guest column:Blessing T Mutsambwa “IF one generation plants a tree, the next generation will sit under a shade,” says one Chinese proverb. One thing you can’t help noticing when in Beijing, China, other than the high levels of infrastructure development is the harmonious, natural blend of buildings, roads and vegetation. Magnificent trees run alongside roads alike and flowers brighten the sidewalks. One is left to wander how in the wake of industrialisation the capital has managed to maintain a green environment. The Chinese government has given high priority to urban afforestation since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949. In the early 1950s, chairman Mao Zedong initiated a campaign to promote tree and flower growing throughout the country. The response was strong, both in terms of spontaneous and planned planting. However, it was recognised that further measures and incentives were necessary if tree planting was to keep pace with population growth and industrialisation. Over the past two decades, legislation and regulations related to both general and urban tree-planting have proliferated. As a result the capital has experienced impressive progress in tree planting over the past 32 years. Its forest coverage rate has increased from 12,83% in 1980 to 38,6% by the end of 2012. The percentage of green coverage in the urban area has risen from 20,08% to 46,2% according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Forestry. Over 32 years more than 78 million people have planted more than 189 million trees with a survival rate of more than 88%. In 1979, the Chinese central committee designated March 12 as a national tree planting day. In 1981, the fourth session of the fifth national people’s congress adopted a “resolution on the unfolding of a nationwide voluntary tree planting campaign” This resolution stipulated that every able-bodied citizen between the ages of 11 and 60 should plant three to five trees per year or do the equivalent work in seedling, cultivation or provide funds equivalent to the work required or pay heavy fines. Supporting documentation instructs all units to report population statistics to the local afforestation committees as a basis for workload allocation. The tree planting campaign was, therefore, actually compulsory. It is believed that at least one billion trees have been planted in China since 1982. The 1982 provisional rules and regulations on the forest and garden management of cities declare that historic, rare and large trees are State property and that their presence should be documented, marketed and protected. Tree cutting should be done with permission from the Beijing Forestry Bureau and notification of the Beijing Institute of Landscape and Gardening and heavy fines are imposed if trees are cut without permission. Forests are home to 80% of all terrestrial biodiversity. The forests of the world supply a significant amount of moisture that creates rain thus contributing to the hydrological cycle. Furthermore, trees can be used to improve the quality of human l