28 July 2019
Returning paradise lost:�� A story of hope for the Solomon Island�s forests.
In the�Solomon Islands, unsustainable�logging�has had serious�impacts�on forest land availability. ... It has been estimated that the forest cover has decreased � from 80% in the 1990s, to 76% today � indicating a significant loss in forestry resources including the biodiversity, soil loss, polluted rivers and streams and loss of habitat for birds and animals.
It is against such a background that I have been contrasting the situation in the northwest of China where, from a total desert 50 years ago, a man-made forest called the Saihanba National Forest Park, covering an area of 200.29 square kilometers has been established by generations of tree planters.
There are more than 618 species and 312 genera�vascular plants�cultivated in the park.
Within the boundaries of the park, there live: 261 species of mammals, 39 species of birds, 32 species of fish, and about 660 species of insects.
The forest protects the Chinese capital from desertification.
The story of the forest is inspirational and gives one hope that with determined efforts in the Solomon Islands the now degraded land can be transformed once again into the lush paradise it once was.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
�
