 Research by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization research suggested that the Asia @-@ Pacific region would , overall , gain about 6 @,@ 000 km2 ( 2 @,@ 300 sq mi ) of forest by 2008 . That is quite a turnaround from the 13 @,@ 000 km2 ( 5 @,@ 000 sq mi ) net loss of forest each year in the 1990s . The main reason is China 's huge reforestation effort . This accelerated after the 1998 Yangtze River floods convinced the government that it must restore tree cover , especially in the Yangtze 's basin upstream of the Three Gorges Dam . 
