Aerial photo taken on June 27, 2020 shows a shelter forest along the Yarlung Zangbo River in Shannan, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Zhang Jingpin)

Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region recently completed its first aerial afforestation project, according to the regional forestry and grassland bureau on Monday.

The aerial seeding covered more than 14,500 hectares of land in areas including regional capital Lhasa and the city of Shannan. A total of 119.3 tonnes of seeds have been used in the afforestation experiment.

Launched in early June, the project saw 490 helicopter trips totaling 130 hours of flight time.

"We will closely monitor the growing of these plants. If the experiment is successful, it will be of great significance in speeding up the greening process of Tibet's land," said Migmar Tsering, president of forest science research institute under the bureau.

In recent years, Tibet has pushed ahead with large-scale afforestation plans and the forest coverage has exceeded 12 percent of the region.