ABSTRACT
Forest inventory records indicate that the forested area in China fell from 102 million hectares in 1949 to approximately 95 million hectares in 1980 due to accelerated population growth, industrialization, and resource mismanagement during that period (Fang et al. 2001, Liu and Diamond 2005). Consequently about 38% of China’s land mass is considered badly eroded (Zhang et al. 2000) due to deforestation and rapid urbanization (Liu et al. 2005). However, forest coverage is recovering (Liu and Diamond 2005), and China now has the largest area of forest plantations in the world, accounting for approximately 45 million ha, which is one fourth of the world total (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] 2004, https://www.fao.org/) (Figure 7.1). A new forest policy, called the Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP), was adopted after the severe floods of 1998 (Zhang et al. 2000). This policy’s objectives include restoring natural forests in ecologically sensitive areas such as the headwaters of several large rivers, including the Yangtze River and the Yellow River, planting trees for soil and water protection, increasing timber production through forest plantations, banning excessive cutting, and maintaining the multiple use of forests. China’s massive forestation plan (Program for Conversion of Cropland to Forests) aims to increase forested areas by 440,000 km2 or 5% of its landmass in the next 10 years (Lei 2002). This includes 14.66 million ha of soil erosion-prone croplands that will be converted to forests and 17.33 million ha of barren land that will be revegetated during the next ten years.
