China's Greater Hinggan Mountains sees expanding forest coverage

Lovely lake in Aershan National Forest Park, in the south part of the Greater Hinggan Mountains of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Aug 22, 2018. [Photo by Chen Zhiming/provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

China's largest State-owned forest area -- the Greater Hinggan Mountains in Inner Mongolia autonomous region -- has seen its forest coverage expand by over 1.38 million hectares over the past two decades.

According to the local forestry bureau, the area now has around 10.3 million hectares of forest, with a forest coverage rate of 78.39 percent.

The area boasts rich stores of natural resources such as forests, wetlands and wildlife. A total of 1,848 wild plants, 72 nationally protected wildlife species and nearly 1,000 rivers have been found in the area. The ecosystem of the forest area contributes greatly to water conservation and biodiversity in the region.

The management bureau of the forest area vows to increase the coverage rate to 80.8 percent by 2035 and 81.3 percent by the middle of this century.