Chinese demand effective tree-planting campaign

 　　BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- This year's Tree-Planting Day comes at a fitting time, as the memory of a sandstorm that ravaged¹ large parts of north China last weekend is still stingingly fresh.

　　The Chinese public observed Tree-Planting Day, a yearly campaign designed to promote tree-planting efforts, on Tuesday. But now more and more people are doubting the campaign's effectiveness, complaining that all the talk about planting trees has not resulted in much action.

　　Hazardous² levels of pollution that have hit multiple Chinese cities in recent months have served to galvanize public opinion regarding the government's efforts -- or lack thereof -- to clean up the country.

　　Although students, government employees and white-collar workers have been mobilized to plant trees in Beijing's suburbs, many people still have doubts about whether the campaign is truly effective or just a publicity³ stunt⁴.

　　"It is more of a sense of publicity than practicality. Tree-planting efforts should be carried out by forestry⁵ professionals," said Yang Mingsen, president of China Environment News, a newspaper sponsored by the Ministry⁶ of Environmental Protection.

　　The National Afforestation Committee Office issued a report on Monday stating that some 600 million people helped to plant trees nationwide last year, with 2.6 billion trees planted. Volunteers have planted 64 billion trees since the government first encouraged participation⁷ in such activities in 1981, according to the report.

　　"So what? We want to know how many of the trees have survived," netizen "zhaozhaolehuo" wrote on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.

　　Netizen "woodcarola" said Tree-Planting Day reminds him of donations that he and his classmates made in high school.

　　"Our teacher told us the money would pay for trees to be planted in Inner Mongolia in order to prevent sandstorms. But I don't know where our donated trees are after all these years," he wrote.

　　Conditions in some urban areas have made it difficult to plant trees. A woman from east China's Zhejiang Province who sought to plant a tree with her son was told by local forestry authorities that there were no available areas to plant trees, the Beijing Times reported on Tuesday.

　　Zhang Jianlong, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, said 80 million mu (5.3 million hectares) to 90 million mu of forest are planted annually⁸, although 30 million mu is consumed by the logging industry.

　　Illegal logging, forest fires and pests have also consumed many trees, he said.

　　Still, many believe the government has not prioritized forestry protection. In 2011, residents of the city of Nanjing in east China's Jiangsu Province launched a campaign to protect old trees that they believed would be targeted for destruction in order to make way for subway construction.

1 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

2 hazardous   

adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的

参考例句：

• These conditions are very hazardous for shipping.这些情况对航海非常不利。
• Everybody said that it was a hazardous investment.大家都说那是一次危险的投资。

3 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

4 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

5 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

6 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

7 participation   

n.参与，参加，分享

参考例句：

• Some of the magic tricks called for audience participation.有些魔术要求有观众的参与。
• The scheme aims to encourage increased participation in sporting activities.这个方案旨在鼓励大众更多地参与体育活动。

8 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。