forests and sustainability
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Forests and Sustainability. China’s Environment: Growth, Resources, Politics Stevan Harrell Creative Retirement Institute November 2013. Forest cover percentages. 2700 BCE: 49%* 1700 CE: 26%* 1937 CE: 8%* 1949 CE: 11.4%** 1962 CE: 8.1-11.6%** 1990 CE: 14.0%*** - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Forests and Sustainability
China’s Environment: Growth, Resources, Politics
Stevan HarrellCreative Retirement Institute
November 2013
Forest cover percentages
• 2700 BCE: 49%*• 1700 CE: 26%*• 1937 CE: 8%*• 1949 CE: 11.4%**• 1962 CE: 8.1-11.6%**• 1990 CE: 14.0%***• 2011 CE: 20.3%***
*Estimates by Ling Daxie**Estimaes by He Fanning et al. ***State Forestry BureauNational Forest Inventories
Earlier Deforestation:Forests, 8th Century C.E.
虞衡斤斧罗千山，工命采斫杙与椽。深林土剪十取一，百牛连鞅摧双辕。万围千寻妨道路，东西蹶倒山火焚。遗馀毫末不见保，躏跞涧壑何当存。群材未成质已夭，突兀哮豁空岩峦。柏梁天灾武库火，匠石狼顾相愁冤。君不见南山栋梁益稀少，爱材养育谁复论。
The official guardians’ axes have spread through a thousand hills,At the Works Department’s order hacking beams and billets.Of ten trunks cut in the woodlands’ depths, only one gets hauled
away.Ox-teams strain at their traces—till the paired yoke-shafts break.Great-girthed trees of towering height lie blocking the forest tracks,A tumbled confusion of lumber, as flames on the hillside crackle. Not even the last remaining shrubs are safeguarded form
destruction;Where once mountain torrents leapt—nothing but rutted gullies.Timbers, not yet seasoned or used, left immature to rot;Proud summits and deep gorges now—hummocks of naked rock.Disasters destroy the cedar bridges; there is fire in the armory;Artisans regard each other with looks of anxious enmity.Do you not see that it would be better to have fewer bridges in the
southern mountains?Who will speak again of the loving cultivation of forests?
柳宗元，行南路， Translated byMark Elvin and Stevan Harrell
Deforestation before 1700
% of Forest lost, 2700 BCE-1700< 25%25-50%50-75%>75% Ling Daxie, Changes in Our Country’s
Forest Resources, 1983
Deforestation 1700-1937
% of Forest lost, 1700-1937< 25%25-50%50-75%>75% Ling Daxie, Changes in Our Country’s
Forest Resources, 1983
Forest Cover, 1937
% of Forest Cover, 1937> 30%20-30%10-20%5-10%<5%
0.9
6.0
5.0
27.0
28.0
2.7
8.0
5.0
18.012.0
0.7
0.6
13.0
19.0
10.05.1
34.0
9.0
23.0
2.0
16.0
6.02.0
5.0
Ling Daxie, Changes in Our Country’s Forest Resources, 1983
State of the Forests in the PRC
Source: Robbins and Harrell China Quarterly 2014
State of the Forests in the PRC
Source: Robbins and Harrell China Quarterly 2014
The Three Big Forest Projects
• The “Great Green Wall”• The “Natural Forest Protection Program”• The “Returning Farmland to Forest Program”– a.k.a. “Grain for Green”– a.a.k.a. “Sloping Land Conversion Program”
Tomorrowsigreener.com
Firewood
Timber
Bamboo
Foods and medicines
Forests in the lives of China’s peoples: Nuosu in Liangshan
Forests in the lives of China’s peoples: Tibetans in Jiuzhaigou
NTFPPilgrimage
Lumber and Fuel
The Importance of Being Local: Three case studies from Sichuan
1. Sanjiang: It worked, sorta
The Importance of Being Local: Three case studies from Sichuan2. Yuangjuan: A total failure
The Importance of Being Local: Three case studies from Sichuan3. Jiuzhaigou: Never should have tried it
China’s wood consumption
Source: Robbins and Harrell China Quarterly 2014
Dealing with the Shortfall
Source: Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). 2011. FAOSTAT
China’s Log imports by source 2000-2008
Something to think about: China is exporting deforestation
A Forest Report Card
• Increasing quantity of forests: A-• Preserving quality of forests C• Implementing sustainable forestry: B• Enhancing rural livelihoods: B-• Preventing or reversing desertification: C• Using funds efficiently: D• Preserving the world environment: F