Forest: Man's Best Friend

By WANG ZHUXIONG

FORESTS are custodians of our planet’s health, playing a critical role in reining in climate change. By dint of greening ever more of its territory China has made great strides in protecting and developing its forest resources and helping to mitigate global climate change.

Gigantic Afforestation Programs

The Chinese government attaches strategic importance to afforestation and the construction of a sound ecology. Beginning in 1978 large shelterbelts have been planted in the “Three Northern Areas” (North, Northwest and Northeast China), the costal areas, plains, the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the Taihang Mountains, the surrounds of Beijing and Tianjin, and regions by the Huaihe, Pearl and Liaohe rivers and the Taihu Lake.

In 1998 the central government adjusted its forestry development policy and has since concentrated on six major eco-preservation projects, designed to protect natural forests, restore farmlands to forests, check the sources of sandstorms that attack Beijing and Tianjin, continue planting shelter forests in the “Three Northern Areas” and along the Yangtze River, establish plantation bases of fast-growing species, and preserve wildlife.

Every spring people across the nation volunteer to plant trees, a national campaign now in its 29th year. By the end of 2009 the numbers of participants and trees planted since its inception totaled 12.11 billion and 56.33 billion respectively, making it a fruitful, mass green project with the highest participation rate in the world.

With a projected time span of 73 years, the 1978 “Three Northern Areas” shelterbelt program will be China’s longest ongoing afforestation endeavor. Over its first three decades, 24 million hectares of shelterbelts have been planted, increasing the forest coverage of the “Three Northern Areas” from 5.05 percent to 10.51 percent.

The “farmlands to forests” project that has been underway for the past 10 years in eco-fragile regions has restored approximately 27 million hectares of forests, equivalent to the entire state-owned forest area of Inner Mongolia and the provinces of Northeast China.

Efforts to stem desertification and keep sandstorms in check cover eight major deserts and four sandy regions. Twenty percent have yielded good results. From the late 1990s to the early 2000s the pace of desertification was slowed from 3,436 to 1,283 square kilometers annually – a dramatic decrease within a very short time span.

The project to protect natural forests, the largest in Chinese history, encompasses over 100 million hectares. Over the past decade it has reported a net increase of 460 million cubic meters of growing stock (volume of living trees), contributing 43 percent of the growth in the nation’s forest resources. The number of forest nature reserves has climbed to 2,012, totaling 123 million hectares, or 12.8 percent of China’s territory.

Meanwhile constant efforts have been made to increase green coverage in cities, from 10.1 percent in 1981 to the current 37.37 percent – from 3.45 to 9.71 square meters per capita. Concomitant effects are the mitigation of climate change and improvement of the living environment.

Major Reduction in Carbon Emissions

China has promulgated nine national laws, 15 administrative rules and regulations, 43 statutes issued by relevant authorities and 300-odd regional laws to govern its forest resources, protect wildlife and control desertification. Under these ordinances the state has launched several campaigns to fight illegal logging and arbitrary requisition of wooded lands. It also closely monitors and guards against forest disasters, and presses forward with construction of nature reserves.

These efforts have brought results. The seventh survey on China’s forest resources (2004-2008) found that forests totaled 195 million hectares, covering 20.36 percent of Chinese territory, meaning that China’s target of 20 percent green coverage was achieved two years ahead of schedule. Of the total 13.72 billion cubic meters of growing stock, 1.96 billion cubic meters were planted, and the plantations amount to 62 million hectares. These figures put China in fifth place in the world in terms of forest acreage, sixth place in terms of growing stock and first place in terms of planted forests.

Compared with the previous survey, China’s forests expanded by 20.54 million hectares; forest coverage edged up by 2.15 percent; and growing stock increased by 1.123 billion cubic meters. More detailed analysis reveals natural forests grew by 3.93 million hectares, with a net increase of growing stock of 676 million cubic meters; planted forests gained 8.43 million hectares with an added growing stock of 447 million cubic meters; the per hectare growing stock of arboreal forests inched up by 1.15 cubic meters; and the proportion of mixed forests rose by 9.17 percent. These indicate improved quality of the forest resources.

The value of forests to a nation is not solely as a source of construction materials and fuel: they absorb tremendous volumes of carbon dioxide; they are critical to efforts to arrest climate change, to build a resources-frugal and environment-friendly society, to foster a low-carbon economy and to achieve harmony between man and nature. It is estimated that from 1980 to 2005 China cleaned 4.68 billion tons of carbon dioxide as the result of forest plantation and management, and reduced the emission of greenhouse gases by 430 million tons as the result of logging control. The total amount, 5.11 billion tons, made an important contribution to the global war on climate change. The 2007 National Plan in Response to Climate Change issued by the State Council revealed that forests absorbed about 500 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2004, which accounted for 8 percent of all greenhouse gases discharged that year. Currently the carbon stock of Chinese forests stands at 7.81 billion tons.

Much More to Come

At the United Nations Climate Change Summit in 2009 President Hu Jintao told the world that China would add to its forest carbon sink capacity, increasing its forests by 40 million hectares and their growing stock by 1.3 billion cubic meters by 2020 on the 2005 basis. For this target, China would augment its afforestation efforts and upgrade forest management, doing its share in the war on global climate change.

At present China has more than 400 million hectares of barren lands and mountains plus considerable amounts of farmland at gradients above 25° that are better suited for woods. According to government plans, China’s forest coverage will climb from the current 20.36 to 23 percent by 2020 and will exceed 26 percent by 2050. This increase will be accompanied by gains in forest carbon storage.

The quality of Chinese forests is still wanting. The growing stock of arboreal forests is a lowly 85.55 cubic meters per hectare, 78 percent of the world average, and that for plantations is even lower – 49.01 cubic meters. Experts estimate that the current carbon storage level of Chinese forests is about 44.3 percent of their potential capacity, so there is a big margin to be filled. The unit growing stock of forests will increase markedly under conditions of scientific management.

Stricter protection measures will include more strict controls over illegal logging and unjustified expropriation of wooded land. For sanctioned tree felling, the damage inflicted to groundcover plants and soil can be reduced through scientific planning and low-intensity operations, lowering the risks of soil erosion and retaining the carbon-capture capability of forest areas. Through more effective management including warning systems for fire and insect danger plus control of combustible matter, the frequency and scale of forest fires and infestation, both causes of carbon emissions, can be kept low.

Forests are also a source of biomass, in turn a source of clean energy. A study by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) predicts that the energy generated from biomass will account for more than half of worldwide energy consumption by mid-century. China’s annual usable biomass stock is estimated at more than 300 million tons, equivalent to 200 million tons of coal. Biomass-supplying forests can be grown on wasteland and mountains, saline lands and lands reclaimed from abandoned mines. By growing the share of alternative fuels in energy supply, China can effectively decimate its greenhouse gas emissions.

Increasing the use of timber can also put a dent in carbon discharge. The production and processing of timber use far less energy and emit far less carbon dioxide than iron and aluminum processing. More use of wood will lead to more tree plantations, which store carbon dioxide in their growing process. Once made into products, wood retains the carbon it has absorbed unless it is burnt or rots. Many wooden items survive for centuries, holding on to their stored carbon all that time.