A splendid view of the terraced fields in Yiyuan county. [Photo/WeChat ID: yyly12301]
Yiyuan county in Zibo city, located in East China's Shandong province, provided carbon sink insurance for 41.6 mu (27,733 square meters) of non-commercial forests across the region on Feb 17.
It was among the first districts and counties in Shandong to use such a mechanism to reduce the economic losses caused by carbon sink reductions due to damage to trees. The insurance program is also the largest one in the province.
Underwritten by the Zibo Yiyuan Branch of China Life Property and Casualty Insurance, the program offers those forests with the insurance a premium of about 624,000 yuan ($90,922) in 2023.
According to the local authorities, traditional forest insurance only insures the replanting cost of trees, while the forest carbon sink insurance focuses on both the trees and forest carbon sink value, which can better protect the value of non-commercial trees.
The forest carbon sink insurance can greatly improve the capacity and efficiency of post-disaster relief and restoration. It is expected to help Yiyuan improve the forest quality and ensure ecological security and promote the high-quality development of the county’s ecosystem.
Yiyuan, with 114,000 hectares of trees, has been recognized as a demonstration county for its greening efforts and it is renowned for its forest coverage.
