The summer of 1998 was a nightmarish period for China, when a vast region along the Yangtze River suffered from the worst floods in 50 years. Ecological imbalance eventually became a real concern for both government and the public, fanned by stories and photographs from journalists returning from the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, demonstrating how vast stretches of natural forests had been chopped down。 By autumn, this had led to a government ban on the logging of all natural forests.

However, the question remains whether the logging ban can be strictly implemented, and, if so, how. As a developing country, China still has a lot of poor people, including many living near or within primeval forests, who chop down trees for a living. Nearly half of the rural population relies on wood for cooking and heating. Besides, China developed a huge lumber industry in the past few decades, with 135 large state firms alone employing 1.41 million workers in 1997. Obviously, the colossal labor force cannot vanish by itself, or be transferred to serve other sectors overnight.

In addition, China is also a large timber consuming country, with growing demand due to a boom in the infrastructure construction, furniture and papermaking industries. It is estimated that, by 2000, total wood consumption will be 100 million cubic meters, while domestic supply could be as low as 64 million cubic meters, leaving a gap that can only be filled by expensive imports. This casts a big shadow over the efforts to protect the natural forests.

While the government and its think tanks have been casting around for ways to balance relations between economic development and the environment, and finding a way out for the declining timber industry, an ideal solution already existed. In Hainan Province, the largest economic development zone in China, "A Demonstration Program of Sustainable Utilization of Tropical Forests by Means of Differentiated Management in Hainan" started in 1993 and will end next year. The project is funded with US$4 million from the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). Based on studies and investigations into the political, economic, social and environmental conditions of Hainan, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Forestry and the province's forestry bureau built four demonstration areas, called "sub-project points," in different places. They experimented with ways to protect natural forests by employing separate means simultaneously--growing substitute woods, helping local residents to eradicate poverty by doing profitable household business rather than tree chopping, working on a optimized methods of chopping the natural forests and creating modern protection methods.

Hainan is the only region in China with mountainous rain forests. Its overall forest coverage rate is 52 percent, ranking fourth among all provinces, but well down from the 90 percent plus in the Han Dynasty about 2,000 years ago. Large-scale felling began in the economically prosperous Tang and Song dynasties (618-1297), and again in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), when a shipbuilding base was established. The 1930s witnessed Japanese invaders landing in Hainan, stealing wood not only for its war machine, but also sending back to Japan. After the People's Republic of China was founded, a local timber industry developed rapidly, earning Hainan great profit. In addition, more primeval forests were cut down to make way for rubber plantations. As a result, the natural forest coverage in Hainan dropped sharply to 300,000 hectares in the current decade from 830,000 hectares in the 1950s. In 1994, the provincial government banned logging in all natural forests.

The ITTO project began in 1993. Its No.1 demonstration area was a man-made tropical forest plantation. Established at Danzhou, a flat lowland plain in western Hainan, it was designated to develop high-yield and fast-growing commercial woods with internationally advanced nursery techniques, and then promote the species and techniques to the rest of the province and even outside. The plantation has a nursery producing 3 million saplings a year, supplying 24 species of eucalyptus and other high-yield woods for the local forestry industry. The demonstration point has 2,000 hectares of eucalyptus, ideal materials for the construction and papermaking industries. The trees are so perfect and identical that it seems they must have been cloned. According to Wen Maoyuan, chief engineer of the sub-project area, the demonstration effect has already showed up, with the technologies employed being publicized and its quality saplings introduced to other units. The plantation has also attracted the interest of local villagers, who have demanded regular technical training and have grown 130 hectares of quality eucalyptus themselves with saplings provided by the plantation.

About one-third of Hainan residents live in areas where agriculture, forestry and pasturing overlap. These areas are mainly home to such ethnic groups as the Li and Miao, whose living standards and production means are so primitive that they usually rely on chopping wood for a living. Therefore, another ITTO sub-project was designed to help the people living near forests to wipe out poverty by providing them with the necessary facilities and skills for an alternative means of livelihood.

The demonstration point, called an "agro-sylvo-pastoral ecosystem," occupies 500 hectares. In the past seven years, project scientists and technicians turned a wasteland into an idyllic picture of flourishing vegetation, fine-breed sheep and cows grazing and birds twittering happily. Apart from a piece of pasture, there are also farmland and orchards where sugar cane, mangoes, pineapples and sweep potatoes are grown. Also growing there are rubber trees, teak and Caribbean pines, for both commercial purposes and as a farmland shelterbelt.

What's more impressive is the change of local residents' lives as a direct result of the establishment of the "agro-sylvo-pastoral ecosystem". Yaxing Town is a typical poor area with per capita income less than 700 yuan per year. The Li nationality accounts for 72 percent of the population, living and working in extremely backward conditions. The only exception is 25 families living within the demonstrating area, including the ambitious and ingenious young farmer Li Mengqing.

Li Mengqing and his wife and two children live next to a small reservoir built as part of the ITTO project. Now, his household business has grown in scale with project engineers' help. Sweet potatoes grow on land in front of his two-room house and in the backyard. A facility was built to link his pigpen with a methane-generating pit supplying his kitchen with clean and convenient energy. Fish teem in the nearby pond, while ducks swim on the small river. Li is so busy at high season that he has to hire a number of relatives living in adjacent villages to help. They, of course, like to do the seasonal work for money while witnessing how their cousin has got rich so swiftly. Last year, the Li family's income was 38,000 yuan, but Li Mengqing was apparently not satisfied with it, saying, "My pigs and fishes sell well, so I am considering expansion of the production scale."

The Li family's success, by relying on the improved ecological surroundings, is regarded by local government and the masses as the "Li Mengqing Model" to be followed by others. According to a township government official, 66 households in the area have followed Li into diversified business, and the number may increase to 120 by the end of this year. Commenting on the ITTO project, he said, "It's great to have the social-forest project conducted in our area. Though designed to improve the ecosystem and prevent further reduction of the natural forests, it provides palpable methods for local people to change their way of live, so it has enormous and far-reaching social effect."

The chopping down of natural forests will not necessarily stop, but this should serve human beings through sustainable management. Therefore, finding a feasible standard for felling so as to guarantee a fair cycle of regeneration is required. In the forest proper of the beautiful Bawangling Hill is a sub-project point mainly devoted to this purpose. The state-approved experimental area covers 2,000 hectares of forests including 90 percent mountainous rain forests, with the accumulation of growing wood totaling 350,000 cubic meters. The trees of different types and ages are labeled with red or white cloth strips for observing the felling period and intensity. Scientific instruments were installed to record how the soil, water quality, the number of species in the environment and the forest structure change as a result of different kinds of felling.

Finally, there is the No.4 demonstration point engaged in effective protection of tropical virgin forests with scientific modern means. The work is conducted on Jianfengling Hill, where the tropical virgin forests cover 8,000 hectares. As early as 1956, the forest proper was set as a statutory place where chopping was strictly forbidden. The whole area was regulated as a national reserve enjoying intensive care in 1965, and it became a national forest park in 1993. Entering the luxurious forests, and among the towering old trees and gigantic tropic plants, visitors may feel that they are suddenly becoming the residents of Lilliputian country of Gulliver's Travels. The air is fresh, and meandering among the dense bush strata below the trees are gurgling streams. The singing of various birds from different directions composes a multi-part cantata, accompanied by the tympanic resonance of woodpeckers.

The virgin forest in Jianfengling hill belongs to one of the best-preserved tropical forests in China, home to 2,200 kinds of high-grade plant species, 200 kinds of bird, about 70 kinds of animals, 90 reptiles and 2,200 kinds of insect. In order to maintain the ecological condition and ensure specie diversification, a modern protection facility has been installed in Jianfengling with ITTO funding, which covers roads, telecommunications, fire control, research work and technical training for personnel. Several small demonstration points were established by scientists in villages near the forest, through which they teach local residents techniques in animal husbandry and planting fruits, bamboo and herbs so as to relieve human pressure on the forests.

The existing timber industry is clearly a victim of the logging ban on natural forests. Hence, developing a "substitute business" to help firms survive is one goal of the ITTO project, which has been put into successful practice in the two forestry bureaus in Bawangling and Jianfengling hills. For instance, the Jianfengling Forestry Bureau made a profit of 14 million yuan last year through diversified business, almost half its annual turnover from chopping in the past. This income, with some government subsidies paid after the logging ban, has kept two thirds of the employees in work. According to Lin Chongfei, director of the Bawangling Forestry Bureau, the bureau used to chop down 10,000 cubic meters a year, bringing in 20 million yuan. After 1994, when the logging ban was implemented in Hainan, the bureau and its 1,800 employees faced financial trouble. In recent years Lin's bureau has finally turned the corner by running various business, including oranges, mangoes and lichee planting, developing small-scale hydro power plants, and the production of rubber and rosin. Now, such production has reached 60 percent of the bureau's former income from logging. "Yes, we in the timber industry are paying the cost of the logging ban. But the sacrifice may be worth making, as the forest ecology is apparently improving already," Lin said.

Hainan is benefiting a lot from the ITTO project. According to Huang Jincheng, an official with the Hainan Forestry Bureau and director of the project office, it has brought in not only new technology, but also internationally advanced forestry philosophy, which is exerting a positive influence on the province's forestry and timber industry development. Huang said, "Though the project period will expire by the end of next year, its demonstration effect will remain. Furthermore, the precious study methods, information channels and knowledge derived from the project about reasonably developing forestry will stay with us, helping Hainan to improve both of its economy and ecology."

The Hainan project is among the biggest supported by ITTO, which has 51 members, both timber producing and consuming countries. Last March, Dr. James K. Gasana, representative of Swiss government, which is acting as an ITTO donor, inspected the sub-project areas. Before leaving China, Dr. Gasana said, "I was particularly impressed not only by the quality and quantity of the output, but also with the high professionalism of the staff at all levels. Equally impressive is the technical and scientific research results which are available now in China and may be helpful for other ITTO member countries."

Widely recognized by both scientific and industrial circles, the project's effect goes far beyond the four eye-pleasing sub-project areas in terms of impact on forestry and ecological development. Prof. Hong Jusheng, a natural forestry expert with the Chinese Academy of Forestry and director of the ITTO project in Hainan, explained, "The issue of tropical forests has been a hot one over the past 10 years, and it was top of the agenda of the International Conference on Environment and Development. A developing country, China is surely facing the conflict between economic development and environmental protection. So it is up to us to find a way out in this regard, ensuring the sustainable development of the timber industry, while not damaging the ecology.
The State Forestry Administration (SFA) launched a new nationwide forest protection campaign to crackdown on destruction of State forest resources.

The administration will work with law-enforcement agencies and local authorities to investigate major cases of illegal logging, woodland abuse and poaching of endangered animals, deputy SPA director Zhou Shengxian told reporters at a press conference in Beijing yesterday.

"The policy for forestry protection, especially the logging ban of natural forests initiated after 1998's devastating summer floods, must be strictly enforced," Zhou said.

The announcement follows two major investigations of poaching of Tibet antelope and endangered animals in South China.

And this campaign is called "the third action following the first and second actions," Zhou said.

This will be another significant move aimed at protecting China's precious forestry resources, Zhou said.

Zhou pledged to make major cases of forest destruction known to the public.

"People from all walks of life are welcome to provide tips of such cases," Zhou told reporters.

Zhou said he hopes the campaign to protect forests will raise national awareness.

"The SFA will take the strictest measures to punish those who damage forests," Zhou said.

The campaign is a major step by the administration to conform with the central government's strategy of achieving sustainable development of China's western regions.

The administration blamed local officials and authorities, who are often tempted by short-term economic gains from illegal timber businesses, for a large number of forest-related problems.

Zhou acknowledged the quality of the country's forests have continued to decline because over-logging has destroyed the available mature forests.

Mature forests in State-owned zones have all but been depleted in recent years.

From 1994-98, most provinces exceeded their logging quotas with more than 6 million cubic metres of timber over-logged in five major forest-growing provinces.

Two million hectares of forest land are damaged each year, Zhou said.

(China Daily)

China last night succeeded in blocking the progress of a forest fire along its border with the Republic of Mongolia.

The blaze, which has raged in the region for days, has been controlled with the help of a 2,100-kilometre long fire-prevention belt built in 1996, according to sources with the State Forestry Administration (SFA).

"Some 400-kilometres of the border between China and Mongolia have remained peaceful thanks to the 100 to 200 metres wide fire protection belt, where 3,500 Chinese forest firefighters have been keeping their eyes on the changing blazes across the border for days," the SFA's latest report, released yesterday, stated.

Wang Zhibao, the SFA's top official and other senior fire-control experts were also on duty yesterday, urging firefighters in Inner Mongolia to increase their efforts to hold back the dangerous fire outside China and prevent damage.

"By yesterday, only one blaze between Xilingol and Xing'an leagues of Inner Mongolia was posing a threat to forests inside China," the sources confirmed.

Inner Mongolian firefighters and police by yesterday morning had put out most of raging forest and grass fire that started in the Republic of Mongolia, local sources said.

Casualties and economic losses are still unknown, but no forestry police were seriously injured, a police source said.

The fire, which began across the border on May 4, rode into Inner Mongolia on north winds, of force 6, at noon on Saturday.

About 850 forestry police and more than 2,000 local firefighters helped fight it.

The major fire, once burning over stretches as long as 150 kilometres, was extinguished, and remaining spot fires were controlled thanks to 40 hours of combat, a report from the Inner Mongolia Forestry Police said.

When the fire firstspread to China, to the Xilingol League of Inner Mongolia,80 forestry police members deployed in the area had put out it at 7:30 pm the same day, the police report said.

On the morning of May 7, the fire in Mongolia again entered Inner Mongolia. Some 500 police officers were soon sent to the fire site, where they tried to divide the blazes and eradicate them one at a time.

The complicated topography of grasslands mixed with forests may have slowed efforts to put out the fire, an official from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region's Forestry Bureau added.

On the night of May 7, norther winds of force 7 sent another fire into the Xing'an League of Inner Mongolia, and 270 forestry police members fought nine hours to curb the spread of one fire while putting out another one totally.

(China Daily)
On a small path meandering in the dense tropical rain forests in Hainan Province were walking some Chinese and foreign tree experts. The leading one, a Chinese, was explaining to the foreign visitors in fluent English about how scientific experiments were made here in tree species and environmental monitoring conducted. Pointing to those towering ancient trees and peculiar tropical plants, he was so enthusiastic and proud as if he was introducing his kids to guests.

Professor Hong Jusheng of the Chinese Academy of Forestry is one of the leading figures in China's natural forestry research. In the past several decades when he was devoted to the field, he has visited almost every main forest in the country and even the world. The last decade of the 20th century witnesses comprehensive ban of chopping natural forests throughout the world in order to maintain ecological balance and protect "the lungs of the earth." Prof. Hong, after researching for several years, pointed out his theory about "sustainable management of natural forests" and the specific measures to carry it out. A large project of system engineering, it will eventually make it feasible to effectively protect natural forests and reasonably manage and utilize the woods. The project, which has now been smoothly carried out in the rain forests in Hainan for eight years, is highly concerned and supported by the Chinese government and some international organizations.

Prof. Hong, 63, spent his adolescence in Hong Kong. In 1950, one year after the People's Republic of China was founded, he left all his family members in the colony for the mainland to join the socialist construction then in full swing. Since graduation from the Beijing Forestry University in 1959, he has been engaged in forestry study for 40 years. During that period he became an expert from a fresh man in the field, eventually rising to the post of vice president of the Chinese Academy of Forestry and serving as the committee member of several international organizations in this regard.

The late 1970s was a herald of "the spring of China's science and technology," when scientific research was resumed after 10-odds dormant years. Hong did not stop working on trees during the "cultural revolution" when he was sent to the countryside in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. When the First Conference on Scientific Research of Guangxi was held in 1978, he won a medal for his achievements. Since then on he has had more freedom to do his research work and his study tour thus covered many primeval forests in Jinggang Mountain of Jiangxi Province, Ermei Mountain of Sichuan Province, Jigong Mountain of Henan Province, and Liufeng and Jiuwan mountains in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The studying projects, which he has led, ranged from natural secondary forestry, desertification, eucalyptus growing, to improvement of tree species. Because of these he were awarded the gold medal of the National Scientific and Technological Progress and that conferred by the Ministry of Forestry.

Though in his early 60s, Prof. Hong spends three quarters of a year touring major forests in the country's mountainous areas, apart from writing academic books and papers and tutoring doctoral students in his academy in Beijing. In retrospect he said, "I've determined to do something useful for the nation right from the moment when I returned to the motherland from Hong Kong some 40 years ago. Every Chinese intellectual has a dream to leave something valuable behind in his life. I am not regrettable as I've left my footprints in many forests of the country."
China began planning construction of national-level nature reserves in 1956, and built its first one in Guangdong--the Guangdong Dinghushan Nature Reserve. That year also saw the Third Session of the First National People's Congress adopt the motion Asking the Government to Determine Areas Where Natural Forests Are Not Allowed to Be Felled (Nature Reserves), and to Protect Natural Plants for the Sake of Scientific Research. In October of the same year, the Ministry of Forestry worked out the Scheme on Determining Nature Reserves and Areas Where Natural Forests Are Not Allowed to Be Felled, which contained objects to be protected in the nature reserves, methods and areas. Some 40 places in 15 provinces and autonomous regions were chosen to be places where natural forests are not allowed to be felled.

In 1960, the State Council promulgated the Instructions on Actively Protecting and Reasonably Exploiting Wild Animals, which announced construction of nature reserves and hunting-free grounds in are where rare birds and animals inhabited. According to the instructions, 19 kinds of rare animals, including pandas, enjoy special protection and no one is allowed to hunt them.

In 1963, China set up its first ocean nature reserve--the Nature Reserve on the Shedao (Snake) Island.

The year 1978 saw the establishment of the China National Man and Biosphere Commission. Also in the year, the China Agricultural Area Commission set up its Nature Reserves Special Group, and the Ministry of Forestry joined forces with seven ministerial commissions to issue the Circular on Strengthening Management over, Planning of and Scientific Research into Nature Reserves.

In 1985, the State Council approved the Methods for Management over Forest and Wildlife Nature Reserves, which was enacted by the Ministry of Forests. It was China's first law on construction of and management over nature reserves.

China began undertaking, on a trial basis, its nature reserve management project in the fourth quarter of 1995. It is a large project undertaken with international grants in protection of diversified biology.

In 1995, the Ministry of Forests promulgated the China 21st Century Agenda on Forestry Action Plan, which listed construction of nature reserves as a focus of work.

Meanwhile, China strengthened international cooperation and exchange.

In April 1993, the China Biosphere Protection Network was founded. By 1996, there were 61 nature reserves, which participated in the network. They include 14 in the Changbai Mountains, Wolong in Sichuan Province, and some other areas, which also participated in the International Man and Biosphere Protection Network.

In 1996, the China National Man and Biosphere Commission won the International Garden Achievement Award from the National Garden and Protection Committee of the World Nature Reserves Protection Alliance. This was the first time China won the award. The Chinese Government also joined the Endangered Wild Animals and Plants International Trade Convention and the UN Convention on Oceans.

By the end of 1998, the number of nature reserves totaled 926, covering a combined area of 76.98 million hectares or 7.64 percent of the land area in the country.