Sansha, a city in Hainan province, administers several islands and atolls in the South China Sea, including the Spratly Islands which is being claimed by the Philippines.
The greening activity was reported by China Plus, an iOS and Android application based in China, which avows to bring to its subscribers “a daily digest of what matters to China today.”
It features photos of Chinese folk transporting tree seedlings to some of the barren islands in the South China Sea, particularly Yagong, Xisha and Jingjing islands.
“On Jinqing Island, for example, workers have to move trees onto the island themselves by dragging a small boat which carries the trees to shore as the island has no ports for ships to berth at this time,” said one photo caption.
“Limited fresh water and extreme weather are also threats posed to the growth of the trees. However, afforestation is vital for improving the island’s ecology because trees will provide a windbreak and help prevent shoreline erosion,” said another photo caption.
“The city of Sansha has so far planted 390,000 trees on its islands in the South China Sea,” it reported, but made no mention of the Spratly Islands.
The news said “the city said in March that they planned to plant 500,000 trees this year alone.”
The Spratly Islands are the center of an ongoing territorial dispute between Brunei, China (People’s Republic of China), Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
The Spratly area is believed to be rich in oil and natural gas and is also a productive area for fishing. It also hosts important commercial shipping traffic for various Asian and Western countries.
