This year's Arbor Day should not be just a time for planting trees, as has been the case in the past, it should also be an opportunity for us to reflect on what we can do to improve the health of the country's environment and ecology, which have taken a battering during the past 30-odd years of rapid economic growth.

The suffocating smog that has frequently smothered large swathes of the eastern and central regions since mid-January has raised the alarm that something urgently needs to be done.

There has been widespread concern about the air quality and whether the smog is a risk to health, and this has provoked intense discussions about the cause of the smog and how it can be prevented. This has prompted local governments to take emergency measures, from reducing the use of government vehicles to suspending the operations of some factories.

There have been growing calls for an end to the obsession with gross domestic product and people are urging the government to adopt stronger legal measures to protect the environment. At the same time a consensus has formed that the responsibility for protecting the environment does not fall on the shoulders of the government alone. Enterprises should also shoulder more responsibility, such as setting up a special fund to support the country's environmental protection.

Meanwhile, the growing public awareness of environmental issues and their participation in addressing them will play an important role.

Through tree planting and related activities that usually involve government officials, ordinary employees and even school students, Arbor Day has played a positive role in increasing Chinese people's environmental awareness since its launch in 1981.

However, it is also an undeniable fact that for some, planting a tree on Arbor Day has become just a routine show.

Yet Arbor Day is of only nominal significance for environmental protection, it is more important that we continue to raise awareness of the need to protect the environment and take practical steps to do so. This requires the joint efforts of governments at all levels, enterprises and the public.

(China Daily 03/12/2013 page9)