China has added forest the size of Texas since 1990

Scope and Quality of China’s New Forests

• Commenters note China’s large reforestation programs (e.g., Great Green Wall) started in the late 1970s to combat desertification, flooding, and dust storms.
• Mixed views on effectiveness: early plantings used unsuitable species with high mortality, but methods reportedly improved over time (e.g., straw grids in deserts).
• Concern that much of the increase is monoculture plantations, not complex forest ecosystems; risks include low biodiversity, water stress, and fire vulnerability.
• Some mention local fraud (painted rocks, plastic trees) and question official figures, given reliance on government self‑reporting.

Global Context and Historical Deforestation

• Several comments situate China alongside other countries: Canada, India, Russia, the US, and parts of Europe have also seen net forest gains.
• Historical perspective: Europe and China were heavily deforested long before modern industry; recent gains partly just restore earlier damage.
• Debate over whether economic development naturally leads to reforestation:
  • One side stresses wealth and efficiency (fewer people farming marginal land, urbanization).
  • Others emphasize state capacity, property enforcement, and food security as key.

Climate, Emissions, and “Greenwashing” Concerns

• Strong tension between praising tree planting and criticizing China’s coal use and total CO₂ emissions.
• Extended argument over metrics:
  • Absolute vs per‑capita emissions.
  • Historical cumulative responsibility vs current annual output.
  • Production‑based vs consumption‑based accounting (exported manufacturing, “embedded” emissions).
• Some call the narrative “propaganda” or “greenwashing”; others argue any large‑scale positive land restoration deserves recognition even if it doesn’t offset coal.

Governance, Long-Term Planning, and Trade‑Offs

• Many point to China’s ability to execute multi‑decade projects (forests, infrastructure, energy transition) as a benefit of one‑party rule and central planning.
• Counterpoints highlight censorship, lack of political rights, treatment of minorities, and cases of activists being silenced as serious costs.
• Several contrast this with perceived dysfunction, short‑termism, and NIMBY paralysis in Western democracies.

India and Other Developing Countries

• India is also increasing “green cover,” largely via urbanization and scattered local initiatives; criticism that efforts are often poorly maintained or overly reported.
• Debate over data quality, species choice, and whether shrubs or plantations are being counted as “forest.”

Broader Ecological and Demographic Issues

• Multiple reminders that forests are more than carbon sinks: biodiversity, water cycles, and soil restoration matter.
• Concerns about China’s parallel biodiversity loss (coral, mangroves, fisheries) and overseas deforestation via timber imports and Belt and Road projects.
• Long discussion of population: the one‑child era, current low birthrate, looming aging crisis, and whether automation or migration can compensate.