470 Modern Agricultural Reforms
region, mostly located in forest areas. Although significant progress has been made
in establishing nature reserves in the region, much work is still to be done in the
future and it is important that every nature reserve should have a proper manage-
ment plan and implement it in situ.
- Scientific research
China will give special attention to forestry research by developing projects to solve
the key problems of afforestation, and engage in research on seed multiplication,
containerized saplings, vegetative propagation, high-yield tree saplings and dry-
land afforestation. A quota system and methods for increased forest utilization and
regulation of forest reclamation will be established. China will take various meas-
ures to improve the maintenance of the ecological values of forests. It is important
to establish forest inventory, monitoring and assessing systems for forestry. It is
necessary to develop advanced forest utilization and exploitation techniques that
minimize the impact on the environment, or have low pollution value, and work
to develop and promote non-timber forest products. China will develop compre-
hensive prevention and control methods for pests and plant diseases, detection and
prediction of forest fires, and will research and spread new fire prevention tech-
niques. - Training and education
In order to mobilize the people’s participation and improve forest management, an
important goal will be to develop a forest public education system to make the
value and multipurpose usage of forests known to the public. It is important to
train forestry professionals and workers, with the emphasis placed on the young
and women. China’s Agenda 21 (The Editing Committee, 1994) states that China
will set up demonstration project bases and training centres dedicated to the layout
of shelterbelts and networks for fast-growing and high-yield forests. Model forest
policies and management centres will be established and one prefecture from each
province or autonomous region will be selected for setting up demonstration units.
China will set up a national training centre for forest resource management and
forestry administration. The afforestation engineering of the Yangtze River Basin
is not only an ecological rehabilitation project, but also an economic reconstruc-
tion process. It closely relates to the long-term interests of people. Therefore, it is
important to formulate a series of technical and economic policies for protective
forest engineering. - Multi-channel fundraising
The local people have put their efforts into the afforestation campaign. However,
for conducting such big engineering projects with long-term returns, fundamental
funds are necessary. The people’s enthusiasm should be encouraged by incentives
from the government at various levels. The government has decided to increase
investment in forestry from the current 0.14 per cent of GNP to 0.3–0.4 per cent
by the year 2010. A multi-channel fundraising system should be encouraged.