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Drones give wings to China's afforestation campaign

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Soaring high above the rugged mountain landscape in northwest China's Yulin City, drones are helping with the country’s afforestation efforts to replant trees in areas where there were none previously.

The drones are used to deliver tree saplings to steep rocky slopes that are difficult to reach on foot.

As part of a high-tech greening push, officials say the drones both improve tree planting efficiency and reduce the hazard to human workers.

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Ren Feilin, senior forest engineer, forestry and grassland department of Jiaxian County, Yulin City:

"The drone afforestation technology can reduce the damage to seedlings in the transportation and improve the survival rate of afforestation. In the past, the survival rate of afforestation was 50 to 60 percent. Now, the survival rate of saplings transported by drones reaches more than 85 percent."

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Lower transportation costs, meanwhile, are another benefit.

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Zhang Peiqian, vice director, Yulin Forestry and Grassland Bureau:

"Using drones to transport and deliver seedlings not only ensures the safety of workers, reduces damage to seedlings and improves project progress, but also reduces the cost. The transportation cost of each seedling is about 30 to 40 U.S. cents lower than before."

[Voice_over]

According to the officials, the city has deployed 71 drones to plant more than 1.7 million trees so far this year.

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