Month: August 2021

China has made a great progress in afforestation across the country in the first half of 2021, according to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA), which said that China had expanded the country’s forest coverage by about 3 million hectares by the end of June, carrying out 84.3 percent of the country’s yearly afforestation plan. China adopted its national tree-planting initiative 40 years ago. Since then, the forest coverage […]

Herder Udruk and his family have been sleeping much more soundly since last winter, thanks to a new “bear-proof” home. Unlike traditional grassland dwellings, it has no windows on the ground floor. All the window and door frames are metal, not wood. The walls are reinforced with steel rods, and there is a metre-deep pit outside the front door, which must be bridged to gain entry. A bear approaching the […]

The US Forest Service has announced it had closed several popular hiking sites after discovering bubonic plague in the chipmunk population. The US agency announced this week that “based on positive plague tests” in the rodent population around hiking areas, it would close the well-trafficked Taylor Creek Visitor Center and nearby Kiva Beach through Friday. The closure includes some of the region’s most spectacular hiking spots, which meander through forested […]

The central environmental inspection office will step up measures to curb the introduction of projects with high energy consumption and emissions, an environmental official said on 27 July 2021. The more stringent controls are part of China’s efforts to reach its climate targets and further improve air quality. China is aiming for peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. Since 2015, the office has […]