The Sino-US forest health cooperation is "bearing rich fruit", Sally Collins, US Forest Service Associate Chief, said Monday during her visit to the Chinese State Forestry Administration (SFA).

"The forest health pilot project started with cooperation between China and the United States in 2002," said Li Yucai, vice administrator of the SFA, adding that 1,216 hectares of trees have been planted and 920 hectare of lower quality forests have been improved.

The concept of forest health began in the United States. Its aim is to restore unhealthy forest back to health, allow healthy forest to maintain its health and enable new forest to keep healthy from the beginning.

There are nine pilot projects in nine provinces in China including central Jiangxi Province, southwestern Guizhou and Yunnan provinces and Beijing.

He added that the bilateral cooperation in the pilot regions has helped to publicize the forest health concept, establish forest health evaluation system, and classify the forest health type in a scientific way.

Sally Collins praised the bilateral cooperation on forest health, saying, "our partnership has grown from a seed into a tree bearing rich fruit".

As for the climate change and water shortage pressures, she said that, "we can take steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester more carbon, and protect water supplies for future generations."

She added that both countries had also benefited from cooperation in other areas like bio-control, disaster management and remote sensing technologies for fire management.

(Xinhua News Agency April 15, 2008)