On March 12, the National Tree Planting Day, Sichuan Provincial Greening Commission released a bulletin on afforestation in the province during 2023. In 2023, over 30 million individuals participated in voluntary tree-planting activities in Sichuan, leading to the planting of a total of over 100 million trees. Throughout the year, the province completed 4.98 million mu of afforestation, fostering the development of "green urban spaces where residents can live amidst vibrant greenery". The total output value of the forestry and grassland industry in Sichuan surpassed 500 billion yuan for the first time, reaching 520 billion yuan, transforming forest and grassland resources into "capital".
In 2023, the People's Government of Sichuan Province and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration jointly issued the Implementation Plan for the Construction of Scientific Greening Pilot Demonstration Province in Sichuan (2023-2025). This marked the official beginning of building Sichuan into a scientific greening pilot demonstration province.
Last year, Sichuan took a significant step in protecting ancient and famous trees by incorporating 25 first-class ancient trees and establishing 10 new provincial-level ancient tree parks. It actively sought funds totaling 6 million yuan from the central government and provincial finance department for the ancient and famous tree rescue and rejuvenation initiative, along with an extra 30 million yuan from the central special lottery funds, to strengthen the protection of key ancient trees, such as ancient cypresses in the Cuiyun Corridor.
To enhance the ecological value of forestry and grassland, the construction of the "Tianfu Forest Grain Depot" was officially launched. A total of 243,000 mu of oil-tea camellia trees were newly planted and transformed in the province, exceeding the annual target by 20%. Additionally, Sichuan approved 13 new provincial-level bamboo shoot industrial bases, boasting a processing capability that surpasses 900,000 tons of bamboo shoots. The business areas of forest fungus, forest medicinal herbs, and other under-forest economies in Sichuan exceeded 20 million mu, yielding a forest grain output of over 14 million tons. In the province, 28 new modern bamboo industrial bases were identified. Additionally, 2 bamboo industrial bases were upgraded to provincial-level five-star facilities and 3 others to four-star status. This resulted in an output value of 110 billion yuan in the bamboo industry, representing a year-on-year increase of 8%.
In the realm of ecological restoration and governance, last year, Sichuan established 646,000 mu of man-made forests, sealed off 400,000 mu of mountainous areas to facilitate afforestation, and successfully restored 1 million mu of degraded forests. Furthermore, extensive forest tending initiatives covered 2.934 million mu of land, and measures were employed to control 599,000 mu of desertificated land, 19,000 mu of dry river valleys, and 56,000 mu of stony desertification.
