Land administration was pushed vigorously throughout the country this year.

“Land administration is precisely economic construction in our country with many mountains and rivers and with long coastlines, and no success is expected without it. Moreover, the world’s ever-increasing calamitous meteorological phenomena are further bringing the importance of this work into relief,” said an official from the Ministry of Land and Environment Protection.

According to him, all provinces, cities and counties afforested, improved rivers and carried out anti-erosion projects this year for the purpose of protecting the lives and assets of the people and land.

First of all, afforestation and forest conservancy were steadily conducted everywhere as an all-inclusive mass movement including cities, farm villages, factories, schools, streets and villages.

Tree nurseries in all parts of the country raised saplings of good tree species and increased the rooting rate by introducing scientific tree-planting methods.

Singye County in North Hwanghae Province prevents flood damage by creating thick forests.

Large acreages of mountains of the county are thickly wooded. In recent years, areas with thick forests have not sustained flood damage in spite of heavy rain, but farming has been done safely.

“In the past, some areas of our county would suffer damage due to downpour, resulting in such damage as the washing away of farm land. An important reason was that there was a small number of trees on the mountains. Therefore, the county set a goal of preventing flood damage and worked vigorously to achieve it, while conducting a forest restoration campaign in a big way,” said an official of the county.

This year, too, it introduced advanced technology to produce different kinds of wild-fruit saplings, pushed tree-planting in a big way and devoted sincerity for the management of young trees. Much labour was spent for manuring and cultivating planted trees while weeding and providing botanical chemicals and highly-efficient growth stimulants.

When these trees grow up to form thick forests, a bigger advance will be made in the prevention of flood damage.

This year, Ryanggang Province planted trees in an area of hundreds of hectares in the city of Samjiyon, while Kujang County of North Phyongan Province planted wild-fruit trees in large areas, including pine-nut, chestnut and black walnut trees.

Sijung County in Jagang Province overfulfilled the production plan of tree saplings including those of wild-fruit trees at the parent tree nursery of the county forest management station and particular efforts have been directed to the planting of wild-fruit trees to benefit from it in the near future.

Though it conducts forest protection campaign every year, Ryokpho District of Pyongyang acquainted itself with every area with high frequency of harmful insect attack from the standpoint that they start again afresh and took thoroughgoing extermination measures. It assigns tasks according to sections to prevent wildfire and regularly reviews the performance of duty.

As a result, over 330 units have been awarded the title of Forest of Socialist Patriotism this year.

Among them, there are over 90 schools including Samhung Middle School in Pyongyang and Namhung Junior Middle School in Anju City of South Phyongan Province, which planted and tended a great number of trees of economic value.