The provincial government of Hainan issued a plan to remove artificially planted forests within the Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park on May 19. Currently, 1.23 million acres of manually planted trees are being eliminated or replanted under this program.
The Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park contains a substantial proportion of artificial forest, which undermines the preservation of the park’s native rainforest ecosystem.
In recent years, Hainan has made progress in developing the national park, including resettling households previously within rainforest areas and relocating hydropower plants.
However, the park’s large number of plantations has fragmented the tropical rainforest ecosystem. To address this, the Hainan government devised this program to remove artificial forest.
The elimination of non-native plants will facilitate the regeneration of natural rainforest vegetation and strengthen the integrity of native ecosystems in the park.
