Logging ban sparks nature’s rebirth

Guardian of the forest: A staff member of Greater Khingan Forest Industry Group showing cultivated red pine seedlings at a nursery garden in Tuqiang Town of Mohe, Heilongjiang province. — Xinhua

While spring afforestation is in full swing across much of China in March, a nursery garden in the Khingan Mountains, home to northern China’s largest natural forest barrier, remains quiet.

“It’s not time yet. Usually, planting begins here at full steam when the snow starts melting around mid-April,” said Yan Chaofu, director of the Pinglin nursery garden owned by Longjiang Forest Industry Group Co Ltd (Longjiang Forest), located in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province.