For those living in the Northern Hemisphere， now is the best season to plant a tree. On March 12， China’s 40th annual Tree Planting Day， schools， families and work units organized greening rituals， with temperature climbing and the frozen ground thawing.
Awareness of the importance of tree planting growing over the past decades， it is no surprise that NASA released a report in February， announcing that the world is literally a greener place because of China， together with India， greening our planet. Based on its satellite imagery， the two countries are contributing to the largest increase in global green foliage. Data show that China alone accounts for 25 percent of the global net increase in green leaf area between 2000 and 2017.
Such a grand-scale achievement cannot have been made solely from endeavors on Tree Planting Day. It takes a nation to make such a green change， working all year round with uelenting efforts. Greening initiatives against deforestation have been undertaken on many fronts since the People’s Republic of China was founded in 1949. Many major ecological battles have been fought along the way in the quest to go green.
Since 1956， China has established 2，750 nature reserves， accounting for 15 percent of the national land area. These reserves aim to maintain the ecosystem and provide shelter for flora and fauna. The giant panda is the species that has benefi ted most from conservation efforts. The much-loved animal was removed from the endangered species list in 2016， while still retaining a vulnerable status. Decades of protection brought their numbers back from the brink of extinction. New ecological corridor programs are underway to restore and improve pandas’ habitats， which were destroyed due to traffi c patterns and human activity.
The year 1979 witnessed the birth of the ThreeNorth Shelter Forest Program. Extending from the northeastern to the northwestern tip of the country， the project covers more than 40 percent of China’s land area and will continue until 2050. The ambitious program has effectively decreased desertifi cation of the land， reduced air pollution and mitigated the negative effect of climate change. More positive results are expected.
Chinese people once had to reclaim land from forests， grassland and the sea to provide food， but later realized that the price they had to pay was too high. Since 1999， a project to convert degraded farmland into forests and pastures has been underway. Farmers are given subsidies to give up degraded arable land for afforestation and grass plantation， and close certain mountains for forest rehabilitation.
