Shanghai unveils plan to build 50 woodlands parks by 2025
A bird's-eye view of Baijiacun Forest Park in Shanghai's suburban Jinshan District.
Shanghai will build 50 parks in woodlands by 2025 as it looks to meet residents' demand for green ecological space to spend their leisure time, the city's greenery authorities announced on Thursday.
Shanghai has been developing forests to improve the local ecological environment and by the end of last year, the city's forest coverage had hit 18.51 percent.
To enable residents to enjoy more ecological space, Shanghai has renovated some of these lands and improved supporting facilities, such as benches, rest stations, parking spaces, public toilets and fitness facilities, to make them accessible, officials revealed.
The city had developed 62 woodlands into leisure spaces between 2021 and 2022 and 15 out of 64 scheduled this year had been converted so far, according to the Shanghai Greenery and Public Sanitation Bureau.
"These forests are not the same as urban parks but they are ideal places for people to get close to nature, observe wildlife and take a stroll, and they will enrich residents' leisure life," said Xu Zhiping, director of the bureau's forestry department.
Facilities for children at Baijiacun Forest Park
Baijiacun Forest Park in Zhangyan Town of suburban Jinshan District, catering to people's leisure demand, has already opened to the public. It features a variety of plants, including some foliage.
The park boasts the Yulan Lake in the center with the first phase covering 1,131 mu (75.4 hectares).
"In the past, the trees were high and dense, preventing people from walking through," said Wang Yunxin, an official with the Zhangyan Town Urban Construction Center.
A greenway has been built at Baijiacun Forest Park and benches have been installed.
"A restoration was completed in 2021, making it accessible to the public, and we have introduced many new varieties of plants such as cherry blossoms and maples with brilliant colors to enrich the landscape," Wang revealed.
The forest also has dawn redwoods, camphors and sweet-scented osmanthus, some nearly 20 years old.
"We have built a playground for children, a pavilion and benches with lighting and surveillance cameras to ensure safety," Wang noted.
Baijiacun Forest Park is children-friendly with a variety of facilities.
There are also camping and fishing areas and two minsu (Chinese version of homestays) in the forest.
"The forest has now become a popular spot, attracting many visitors who are mostly nearby residents on weekends," said Wang, adding that construction of the forest park's second phase will start soon.
A forest near Qingxi Country Park in suburban Qingpu District
A leisure forest near Qingxi Country Park in suburban Qingpu District opened to the public in 2021.
Designed based on the concepts of a watertown forest and a wildlife paradise, and embellished with new landscapes, it enables visitors to take in a symphony of chirping insects, croaking frogs and twittering birds.
