China Wants to Plant Massive Forest the Size of Ireland to Aid in Conservation Efforts

This new forested area will be located in the northeast Hebei province, the Qinghai province in the Tibetan Plateau and in Inner Mongolia toward the Hunshandake Desert. 

Over the last two decades, China has spent roughly $47 billion in planting trees over 69.2 million acres of abandoned farmland. And over the last five years, there's been 33.8 million hectares planted. In total, investments have been estimated to cost $82.88 billion in planted trees and restoration services. These new policies will also come alongside something Zhang called "ecological red line" policies. Those new regulations would require local governments to cut down on "irrational" development near forested areas and other rivers and national parks.

However, a study from 2016 pointed out that while the reforestry efforts were commendable, they didn't do much in the way of encouraging biodiversity. China had been planing monocultures rather than forests and thus has seen issues with restoring biodiversity back into the area as well. 

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David Wilcove served as a Princeton University ecologist and evolutionary biologist. He noted that despite its issues, China's program could be an impressive model for other areas of the world to look toward -- especially those struggling with deforestation. 

"I think we are going to see bona fide land abandonment, and that’s going to create opportunities around the world for reforestation," Wilcove noted in a 2016 interview. "The critical policy question is how to restore forests that provide multiple benefits to society, including preventing soil erosion, providing timber, and sustaining wildlife."