Sporadic horses graze on the degraded Hulunbeier Prairie on August 4, 2004. [newsphoto/file]

    The project, funded mainly by Italy, is one of the most important co-operative ventures between industrialized countries and developing nations under the Kyoto Protocol, which came into effect yesterday.

    Under the scheme,3,000 hectares of trees will be planted in Aohan Banner, in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, according to a memo signed by the State Forestry Administration (SFA) and the Ministry for the Environment and Territory of Italy.

    Local young people will carry out the project in the next five years using US$1.35 million funds from the Italian side, with the rest to be paid by local authorities.

    About 2,500 poor local farmers, forest workers, particularly women, are expected to benefit directly from the project through ecological education, afforestation, and related management and training.

    The project will be extended automatically for another five years after the accomplishment of its first stage.

    By 2012, Italy can claim carbon emissions credit for the project, as laid out in the Kyoto Protocol.

    "Projects like this can not only help China, a developing country, maintain a sustainable development of economy but also satisfy the credits Italy has promised because of its commitments to the mitigation of carbon emissions as an industrialized country under the protocol," said an SFA official.

    "It will be the first project of its type in China through the co-operation between developed countries and developing countries regarding environmentally friendly ones that take advantage of opportunities in the clean development mechanism (CDM)," he said.

    The CDM is a part of the Kyoto Protocol.

    The project aims to combat desertifica-tion, mitigate climate changes and protect biodiversity in China.