BEIJING, May 15 -- A Chinese court has begun hearing a lawsuit filed by green groups against a quarry for environmental damage in a landmark case empowered by China's strengthened Environmental Law.

The case, filed by Friends of Nature and Fujian Green Home, opened in Nanping Municipal Intermediate People's Court in the southeastern province of Fujian on Friday.

The two NGOs accuse four people of running an unlicensed quarry that severely damaged vegetation on a hill in Nanping City since 2008, demanding they take responsibility for restoration work, said a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

This is a landmark case filed by NGOs over environmental damage to be heard in a Chinese court since the amended Environmental Protection Law took effect at the start of this year.

The law allowed small NGOs to launch lawsuits on environmental damage, an amendment conservationists said would encourage more social forces to join the battle against profit-obsessed companies and local governments who neglect their green liabilities.