Cooperation Between SIFA and HJCFA in Building China-Japan Friendship Forest

Danjing Mountain in Sichuan Province used to be overgrown with weeds and suffered from severe soil erosion; now， it has become a lush， green China-Japan Friendship Park.

Through planting trees of economic value as timber， as well as fruit trees， the ecological environment of the upper reaches of the Tuo River in Sichuan has been protected and improved， soil erosion reduced， and the water purification much improved.

These are just two examples of the valuable results produced by cooperation between the Sichuan Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (SIFA) and the Hiroshima Japan-China Friendship Association (HJCFA). Together， they launched a project known as the Japan-China Friendship Forest in 2000 with the aim of protecting and improving the ecological environment in the areas along the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

They hoped forestation would help prevent soil erosion and be another means of furthering China-Japan friendly relations and deepening the friendship between the two peoples.

SIFA and the HJCFA jointly applied to the Japan-China Greening Exchange Fund (JCGEF) for funding for the project， and got both funds and technical guidance from the forestry departments of the beneficiary areas in Sichuan.

The tree planting was carried out by local farmers and supervised by SIFA. Over the past 10 years since the launching of the project， with the support and under the guidance of the State Forestry Administration and the General Office of the JCGEF， and with the concerted efforts of the Sichuan Forestry Department and relevant departments of the beneficiary areas， the outstanding achievements have been highly praised and sincerely welcomed by people in the beneficiary areas.

Since 2000， SIFA has carried out two six-year projects; one is the China-Japan Friendship Forest on Danjing Mountain and the other along the Tuo River Valley， both areas under the administration of Jianyang City.

With 34.50 million Japanese yen allocated by the JCGEF for these two projects， more than 570，000 nursery stocks of various kinds were planted on Danjing Mountain， greening an area of 144.2 hectares and over 420，000 stocks planted in the Tuo River Valley with a forested area of 154 hectares.

Besides the ecological benefits already mentioned， the projects helped restructure local agriculture and increase farmers’ income.

In 2006， SIFA launched a three-year forestation program along the banks of the Jialing River in Nanchong City， for which the JCGEF allocated 21 million Japanese yen. After the completion of this project， with a greening area of 220 hectares and one million various newly-planted nursery stocks， the vegetation in the areas along the Qushui-Tumen section of the Jialing River has been restored. Now， green forests are growing on both sides of the river attracting flocks of birds. It has become a good example of green ecology.

After the Wenchuan catastrophic earthquake in 2008， SIFA and the HJCFA jointly applied to the JCGEF for the project to help restore the forest lost in An County of Mianyang City. The JCGEF offered 27 million Japanese yen to be used for restoring 98 hectares of forest by planting 350，000 nursery stocks in Xiaoba Town of An County over a three-year period.

SIFA and the HJCFA are now trying to get more funds from the JCGEF for the project’s 4th and 5th years of work.

In 2009， SIFA promoted reforestation along the Peng’an section of the Jialing River covering 205 hectares of land and planting 520，000 nursery stocks within three years.

Over the past ten years， SIFA in close cooperation with the HJCFA has applied to the JCGEF for a total of 116.9 million Japanese yen， and planted over 2.9 million nursery stocks of various kinds with a forested area of 821.2 hectares， which has effectively prevented soil erosion in the valleys of the Yangtze River and earthquake-hit areas in Sichuan Province， and noticeably improved the local ecological environment.

The newly-planted trees of economic value have brought true benefits to the local farmers， a great number of whom have shaken off poverty. The building of a China-Japan Friendship Forest and restoring a green land has been a great success.