Hohhot's progress in the sixth phase of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program, China's largest tree-planting initiative, is progressing smoothly.
The main task for this phase is to conduct afforestation or restoration work on 2.28 million mu (152,273 hectares) of land. About 715,800 mu of this total was completed between 2021 and 2023, leaving 1.57 million mu to be finished.
By March 15, another 9,363.3 mu had been completed, including 1,063.3 mu of forest nurturing, 240 mu of degraded forest restoration, 8,000 mu of grassland fencing, and 60 mu of sand control and grass planting.
Furthermore, to ensure the supply of key ecological plant materials for the sixth phase of the Three-North Shelter Forest Program, Hohhot has expanded its existing plant genetic resources repository. Plans include adding 1,000 plant specimens and 200 seed specimens, as well as conducting vitality tests on 200 seed samples.
Additionally, field nursery experiments will be conducted on 15 high-quality, characteristic, rare and endangered seeds, as well as 23 unnamed seeds.