Guangxi has ranked top in China in terms of both its artificial forest area and the scale and quality of its national reserve forest, said Huang Xianyang, director of the Department of Forestry of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Feb 5.

Guangxi, located in the upper reaches of the Pearl River, has a forest coverage rate of 62.45 percent and has one of the best ecological environments in China. 

The region will now strive to finish the afforestation of an overall area of 2.8 million mu (186,667 hectares), optimizing the establishment of the "ecological security barrier" for the Pearl River and Xijiang River basins, border areas, and the coastal areas of the Beibu Gulf.

Huang said that the region has put a stop to logging natural forest and has launched several projects such as its forestry ecological protection and restoration project, which has afforested 3 million mu and planted 80 million trees every year on average for 12 consecutive years. 

Sediment loss on Guangxi's farmland decreased by 50 percent in five years and its rocky and desertified land area decreased by 20 percent, making Guangxi a national pioneer in terms of land treatment effects.

Guangxi has finished planting a 24 million mu protection forest along the Pearl River, offering a vital guarantee for the water usage of people in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The region will also give full play to its ecological advantages to develop all-for-one forestry tourism, turning the area into the "backyard garden" of the Greater Bay Area and an ideal place for relaxation and rehabilitation.