The agriculture authority of China's Taiwan Province has launched a "one person, one tree" afforestation program, encouraging citizens to plant at least one tree in their lifetime, according to local media reports.

The new tree-planting program is aimed to turn the island into a "Green Sea Home", said an official of the agricultural department.

If everyone of the island's 23 million people could plant a tree in their life, Taiwan's green coverage will rise to 59.09 percent, and benefits from reduced carbon dioxide would be worth 540 million NT dollars (about 17 million U.S. dollars), the official said.

The department hopes that half of the population will be involved in the program in the next five years.

The authorities have chosen 12 kinds of trees suitable for planting in February, the designated tree-planting month in Taiwan.

(Xinhua News Agency February 14, 2008)