China forestry ecological conservation projects

Ecological conservation projects have been developed after 1998 and have turned into the main conveys of forest protection activities in China since then. They rely on significant financial support from the central government and have been implemented along the administrative line. There are six major ecological conservation projects, which signified a turning point of China’s forestry development. Traditional forestry focused on timber production and all investment, measures, and policies were developed around this focus. However, the ecological conservation projects after 1998 set a new backdrop which put ecological conservation as the priority of China forestry.

Not only are a lot of policies developed to create institutional support to divert forestry practices, tremendous central investment is mobilized to provide a solid foundation to develop these projects.

3.5.1 Conversion of Cropland into Forest and Grassland Program

Conversion of Cropland into Forest and Grassland Program (CCFGP) as the largest ecological restoration project in China covers 2,279 counties in 25 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and targets the ecological sensitive regions in western China, including sloping cropland along rivers, lakes and reservoirs, and cropland within the areas stricken by soil erosion and sandstorm (Figure 3.2; State Forestry Administration, 2009a). It aims to tackle soil erosion in ecologically fragile areas by returning 14.66 million hectares of croplands to forests and afforesting 17.33 million hectares of barren hills and wasteland from 2001 to 2010. Under this program, farmers can choose to convert their sloping land into ecological or economic forests, but the ecological forests should account for over 80% of the total converted land within each county (Chinese State Council, 2003b). The government compensates the farmers with different types of subsidies for 5 (for economic forests) or 8 (for ecological forests) years, which includes grain (1,500 kg per ha each year within the Yellow River Basin and 2,250 kg per ha each year within the Yangtze River Basin), cash (3,000 Yuan per ha each year) and free saplings (Zhou, 2001). However, in some regions, the grain subsidy is replaced by cash, which is calculated in a fixed price (1.4

Yuan per kg), due to the significant draw-down of State Grain Bureau stocks for program subsidies and the later rise of grain prices (Bennett, 2008). After the first phase of the project, the central government continues to provided subsidy to farmer participants during the extension of the program (5 years for economic forests and 8 years for ecological forests), but the grain subsidy is adjusted to only cash (1,575 Yuan per ha each year within the Yangtze River Basin and 1,050 Yuan per ha each year within the Yellow River Basin). The previous cash subsidy of 3,000 Yuan per ha still is paid to farmers on the condition that they continue to manage the young forests (State Forestry Administration, 2009a). Besides the subsidy for farmers, the central government also arranged some fiscal subsidies for local governments to compensate their loss of local fiscal revenue.

3.5.2 Natural Forest Protection Program

The Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP) covers 734 counties and 167 state forest bureaus in 17 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) (Figure 3.3; Zhou, 2001). It has been established by SFA in 1998 and implemented in China’s key state-owned forest areas, including the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, the upper-middle reaches of the Yellow River, northeast China and Inner Mongolia. The program aims to rehabilitate and protect natural forests by transforming forest production practices in these areas. First, commercial logging is banned in natural forests in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the upper-middle reaches of the Yellow River. The timber output in the program area was planned to be reduced by 19.91 million cubic meters from 1998 to 2010 (Zhou, 2001) and has been reduced by 19.98 million cubic meters till 2010 (Zhao, Figure 3.2. Provinces implementing Conversion of Cropland into Forest and Grassland Program (grey).

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2011). Although the logging is still higher than the growth of the forests in the regions, it proved really a difficult process of implementing these policies in state-owned forest areas, especially in northeast China and Inner Mongolia, as most local revenues were generated from forests and local livelihood heavily depended on forests. Second, an additional 10 million hectares of forests was established in the program area and the forest cover rose by 3.7 percent from 1998 to 2010 (Zhao, 2011). In addition, the program also shut down small timber processing companies and supported laid-off lumberjacks and workers to find alternative jobs. About 741,000 redundant forest workers in the program areas were diverted and re-employed in other sectors up till 2010.

Although the program achieved successes, especially in protecting natural forest, the quality of forests is still quite low; the regions are still under the threat of ecological crises such as soil erosion and sandification; and the local economy is still underdeveloped and could easily revert to rely on timber harvesting in future (Zhao, 2011).

In 2010, the central government decided to extend the program and a second phase of implementation started, to run from 2011 to 2020. New agendas, like maintaining national timber security and combating global climate change, have been written into the planning and program implementation. Eleven counties along the catchment of Danjiangkou Reservoir were added into the program. For northeast China and Inner Mongolia the aim is to establish both a national strategic reserving base for timber production and an eco-safe barrier for north China.

The plan for this region includes reducing annual timber production from 10.94 million cubic meters to 4.03 million cubic meters from 2011 to 2015; increasing the forest area by 600 thousand hectare, the stocking volume by 290 million cubic meters, and the forest carbon sink by 109 Figure 3.3. Provinces implementing Natural Forest Protection Program (grey).

million tons; and providing 443.2 thousand jobs in forested regions up till 2020 (State Forestry Administration, 2010b). In the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the upper-middle reaches of the Yellow River, the program aims at building a stable forest ecological barrier for the region.

The objectives include continuing stopping commercial logging on natural forest; increasing the forest area by 4.6 million hectare, the stocking volume by 810 million cubic meters, and the forest carbon sink by 307 million tons; and providing 205.3 thousand jobs in forested regions till 2020 (State Forestry Administration, 2010c).

3.5.3 Other forestry ecological conservation projects

Besides NFPP and CCGFP, there are 4 relatively small conservation projects. The first one is the Wildlife Conservation & Nature Reserve Development Program (WCNRDP). It aims to improve nature reserves and strengthen the protection of species, and wetlands. The second one is the Shelterbelt Program (SBP), which covers all 31 provinces. The program is designed to establish new shelterbelts and improve low-efficient shelterbelts to control desertification in the three-north regions (North, Northeast and Northwest China) and ameliorate ecological crisis in other areas.

The third one is a regional project, Sandification Control Program in the Vicinity of Beijing and Tianjin (SCPVBT), which covers 75 counties in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia with a combined area of 460,000 square km. By returning farmland into forest and controlling overstocking on grasslands, the project aims to lift the hazard of sandstorms in areas surrounding the capital city. It was also an important program to improve the Beijing environment to meet the needs of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The last one is Fast-Growing and Fast-growing and High-yielding Plantation Development Program (FHPDP). It is a program to support other conservation programs by constructing commercial timber bases to ease the shortage of timber supply and reducing the pressure of timber demands on protected forests. The program covers 114 state forest bureaus or farms and 886 counties in 18 provinces (autonomous regions), which are located east of China’s 400 mm rainfall line (Zhou, 2001).