Beijing municipality will spend another 8 billion yuan ($1.25 billion) in next four years on forests in its neighboring Hebei province, in a bid to block sand blown by wind and protect the capital's water source, the Beijing News reported Monday.

Beijing will plant 53,333 hectares of forest in Zhangjiankou and Chendge, following a previous 135-million-yuan investment to plant 13,333 hectares of forest between 2009 and 2011 and forest conservation.

The forest in Zhangjiakou and Chengde plays a role as a frontline barrier to block sand storms from Beijing. It can also prevent the Gaunting and Miyun reservoir, the two water sources for Beijing, from being filled with eroded soil.