GUANGZHOU -- Authorities in South China's Guangdong province plan to invest more than 33 billion yuan ($5 billion dollars) to repair a peninsula facing environmental degradation.

The money will be used to steer 20 key projects on Leizhou Peninsula, in the areas of water resources, forests and agriculture, according to the provincial Department of Forestry.

The local government expects to repair the "tropical rain forest system" on the peninsula within 20 years.

Leizhou Peninsula, one of China's three major peninsulas, has faced an environmental crisis in recent decades, with disappearing forests, water shortages and deteriorating biodiversity posing challenges to local residents.

In 2015, the peninsula faced its most severe drought in 60 years, affecting more than 1.8 million people there.