In its Olympic bid, Beijing pledged to afforest 50 percent of its land area by 2008. In fact, this goal was met in 2005, when a total of 1.054 million hectares of land, or 50.5 percent of the total land area, had been afforested. This year, the figure is expected to reach 51.6 percent, said Vice-Director of the Municipal Afforestation Bureau Wang Sumei on Wednesday.
The city initially pledged to afforest 70 percent of its mountainous area. By the end of 2006, trees had been planted on 69.52 percent of mountains and hills, and the figure is expected to reach a staggering 70.49 percent by the end of this year, Wang told a press conference at the Beijing Olympic Media Center.
She said Beijing has built three "green shelters" covering an area of 60,000 hectares of land. In addition, a green belt of 25,000 ha along five waterways and ten highways has been completed, which is more than the 230,000 ha initially promised. The city also realized its goal to green 40 percent of its urban area by 2005.
Wang also said that Beijing has created a total of 20 ecological conservation zones with a combined area of 134,000 ha, or 8.18 percent of its territory, more than the 8 percent pledged. A conservation network has been formed to protect over 90 percent of important wildlife species and their habitat.