Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-29
By: Central News Agency

The central Taiwan county of Yunlin said Monday that it will restart a long-stalled afforestation plan in four barren coastal areas to increase ecosystem productivity there.

The plan is aimed at converting a total of 500 hectares of barren land in Taixi, Sihhu, Kouhu and Shuilin townships into rich eco-forests, according to county officials.

The four coastal areas are usually ravaged by floods in summer and fall and by sea blasts in winter, which makes it hard for plants to survive, the officials said.

An ecoforestry plan was launched by the county government in 2003 but was suspended in 2013 due to a conflicting national program introduced by the Council of Agriculture (COA) to cultivate fallow lands. As a result, Yulin’s afforestation efforts stalled after afforestation of only 1,104 hectares of land.     [FULL  STORY]