BEIJING - A city in Northeast China called a halt on Monday to the construction of illegal villas that occupy massive tracts of forestland in Heilongjiang province.

The project is taking place in a scenic spot a kilometer away from Suifenhe, a city in Heilongjiang province that borders Russia. The first phase of the project, to contain 81 villas, occupies 130,000 square meters, according to Economic Information Daily.

In the past 40 years, residents and border troops have planted trees on the land to conserve the soil and water there and improve the local environment. The construction of the villa project threatens to undo many of the gains that have resulted from that work.