Premier Wu Den-yih ordered the Council of Agriculture (COA) Thursday to step up its reforestation efforts to attain a goal of creating 60,000 hectares of new forest in the next eight years. During a weekly Cabinet meeting, Wu said that an additional 2.5 hectares of landslide area appeared in Taiwan following Typhoon Morakot in August last year, highlighting the urgency of reforestation. He asked the council to make sure its efforts are in compliance with the guidelines set out by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The council should also study what kinds of trees are most suitable to grow in Taiwan and best for soil conservation. According to a COA report, between 2008 and 2009 the council created forests totaling 14,967 hectares, which is equal to 599 times the area of Taipei's Daan Forest Park. To increase the incentive for the public to participate in the efforts, the COA will raise the reward for reforestation of slope land from NT$600,000 per hectare to NT$950,000, the council said. The COA also said it hopes to create 7,000 hectares of forests on hillside land by 2016. 