China
The Political, Social, and Ecological Transformation of a LandscapeBackgroundIn 1951 the Chinese Government issued the Decision on Cultivating Rubber Trees, which resulted in the establishment of large-scale rubber plantations in the tropical regions of China, including Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan. These rubber plantations, worked by relocated Han Chinese, were a manifestation of state power on the landscape. Open access copy available |
Multiple-Purposes Reforestation on Degraded Lands in Longyang, ChinBackgroundThe following is a project design document submitted to the UNFCCC in 2008 for a project to restore and preserve degraded forests in Longyang, Yunnan, P.R. China. The project will be headed by the Longyang Forestry Farm in cooperation with local farmers. Open access copy available |
Nurse Plant Theory and its Application in Ecological Restoration in Lower Subtropics of ChinabackgroundThis study examines the mechanisms of the nurse tree effect and ecological factors that influence tree nursing and its relationship to ecological restoration. Research Goals & MethodsThe authors list different pairs of nurse and target tree species, including the broad description of such pairs and research findings of case studies in several locations in lower subtropical China. They also examine the positive and negative feedback loops between nurse trees and target species and explain why the nursing effect occurs. Open access copy available |
Tropical rain forest fragmentation and its ecological and species diversity changes in Southern YunnanBackgroundAnimal species richness is understood to decline with fragmentation of tropical forests. While the same is assumed of plant species richness, fewer studies have been undertaken on this subject. This study on sacred groves in southern Yunnan, southwestern China, evaluates the plant species richness of these tropical rainforest fragments. Open access copy available |
Land Ownership and Forest RestorationBackgroundReports have indiciated that the majority of forests worldwide are owned by governments yet are typically managed similar to an open-access regime. Moreover, the use of forests by various stakeholders have led to issues, typically regarding access and ownership. This paper examines the connection between ownership regimes and restoration. Open access copy available |
China's sloping land conversion program: Institutional innovation or business as usual?BackgroundChina’s Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) is the largest land retirement program in the developing world, having the goal of converting 14.67 million hectares of cropland to forests by 2010, primarily targeting high-slope and marginal lands. The program is being implemented in more than 2000 counties across 25 provinces in China and affects tens of millions of rural households using PES models to promote afforestation. Open access copy available |
Forest Rehabilitation and its Implication for Forest Transition TheorybackgroundThis article reviews the history of forest rehabilitation in Vietnam, Philippines, China, Peru, Indonesia, and Brazil. Available with subscription or purchase |
Local Impacts and Responses to Regional Forest Conservation and Rehabilitation Programs in China's Northwest Yunnan provincebackgroundThis article reviews large-scale government reforestation activities in Yunnan Province, China. Agricultural development in the past half century in the Salween and Mekong watersheds in northwest Yunnan has resulted in severe erosion. The government has recently banned logging and instituted large-scale reforestation programs at the same time. These reforestation projects use Pyrus pyrifolia, Pinus yunnanensis and Pinus armandii. Available with subscription or purchase |
Effect of Vegetation Restoration on Soil and Water Erosion and Nutrient Losses of a Severely Eroded Clayey Plinthudult in Southeastern ChinaBackgroundIn this study, researchers compare erosion from reforested and degraded sites in subtropical southeastern China. Goals & MethodsThe objective of the study was to estimate the long-term influences of reforestation on soil and water erosion and nutrient losses in regions of southeast China that are characterized by severely eroded bare land derived from Quaternary red clay. The study examined surface runoff, soil erosion, and soil nutrient content. Available with subscription or purchase |
InVEST: A Tool for Integrating Ecosystem Services into Policy and Decision-MakingbackgroundThis document explains the InVEST tool, an ecosystem service model (via a software program) used to geographically map the provision of ecosystem services and how they can be affected by development and policies. The model, designed by the Natural Capital Project (collaboration of WWF, TNC, the University of Minnesota, and Stanford University), is intended for planners to maximize the benefit from activities such as reforestation. Open access copy available |
