Southwest China's
Yunnan Province has adopted a set of new regulations aimed at
curbing the ecological deterioration caused by the uprooting and
replanting of trees in the wild.
In
Kunming, realtors have begun uprooting trees from wooded areas and
replanting them on their lots for sale to increase their property
value, according to an official with the local forest bureau.
In
some other cities, using ancient trees for urban landscaping has
also become popular, he said.
Such practices have caused severe ecological damage and have even
resulted in the deaths of a number of rare trees which were not
replanted in properly.
According to the new regulations on forest management, the
replanting of wild trees for urban landscaping or scientific
research must be authorized by municipal forestry departments. The
government has added another condition: New trees must be planted
in the place of those removed.
(Xinhua News Agency February 15, 2003)