Huai'an City adheres to a path of scientific, ecological, and frugal greening development. It focuses on constructing a green ecological barrier with major ecological corridors such as the Grand Canal, Huaihe River, and the Yellow River's ancient course as the backbone, supplemented by road greening and waterway greening. This approach continuously enriches the city's green ecological foundation. In 2024, the city completed an afforestation area of 26,100 mu and established 2 provincial-level "Internet + National Voluntary Tree Planting" bases. By the end of 2024, the forest coverage rate in the city reached 23.43%.

The city actively promotes the implementation of provincial livelihood projects, comprehensively creating a beautiful and green living environment. It builds 25 provincial-level green and beautiful villages to significantly enhance overall village greening. A new 5-kilometer forest trail in the Tieshan Temple Scenic Area is constructed to meet the outdoor needs of people seeking to connect with nature, enjoy the forest, and engage in hiking and fitness.

The city is steadily advancing sustainable forest management to comprehensively improve the quality of forest resources. It has completed the restoration of degraded forests and the transformation of low-efficiency forests over 9,200 mu, with 8,600 mu designated for forest growth. The forest stand continues to optimize, and the forest form steadily improves, leading to a rich biodiversity.

The city is also actively carrying out wetland ecological restoration and continuously enhancing wetland ecological quality. The Huai'an Wetland Protection Plan (2021-2035) has been approved and implemented by the municipal government. In 2024, 10 new wetland protection areas were established, adding 2,107.49 hectares of protected wetland. 6 sub-projects for integrated protection and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands, and deserts were organized, resulting in the completion of a total of 1,825.68 hectares of wetland restoration and polder area clearance. By the end of 2024, the city's wetland protection rate reached 42.4%.