Officials said the nation has made a commitment at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to add 15,000 hectares of forests before 2020 to help reduce carbon dioxide emissions in dealing with the global warming problem.
The COA will set aside an outlay of NT$7.18 billion to encourage farmers to plant new trees on their idled farmland on the plains.
The "green sea" project will be more aggressive than the promise made at the APEC conference.
By 2010, there will be new forests 800 times the size of Taipei's Daan Forest Park.
The total area to be covered by forests will be increased to 59.09 percent over all the land in Taiwan.
COA officials said the trees to be planted will be mostly indigenous trees that will also have commercial value like mahogany and camphor.
Taiwan used to be one of the world's top suppliers of camphor balls and other products as well as wooden furniture.
The COA will use to fund as subsidies to attract farmers to join the program.
Farmers who are willing to plant 1,000 mahogany trees will generate a commercial value of NT$10 million about 20 years later.
Presidential candidate Ma of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) recently unveiled a massive plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and sustain Taiwan's long-term development.
He and his running mate, former Premier Vincent Siew, explained to 400 business and industry leaders on Wednesday that investors of industrial complexes like giant steel mills will have engage in carbon trading and share the cost of planting new trees and maintaining the forests.
Some local-level governments are also taking the initiative to encourage residents in their regions to plant trees to help improve the quality of air and make the living environment more beautiful.
Taipei County Magistrate Chou Hsi-wei has just kicked out an extensive tree-planting campaign to plant 3.8 million trees -- one for each resident of living in most populous county on the island.
Chou also initiated a "plant recycling program" to collect unwanted plants from residents so that the trees can be resold for charity.
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