Changing Forestry Policy by Integrating Water Aspects into Forest/Vegetation Restoration in Dryland Areas in China

Restoration forestry （forest rehabilitation） or re-vegetation is one effective measure to solve environmental problems, notably soil erosion. It may be further stimulated by the Clean Development Mechanism for carbon sequestration. However, there is an intensive and on-going debate about the adverse effects arising from afforestation in dryland areas, such as soil drying up which may cause further damage to the success of forest restoration, and the water yield reduction from watershed which may harm the regional development. On other hand, some preliminary studies showed a possibility that these adverse effects may be diminished more or less by properly designing the system structure and spatial distribution of forest/vegetation in a watershed. However, it is urgent to develop an evidence-based and sustainable new forestry policy for harmonizing forest-water interrelation. As a leading country in afforestation, China is beginning to develop a more trans-disciplinary and cross-sectoral forestry policy for harmonizing forestry development with water management. The main points of the changing new forestry policy should include： （1） Establishing a regional development strategy focusing on harmonized forest-water relations; （2） Taking forest-water interactions as an important part of evaluation; （3） Reducing the ＇eco-water＇ quota of forests through technical advancement; （4） Developing and extending water-adaptive forest management practices; （S） Strengthening forest ecohydrological research and decision support ability.

Policy Assessment and Recommendations for Forestry-based Ecological Poverty Alleviation: An Empirical Study from the Prefectures of Nujiang and Aba, Southwestern China

China has adopted a long-term campaign against poverty. In recent decades, there is an increasing understanding that ecological poverty alleviation can meet the dual goals of environmental protection and rural poverty reduction. China is pivoting towards forestry-based poverty reduction in the severely poverty-stricken areas. However, several key factors remain elusive, including the extent to which the poor people benefit from forestry programs, whether they are satisfied with the policies and whether the policies are effective for poverty alleviation. Based on data collected through a questionnaire survey of 79 households in the prefectures of Nujiang and Aba, southwestern China, the analytic hierarchy process(AHP) approach was used to examine the effectiveness of the forestry-based poverty alleviation policy. The results showed that four poverty alleviation pathways, including industry, employment, micro-finance and pairing assistance in villages, had obviously increased the incomes of the filing poor households and solved the problem of "Two Worries-free and Three Guarantees". The poor were satisfied with the forestry-based ecological poverty alleviation policies and these policies had good effects in fighting against poverty. However, there are still some shortcomings, such as a lack of active participation, imperfect targeted identification, lack of funds and limited sources of funds during the policy implementation. Our results highlight the importance of the forestry industry and the public welfare position in the alleviation of poverty in the poverty-stricken areas. Synergies between ecological protection and poverty reduction are possible through sound forestry-based policies. This article recommends five policies to simultaneously realize the potential of poverty alleviation and environment protection through forestry development.

The challenge of applying governance and sustainable development to wildland fire management in Southern Europe

This paper discusses participatory processes in wildland fire management （WFM）. Participation is an essential element of both the European Sustainable Development （SD） Strategy and the White Paper on Governance. Governance end SD have thus become an interconnected challenge to be applied to WFM （as a sub-area in forest policy）, amongst other policies. An overspread weakness in WFM is lack of real participation of stakeholders. Absence of （or deficient） participation can seriously impair contribution of this group to WFM in high-risk areas and runs counter governance and the SDS. Further, this weakness might prevent an efficient use of fire as a land management tool （prescribed burning, PB） and as a technique for fighting wildfire （suppression fire, SF）. Even though these fire practices have been well known in many different places, they have been increasingly neglected or Prohibited over time in Southern Europe. At present, forest and fire fighting administrations are turning their eyes back on them and analyzing the benefits of using fire in relation to preventive and suppressive actions. Therefore, participatory and diffusion mechanisms （the latter adopting the shape of national and international experts＇ networks） are required in order to solve the so- called fire paradox： that is, the need to move from a one-dimensinnal perception of the negative impacts of fire to a more sophisticated one that also stresses its positive effects. Governance, based on broad social participation, and diffusion, through fire networks, are of utmost importance in order, first, to diminish long-standing suspicion amongst different interests as to the use of fire and, secondly, to diffuse best practices associated with PB and SF. Most importantly, the ELI should exercise its environmental leadership so that these new fire practices and sustainable WFM are diffused across the international arena.

Transfer of Scientific Expertise into Successful Forest Policy: Assessment for Monitoring and Evaluating Sustainable Forest Management in China

China runs several biggest forestry programs in the world. Improved use of these forests and the newly planted forests should provide multiple benefits for Chinese people. The success of ambitious forestry policy depends not only on the huge resources invested in it and on a strong political will but also on the expertise required in order to fulfil the task in the correct manner. Transfer scientific expertise into forest policy making is becoming one of the success factors of China’s forestry development. Examples from other parts of the world show that the relation between forest science and forestry policy is very sensitive. In this paper, forest science and forestry policy monitoring and evaluation systems in China are described; problems and challenges of these systems are identified; the model of transfer scientific expertise into real policy is analyzed; three main factors which positively influence the practitioner’s acceptance and utilization of expertise are discussed; some conclusions and suggestions are conducted finally.

Discussion on Private Forestry Development in China

After the reform and opening-up policy being initiated in China, the private sector began toparticipate in forestry section. Now, it plays an important role in forestry construction, forestry industrydevelopment, farmers’ income improvement and eco-environmental protection. The historical process, presentsituation and challenges of private forest in China are illustrated and several suggestions on how to accelerateprivate forest development in China are put forward in this paper.