Northwest China) and the Middle and the Lower Reaches of the Yangtze
River.- Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland Program – this nation-
wide ecological program is designed to control soil and water erosion; its
goal is to convert 22.7 million hectares of land by 2010.^53 - Sandification Control Program – this ecology program focuses on the
problem of sandstorms in the vicinity of Beijing, and involves planting
forests and grass cover in the five jurisdictions of Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei,
Inner Mongolia, and Shanxi.
A final program is the Forest Industrial Base Development Program. The focus
of this program is on the establishment of fast-growing and high-yield timber
plantations, to ease pressure on forest resources.
The China Dailyannounced proudly in 1998, ‘China now ranks first in the
world in both the speed and scale of afforestation’.^54 A 2005 report proclaimed
that one-quarter of China would be forested by 2020.^55 Nevertheless, Harkness
comments that ‘[I]ncreases in forest cover have coincided with decreases in
the actual amount of wood available for harvesting’,^56 and these declines in
production were exacerbated by the 1998 ban on logging^57 in old growth
forests after the Yangtze River floods of that year. The reduction in availability
of timber domestically led to an influx of imports from Southeast Asia and
West Africa (regions with high rates of biodiversity too). Ironically, the
increased concern with preservation of habitats for endangered and threatened
species in China’s forests has come at the cost of forests and their threatened
species abroad.^58
Several problems have been identified in the afforestation programs,
particularly the development of monocultural plantations, which limits species
diversification. A forestry management official said that this needed to be kept
in perspective:
‘We are now looking at species diversity. We are emphasizing hardwood species,
and this is a positive sign. Yes, there are problems, but the scale is unparalleled. We
are converting sloping farmlands into forests, and enlarging wetlands. Even though
we have “paper parks”, there has been extraordinary change. There is massive
afforestation, which is good for carbon sequestration.
(Continuing problems of monocultural plantations, for example, onset of
respiratory problems associated with poplar cultivation in the Beijing area?) Yes,
but the biomass accumulation of poplar is larger than hardwood forests; also, poplar
are fast-growing.’^59Yin et al. (2005) point out additional difficulties. They object to the top-down
nature of campaigns, and insufficient attention paid to local interests and
conditions. Often those who have lost access to forests and logging have been
Current status of species and ecosystems 57