China has invested more than $100 billion over the last decade alone in a nationwide campaign to plant new forests, and its top leaders speak of the effort with pride. “Planting trees now will benefit our future generations, and we should roll up our sleeves to plant more trees year after year, generation after generation,” President Xi Jinping said in March at a tree-planting ceremony in Beijing. But a study published on Wednesday suggests that some official estimates of China’s greening campaign overstated its successes, and mistook shrubs for forests. Read more
