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User:Generalissima/Forests in China

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A heavily forested foggy karst landscape
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in Hunan was the first National Forest Park in China.

The People's Republic of China has over 2,000,000 km2 (770,000 sq mi) of forests, covering almost a quarter of its area.

Geography

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Temperate deciduous forest dominates in Northern China, with smaller regions of mixed coniferous forest in the northeastern provinces. South of an intermediate mixed zone centered around the Huai River, forest cover transitions to subtropical broadleaf, with small areas of tropical forest along the coast of the South China Sea.[1]

The 2016 National Forest Inventory found a total forest area of 2,124,590 km2 (820,310 sq mi), around 22% of the country's total area. About 60% of this area is naturally regenerating forestland, with the remainder being tree plantations.[2]

National Forest Inventory results (square kilometers)[3]
Year 1973–1976 1977–1981 1984–1988 1989–1993 1994–1998 1999–2003 2004–2008 2009–2013
North[a] 154,300 164,000 171,200 181,700 203,700 232,900 276,100 297,400
Northeast[b] 251,600 250,200 257,900 264,300 291,800 298,500 316,300 327,100
East[c] 193,900 164,200 192,900 215,600 269,000 286,500 305,100 320,700
South-Central[d] 257,200 231,800 231,400 262,800 328,300 360,400 400,300 424,600
Southwest[e] 259,000 246,400 287,400 307,100 371,400 423,900 463,100 490,600
Northwest[f] 81,800 76,500 86,200 85,800 103,300 125,700 172,400 195,200
Total 1,197,800 1,133,100 1,226,800 1,317,300 1,568,400 1,727,900 1,933,300 2,055,600

Ecology

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History

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Forest cover greatly declined over the Qing dynasty and the Republican period. Around 26% of the country was forested in 1700; this declined to 9% by 1937.[4]

Early history

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Qing dynasty

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Republican era

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People's Republic

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Following the end of the Chinese Civil War and the proclamation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the incipient communist government launched the Land Reform Campaign, seeking to redistribute the land holdings of the elite into the hands of the peasantry. Alongside farmland, forests were placed into the elementary cooperatives (初级合作社; Chūjí hézuòshè); many forestlands remained privately owned by cooperative members, but were managed by the cooperatives elected leaders. A minority of forestland was directly owned by the cooperatives themselves. In 1956, 96% of rural privately owned land was merged to form advanced cooperatives, ending private ownership.[5]

Afforestation policies were implemented during the 1950s, seeking to establish around 100 million hectares of economically-valuable new forest. The project met with limited success; mortality rates for new trees were high due to a lack of technical experience resulting in poor site selection and management. The Great Leap Forward (1958–1962) further worsened conditions for Chinese forests, with about 20–30 million ha cut over the course of the campaign. Land owned by cooperatives was amalgamated into party-led communes, and the government pursued an aggressive campaign to promote iron and steel production, further increasing deforestation. Forest cover reached its nadir around 1962 at 80–113 million ha, 8–12% of the country's area.[5][6] Regrowth efforts were greatly hampered by development in the interior from the Learn from Dazhai and Third Front campaigns during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976).[7] The government held its first National Forest Inventory in 1973–1976, estimating a forest cover of 121.9 million ha.[8]

Reform era

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Prior to 1981, 61% of forests were collectively owned.[9] Widespread economic reforms during the late 20th century largely sidelined environmental issues, with the central government seeing them as secondary to economic expansion. In response to the success of the household responsibility system (HRS) for agriculture, the 1981 "Resolution on Issues Concerning Forest Protection and Development" (also known as the Linye Sanding (林業三定; 'three fixes forestry reform') introduced three forms of collective forest management: ziliushan (自留山; 'family plots'), zerenshan (责任山; 'contracted forestland'), and tongguanshan (同管山; 'collectively-managed forests').[10][11][12] Ziliushan are allocated to rural households for daily use. They are previously deforested areas in rugged terrain which households are obliged to replant, and stay under the control of families for future generations. Zerenshan, similarly to the HRS, contracts management of the forests to a collective of local households for management for a period of 5–15 years.[13][14][15]

Forests were steadily reallocated to the system from 1981 to 1984, reaching 75% of administrative villages by 1984. By 1986, over 11.3 million ha of ziliushan were allocated to 50 million households, while 40 million ha were allocated as zerenshan. The proportions of forests assigned to each type varied depending on province. Stark differences in forest management emerged between northern and southern China. Greater deforestation and a weaker timber industry in the North China Plain allowed for a relatively successful and uneventful transition to household management; existing shelterbelts and tree plantations were converted, and over 91% of forestland contracted as ziliushan by 1984. Farmers were allowed to sell timber at market prices and harvest without permits. Taxes on timber remained low. Agricultural production increased as a result of these programs; regional fuel and timber shortages were significantly eased, and the spread of shelterbelts and tree intercropping practices increased agricultural production.[16][15]

South of the Yangtze, the Linye Sanding was unsuccessful at improving forest management.[10][15] Farmers lacked confidence over ownership rights due to reversal of similar land tenure policies under Mao, possibly leading to unsustainable harvesting and forest fragmentation; these fears were compounded by administrative changes, such as the agglomeration of ziliushan and zerenshan into one system in Anhui and Guangxi in 1984.[10][14][16] Illegal logging was widespread, and forest cover declined in collective forests in Southern China.[10] The period was labeled the last of the "three great cuttings" (三大伐; Sān dà fá) alongside the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution.[7]

21st century

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A lumber yard in Harbin

Forestry and management

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Main article: Forestry in China

National forest inventories have been conducted ever five years since 1976.[8][17]

The headquarters of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration in Beijing

State forests

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Collectively owned forests

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Reforestation

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Environmental impact

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Urban forestry

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Rapid urban expansion in China during the 1980s and 1990s led to low levels of urban greenspace, averaging 4.1 m2 (44 sq ft) per capita in 1991, a little over half the level recommended by the World Health Organization. Urban forestry was introduced to China in the 1980s, and gained prominance in the 1990s and 2000s.[18] Since 2004, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration has designated 218 cities as "National Forest Cities", adhering to a set of 36 criteria. These include a minimum forest cover of 25–35% (depending on ecoregion) across the city and consistent improvements to forest health and quality.[19]

Forest parks and protected areas

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Nineteen forest reserves were established in 1956, covering an area of around 650,000 ha; later expansion of protected areas in China was halted until the authorization of the first National Forest Park, Zhangjiajie, by the State Council in 1982. Nine others pilot forest parks followed over the following decade. The Forestry and Grassland Administration defined the aims of the system in 1994, defining a forest park as a "specific forest area of scenic forest landscape with intense historic and cultural heritage" protected for recreational, scientific, and educational activities.[20][21][22]

As of 2022, there are 906 National Forest Parks; 78 are rated as 5A Tourist Attractions, and 324 are rated as 4A.[23] They are the most common form of national protected area in China.[24] The National Forestry and Grassland Administration also administrates hundreds of National Nature Reserves and National Wetland Parks.[21] In addition to the National Forest Parks, there are over two thousand provincial and local forest parks. These were first introduced in 2000, and rapidly proliferated over the following decade.[24][25]

Fengshui woodland

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Main article: Fengshui woodland
A line of houses along a road with a thick forest behind them
Fengshui woodland behind houses in Meizhou

Fengshui forests (风水林; Fēngshuǐlín) are groves or small patches of cultivated woodland preserved due to their association with Chinese folk religious practices of feng shui. Traditionally believed to control the destiny of the surrounding community, they are generally located in conjunction to villages, although some are associated with cemeteries, Buddhist and Daoist temples, or Tudigong shrines. They are generally situated within southern China, although they have also been recorded in Shandong. In Yunnan, they exist alongside other sacred forests among non-Han communities.[26]

Many function as refugia, containing much higher species diversity than tree plantations and successional forests. As relicts of old-growth forests, they are useful as survey sites for biological study. Knowledge of fengshui forests and belief in their protective power has declined in modern China, in large part due to Marxist opposition towards feng shui as a superstition. Political opposition to feng shui has conservation of the woodlands. They are most well-preserved in remote areas, where there are spared damage from urban sprawl and industrial pollution. Many fengshui forests and sacred forests of other nationalities have been designated "small protected areas" (保护小区; Bǎohù xiǎoqū). Some are incorporated within existing nature reserves, while others are protected independently.[27]

Notes

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  1. ^ Comprising Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia[3]
  2. ^ Comprising Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang[3]
  3. ^ Comprising Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Shandong[3]
  4. ^ Comprising Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan[3]
  5. ^ Comprising Chongqing, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Tibet[3]
  6. ^ Comprising Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Xinjiang[3]

References

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  1. ^ Liu 1988, pp. 1–3.
  2. ^ Chen et al. 2020, pp. 9, 16–17.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Zeng et al. 2015, p. 13.
  4. ^ Robbins & Harrell 2014, pp. 381–383.
  5. ^ a b Miao & West 2004, pp. 282–283.
  6. ^ Robbins & Harrell 2014, pp. 381–384.
  7. ^ a b Coggins & Chen 2022, pp. 114–115.
  8. ^ a b Robbins & Harrell 2014, p. 385.
  9. ^ Holden et al. 2013, p. 259.
  10. ^ a b c d Robbins & Harrell 2014, pp. 383–384.
  11. ^ Liang et al. 2024, p. 19.
  12. ^ Xu & Hyde 2015, p. 30.
  13. ^ Liu, Liu & Wang 2017, p. 493.
  14. ^ a b Zinda & Zhang 2018, p. 3.
  15. ^ a b c Xu & Hyde 2015, pp. 31–32.
  16. ^ a b Liu et al. 2017, p. 132.
  17. ^ Chen et al. 2020, p. 4.
  18. ^ Yang et al. 2023, pp. 1–2.
  19. ^ Wang et al. 2024, pp. 119, 124–125.
  20. ^ Chen & Nakama 2013, p. 286.
  21. ^ a b Luo et al. 2016, pp. 47–52.
  22. ^ Harkness 1998, p. 914.
  23. ^ Wang, Wang & Yu 2023, p. 399.
  24. ^ a b Wang et al. 2012, p. 248.
  25. ^ Gao et al. 2020, p. 1521.
  26. ^ Chen et al. 2018, pp. 79–83, 88.
  27. ^ Chen et al. 2018, pp. 85–86.

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