Oct. 11, 2017 -- According to the Environmental Protection Department of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, in recent years Tibet's forest area and volume have both increased.

While 1.3 million mu (86,667 hectares) of ecological forest construction in key areas has been completed and 1.872 million mu (124,800 hectares) of land has been conceded to forestry, 4.0316 million mu (268,773 hectares) of land has been prevented from desertification.

With 3,323 mu (222 hectares) of land in Lhasa's Nanshan Mountain was covered by trees, a breakthrough for artificial afforestation at an altitude of more than 3,900 meters has been made.

Since the implementation of the natural forest protection project, forest coverage in the project area has increased by 0.9%. On the bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River, which is known as a "afforestation exclusion zone" , 450,000 mu (30,000 hectares) of protection forest has been built, allowing this previously barren patch of sand to transform into a "Green Great Wall", 160 km in length and with an average width of 1.8 km.

In Namling County, Shigatse City, an artificial afforestation demonstration area spanning more than 18,000 mu (1,200 hectares) has been built, and more than 95% of the trees planted have grown.

At Caina village in Lhasa, hundreds of hectares of forest tree variety base have been built and the nursery area has achieved 6,000 mu (400 hectares).

Besides, hundreds of hectares of walnut and apple bases has been built in Nyingchi and Shannan,and hundreds of hectares of wolfberry, sea-buckthorn and licorice have been planted in Shannan and Shigatse, as well as hundreds of hectares of grape, Kangba tangerine and apricot have been planted in Qamdo.