China’s new forests aren’t as green as they seem

In the United Nations’ 2011 International Year of Forests, China isheralded as a superstar. Almost single-handedly, the country hashalted long-term forest loss across Asia, and even turned it intoa net gain. Since the 1990s, China has planted more than 4 millionhectares of new forest each year.
Earlier this month, President Hu Jintao pledged that China woulddo even more. He told a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic CooperationForum in Beijing that the nation would increase its total areaof forest by 40 million hectares over the next decade. China, he said, isready to make new contributions to green, sustainable growth.