{"id":25408,"date":"2006-09-28T15:52:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-28T15:52:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2020-09-24T10:01:20","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T10:01:20","slug":"408-saving-china-s-natural-forests-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/nature\/408-saving-china-s-natural-forests-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving China\u2019s natural forests (part one)"},"content":{"rendered":"

People in Fuzhu Village, in southeastern China\u2019s Fujian province, traditionally make their living from the sea. They have never shown much interest in the mountains until recently. Then, without the knowledge or support of locals, village leaders leased a large tract of ecologically-valuable natural forest to a local company named Fangte, on the understanding that they would be allowed to clear the plot and replant fast\u2013growing, more profitable eucalyptus trees<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This is a new trend in the destruction of China\u2019s natural forests. In the past, poverty<\/a> often resulted in environmental destruction \u2013 local farmers with no other means of income would fell lumber to earn income for their basic survival \u2013 but larger, commercial interests have now taken a hold. Fangte, originally established as an IT company, diversified into forestry only this year, but already has several plantations near to Fuzhu as prospectors look to cash in on the huge profits can be made harvesting timber to supply the insatiable hunger of local paper-makers and fibreboard manufacturers.<\/p>\n

\u201cForestry reforms were trialed in Fujian<\/a>,\u201d explains local forestry bureau official Hong Shenghe, \u201cand as forestry rights were liberalized many commercial forestry firms took the opportunity to gain access to large areas of mountain land. I\u2019ve found that fast-growing trees are very popular in the south of Fujian. Areas where fruits such as lychees and bananas were grown are now making way for eucalyptus trees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Land supply, however, is limited and \u201cin some places which do not have enough land for commercial forestry, natural forests are being targeted,\u201d confirms Hong. The displacement of crops, including multi-species natural forests, continues all over Fujian\u2019s mountainous terrain, but expansion is most prolific in the south and the west of the province.<\/p>\n

According to villagers in Fuzhu, companies are purposely targeting the land where natural forests grow because \u201cEucalyptus needs a lot of nutrients, and the humus<\/a> in natural forests is pretty fertile. We all reckon that\u2019s the main reason why they want to cut down the natural forests for the eucalyptus. The facts prove it \u2013 it grows better where there used to be natural forest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parties involved in the Fuzhu Village deal, however, reject any suggestion that the leased land had any special ecological value.<\/p>\n

Head of the county government\u2019s propaganda department claims that \u201cThat land wasn\u2019t forested originally\u2026.it was a county project to attract investment. Fangte won a bidding process, and everything was above board.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFujian Forestry Office investigated the matter recently, and concluded that a number of young people had incited the villagers, with the aim of claiming the fast-growing plantation for themselves,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Villagers, for their part, remain adamant that a natural forest once stood on the hill. \u201cThe natural broadleaf forests here on this mountain had been growing for at least several decades,\u201d they say. \u201cThe trunks were so wide you couldn\u2019t wrap your arms around them. It was dark in there, and steep. We never dared to go in, even to cut firewood. Some places used to be American pine\u2026they were over twenty years old too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources at Xiamen University<\/a>\u2019s Institute of Ecology appear to back up the suspicions of local villagers. Lin Peng, Head of the Institute, says that \u201csince the drive to make use of uncultivated (un-forested) mountain land in the 1980s Fujian hasn\u2019t actually had much cultivated land. Therefore, claims to be planting forests on uncultivated land [as officials in the Fuzhu Village deal claim] are certainly false.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, locals also accuse the village chairman, who doubles up as a \u2018forestry management official\u2019 on the Fangte payroll, of making significant financial gains from the deal and maintain that the village secretary responsible for \u2018forestry protection\u2019 failed to do any protecting. The new 1200 mu (about 200 acres) plot at the back of their village has made a mockery of Forestry Bureau regulations which restrict plots on steep hills to just 75 mu and villagers are aggrieved that their local environment has been compromised in exchange for cash.<\/p>\n

\u201cUs villagers aren\u2019t in it for the money. For us it\u2019s a battle for the environment and honour. While we\u2019ve been making these complaints the Forestry Bureau and Fangte have tried to reach a \u2018reconciliation\u2019 with us, saying they\u2019ll \u2018compensate us for our work for the environment\u2019, but we never accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think China\u2019s biggest environmental problem currently is the inability to stop the destruction of natural forests,\u201d continues Peng. \u201cThere are comprehensive measures in place to protect these forests, but they\u2019re not enough to stop a lot of people from destroying them and planting single-species forests under the guise of \u2018reclaiming agricultural mountain land\u2019 or \u2018greening coastal defenses.\u2019 The current frenzied growth in eucalyptus forests could augur a new cycle of ecological disasters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

The author: <\/strong>Yongfeng Feng is an award-winning journalist with the Guangming Daily<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Read on: Saving China’s natural forests (part two)<\/a><\/p>\n

Homepage photo by Liqin Xu<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Natural forests in China are protected under state regulations. But as Feng Yongfeng discovers, logging companies still violate the rules and clear land for their own purposes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":52598,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[764],"tags":[],"hashtags":[],"country":[],"class_list":["post-25408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSaving China\u2019s natural forests (part one) | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Natural forests in China are protected under state regulations. 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