Sanya bags 'forest city' title in Hainan

The Sanya Central Business District is covered in lush greenery. [Photo/Sanya Daily]

Sanya has met all the provincial-level requirements to establish itself as a "forest city" due to its achievements in the ecological construction, protection, and boosting the culture of local forest land, according to a notice posted by the Forestry Department of Hainan Province.

Since 2019, Sanya has accelerated construction of a forest city while adhering to high standards. At present, the city's forest area spans 134,700 hectares. Its wetland area covers 8,930 hectares, while its forest coverage rate now stands at 70.08 percent, and the city's per capita public green space area is 16.25 square meters. Most residents now live with just 500 meters of green spaces fit for leisure activities.

In addition, Sanya promotes institutional innovation and encourages residents to participate in forest protection efforts. It has also issued a plan to promote a forest chief system to enhance the governance capacity of these green expanses.

Wang Rui'an, director of Sanya's municipal bureau of forestry, said the city will keep making efforts to accelerate the establishment of a national forest city with increasingly higher standards and quality.

A total of five cities and counties in the province, including Haikou, Qiongzhong, Baoting, Changjiang and Sanya, have passed the provincial forest city construction assessment and acceptance exams, with Sanya ranking highest in the latter based on its score of 98.44.