Beijing to add more green space

Photo taken on June 27, 2019 shows the site of an afforestation project in the suburban Yanqing District of Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

BEIJING, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Beijing will add 22 leisure parks and urban forests, and 50 pocket parks and small green areas in 2023, local authorities said.

It is expected that by the end of this year, 89 percent of residents will enjoy parks and small green areas within a radius of 500 meters, according to the Beijing Municipal Forestry and Parks Bureau.

Beijing now has 1,050 parks of various kinds, including urban leisure parks, urban forests, pocket parks, and small green areas.

Beijing also plans to complete the ecological restoration of 120,000 mu (8,000 hectares) of land and afforestation of 15,000 mu in 2023 and add another 200 hectares of urban green area.

From 2012 to 2017, Beijing launched an afforestation project covering 1 million mu.

A new round of afforestation projects, carried out from 2018 to 2022, added 1.02 million mu of green areas in Beijing.

Beijing has restored 10,200 hectares of wetlands over the past five years and has 596 species of terrestrial wild animals currently.