and promote the development of forests.

The Chinese Government decided to invest several hundred billion yuan in six forestry projects, including natural forest resources protection and forest rehabilitation in the decade starting in 2001.

SFA statistics show China's forestry resources have increased from 134 million hectares in 1978 to 175 million hectares at present, and its forest coverage rate rose to 18.21 percent. The Chinese Government has pledged to increase the country's forest coverage rate to 20 percent by 2010.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's report "Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005," about 50,000 square miles of forest resources were reduced worldwide between 2000 and 2005, while Asia gained 4,000 square miles during this period, with the growth mainly attributed to China's efforts.

The forest coverage growth in China has led to the constant increase in its annual carbon dioxide absorption by forests, with the amount rising from 470 million tons in 1990 to the present 500 million tons, or more than 8 percent of the country's total annual greenhouse gas emissions.

According to a study by Peking University, the per-unit carbon dioxide absorption capacity of China's forests has been improved as well, from 136.42 tons per hectare in the early 1980s to 150.47 tons per hectare in the early 2000s. From 1981 to 2000, the carbon sink, or the natural system that sucks up and stores carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, formed by China's land vegetation dominated by forests, offset 14.6-16.1 percent of China's industrial carbon dioxide emissions. From 1980 to 2006, carbon dioxide absorption in China totaled 5 billion tons due to its constant efforts and achievements in forestation and forest management.

The Chinese Government also adopted measures to encourage the use of marsh gas, stove reform and kitchen renovation in rural areas in order to reduce the consumption of wood. In the past two decades, China has cut 430 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions through controlling damages to forests.

At the end of 2006, six experts in different fields from China, Finland, Scotland and the United States assessed the carbon dioxide absorption capacity of global forest resources. The panel agreed that China topped the world in the growth of forest vegetation coverage during 1999-2005 and has made great contributions to the sustainable development of its own and even the global economy.

Carbon sink project

On February 25, 2008, China Green Carbon Fund signed contracts to invest a total of 20 million yuan ($2.8 million) in the carbon sink-oriented afforestation projects in seven provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, Heilongjiang and Gansu.

In order to encourage more people to participate in the tree planting campaign and address the issue of climate change, SFA, China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and China Green Foundation jointly set up the China Green Carbon Fund on July 20, 2007. As the first donator, CNPC offered 300 million yuan ($42 million) for the project. The fund was aimed to reduce 5-10 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in the next 10 years, through forestation and bio-energy development--a contribution to easing the effects of global warming.

"The Chinese Government always encourages enterprises to participate in forestation and forest management activities that are aimed to develop forest bio-energy and absorb carbon dioxide," said Zhu.

Beside these domestically funded carbon sink-oriented forestation projects, another project jointly developed between China and the international community and financed by the World Bank's BioCarbon Fund was launched in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in February 2005. This project, which aims to alleviate local poverty and reduce threats to local forests, was the first Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) forest carbon sink project sanctioned by the United Nations globally. Under the project, 4,000 hectares of trees will be planted in the region to absorb more than 60,000 tons of carbon dioxide between 2006 and 2035.

According to Zhu, China will actively expand its forest coverage in the future to increase the carbon dioxide absorption capacity and at the same time to enhance the timber quality.
"The country will endeavor to double its annual forest growth to 1 billion cubic meters and its forest ecosystem's overall carbon sink capacity in 30 to 50 years," said Zhu.

By 2010, the total area of natural reserves in China will account for 16 percent of its land territory, and 90 percent of typical forest ecosystems and species of animals and plants under state protection will be protected effectively, said Zhu.

According to Zhu, 22 million hectares of land vulnerable to desertification will be brought under control, and half of the country's wetlands, about 18 million hectares, will be properly preserved by 2010.