The program is aimed at collecting and establishing more detailed information on local animals and plants, upgrading scientific research and setting up more facilities serving the protection of forests, according to the State Forestry Administration.

The program will run for seven years and is expected to get additional funding as it goes on, sources said.

The Xishuangbanna forest, in southern Yunnan, is the only tropical rain forest in the country. Xishuangbanna now has more than 5,000 kinds of plants, 341 of them are rare plants. The region is also home to more than 2,000 species of animals, of which 129 species are under state protection, such as Asian elephants, buffalo, wild ox and gibbon.

China first established a state-level nature reserve in Xishuangbanna in 1958, and has taken a series of measures to protect local animals and plants since.

As a result, the forest in the region has increased from the former 150,000 hectares to the current 187,000 hectares, with the forest coverage rate reaching 63 percent.

To save the local forest, the Chinese government has set up centers for publicizing the knowledge on the protection of animals and plants in hundreds of local villages and encourages local people to use electricity, methane gas, coal and liquefied gas to cook meals instead of cutting trees for wood.

The efforts of the Chinese government have won worldwide support. The environment foundation of the United Nations and countries including the United States, the Netherlands, Germany and Britain have offered funds for building sentry posts, training management personnel, purchasing vehicles, computers and GPS equipment for protecting Xishuangbanna forest.

(Xinhua 08/20/2001)