This Day, That Year: forests recovering

A forest ranger attends to a young nanmu tree in Yunyang county, Chongqing, on May 25, 2016. [Photo/IC]

Chinese authorities have been intensifying their crackdown on forestry crimes.

According to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, China's forests are now recovering after decades of illegal logging and conversion to farmland, with more than 1.5 million hectares added annually since 2010.

The 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) has set a forest protection target of 23 percent, or 223 million hectares, according to the State Forestry Administration.

China has been implementing a forest conservation program since 1998. It banned commercial logging in 17 provinces as a response to unsustainable logging in the 1980s.

Last year, forestry police reported more than 225,000 cases of destruction of forest resources and seized close to a half million wild animals.

Related: Planters' punch

Green barrier improves lives of herdsmen