Evolution of China's Forestry Policies since 1949 and Experience and Implications

Since 1949,the Chinese Communist Party ( CPC) and government have formulated series of policies to promote construction and development of forestry. The evolution of forestry policies brings constant deepening of understanding of the Party and government about forestry development laws. Forestry policies evolve from emergency and provisional to systematic and overall functions,making them become more scientific,pertinent and prospective. Besides,formulation of forestry policies is gradually influenced by international factors. When formulating forestry policies,it is required to follow forestry development laws,keep pace with time,and make constant improvement in practice,to suit demands of times and social development,and prudently handle the relationship between economic benefits and ecological benefits of forestry.

Policies, Actions and Effects for China's Forestry Response to Global Climate Change

Climate change is a great concern of various countries, the public and science community, and forest plays an important role in mitigating climate change. The paper made a comprehensive analysis regarding the policy selections of China to promote forestry response to the global climate change, and elaborated the concrete actions and achievements in this regard. Policy selections include: 1) Reinforce tree planting and afforestation, increase the forested area and enhance the capacity of carbon sequestration; 2) Improve forest management and the quality of existing stands, and improve the carbon sequestration services provided by forest ecosystem; 3) Strengthen the soil protection on wetland and forestland, and exert the potentials of carbon sequestration; 4) Boost the nature protection, and conserve the biodiversity; 5) Vigorously exploit forestry bio-energy, and reduce the GHG emission; 6) Enhance the prevention and control of forest fires, diseases and pests as well as of illegal expropriation of forest land, and effectively control the GHG emission; 7) Appropriately increase the use of timber, further improve the utilization rate of timber, extend the use life-span of timber and strengthen the carbon-storing function of timber products; 8) Actively implement forestry programs for carbon sequestration and widen the financing channels for forestry development and carbon sequestration. Meanwhile, with the concrete actions in forestry response to climate change, e.g. setting up a specialized agency responsible for the response to climate change, establishing Asian-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation, launching the national evaluation of preferential development areas for forestry CDM (Clean Development Mechanism) projects, initiating the pilot projects for Afforestation and Reforestation Project under the CDM, and creating and operating China Green Carbon Fund, China has made great achievements in her response to climate change. There witnesses a growing increase in the quantity and quality of forest resources in China, which contributes to improving ecological condition, giving play to forest potential in carbon sequestration, and mitigating global climate change.

Forestry Action Program——On China's 21st Century Agenda

Environment and development are important issues of common concern to societies of the contemporary world. They have a direct bearing on the destiny of mankind, as well as the future of the world. Their influence extends to every country, every people and every individual in this world. Forests are the key and bond to carry out the integration of environment and development. It has become a consensus in international society. Forestry shoulders two missions: optimization of the environment and promotion

A bibliometric analysis using machine learning to track paradigm shifts and analytical advances in forest ecology and forestry journal publications from 2010 to 2022

Forest habitats are critical for biodiversity,ecosystem services,human livelihoods,and well-being.Capacity to conduct theoretical and applied forest ecology research addressing direct(e.g.,deforestation)and indirect(e.g.,climate change)anthropogenic pressures has benefited considerably from new field-and statistical-techniques.We used machine learning and bibliometric structural topic modelling to identify 20 latent topics comprising four principal fields from a corpus of 16,952 forest ecology/forestry articles published in eight ecology and five forestry journals between 2010 and 2022.Articles published per year increased from 820 in 2010 to 2,354 in 2021,shifting toward more applied topics.Publications from China and some countries in North America and Europe dominated,with relatively fewer articles from some countries in West and Central Africa and West Asia,despite globally important forest resources.Most study sites were in some countries in North America,Central Asia,and South America,and Australia.Articles utilizing R statistical software predominated,increasing from 29.5%in 2010 to 71.4%in 2022.The most frequently used packages included lme4,vegan,nlme,MuMIn,ggplot2,car,MASS,mgcv,multcomp and raster.R was more often used in forest ecology than applied forestry articles.R software offers advantages in script and workflow-sharing compared to other statistical packages.Our findings demonstrate that the disciplines of forest ecology/forestry are expanding both in number and scope,aided by more sophisticated statistical tools,to tackle the challenges of redressing forest habitat loss and the socio-economic impacts of deforestation.

Livelihood Vulnerability and Adaptation for Households Engaged in Forestry in Ecological Restoration Areas of the Chinese Loess Plateau

Chinese Loess Plateau has achieved a win-win situation concerning ecological restoration and socio-economic development.However,synergistic development may not be realized at the local scale.In areas undergoing ecological restoration,livelihood vulner-ability may be more pronounced due to the inflexibility,policy protection,and susceptibility to climate and market changes in forestry production.Although this issue has attracted academic interest,empirical studies are relatively scarce.This study,centered on Jiaxian County,Shaanxi Province of China explored the households’livelihood vulnerability and coping strategies and group heterogeneity con-cerned with livelihood structures or forestry resources through field investigation,comprehensive index assessment,and nonparametric tests.Findings showed that:1)the percentage of households with high livelihood vulnerability indicator(LVI)(>0.491)reached 46.34%.2)Eight groups in livelihood structures formed by forestry,traditional agriculture,and non-farm activities were significantly different in LVI,land resources(LR),social networks(SN),livelihood strategies(LS),housing characteristics(HC),and socio-demo-graphic profile(SDP).3)The livelihood vulnerability of the groups with highly engaged/reliance on jujube(Ziziphus jujuba)forest demonstrated more prominent livelihood vulnerability due to the increased precipitation and cold market,where the low-engaged with reliance type were significantly more vulnerable in LVI,SDP,LR,and HC.4)The threshold of behavioral triggers widely varied,and farmers dependent on forestry livelihoods showed negative coping behavior.Specifically,the cutting behavior was strongly associated with lagged years and government subsidies,guidance,and high returns of crops.Finally,the findings can provide guidance on the dir-ection of livelihood vulnerability mitigation and adaptive government management in ecologically restored areas.The issue of farmers’livelihood sustainability in the context of ecological conservation calls for immediate attention,and eco-compensations or other forms of assistance in ecologically functional areas are expected to be enhanced and diversified.

How can technology and efficiency alleviate the dilemma of economic growth and carbon emissions in China's industrial economy? A metafrontier decoupling decomposition analysis

This paper attempts to explore the decoupling relationship and its drivers between industrial economic increase and energy-related CO_(2) emissions(ICE). Firstly, the decoupling relationship was evaluated by Tapio index. Then, based on the DEA meta-frontier theory framework which taking into account the regional and industrial heterogeneity and index decomposition method, the driving factors of decoupling process were explored mainly from the view of technology and efficiency. The results show that during2000-2019, weak decoupling was the primary state. Investment scale expansion was the largest reason hindering decoupling process of industrial increase from ICE. Both energy saving and production technology achieved significant progress, which facilitated the decoupling process. Simultaneously, the energy technology gap and production technology gap among regions have been narrowed, and played a role in promoting decoupling process. On the contrary, both scale economy efficiency and pure technical efficiency have inhibiting effects on decoupling process. The former indicates that the scale economy of China's industry was not conducive to improve energy efficiency and production efficiency, while the latter indicates that resource misallocation problem may exist in both energy market and product market.

Advancing climate resilience through a geo-design framework: strengthening urban and community forestry for sustainable environmental design

Urban and community forestry is a specialized discipline focused on the meticulous management of trees and forests within urban,suburban,and town environments.This field often entails extensive civic involvement and collaborative partnerships with institutions.Its overarching objectives span a spectrum from preserving water quality,habitat,and biodiversity to mitigating the Urban Heat Island(UHI)effect.The UHI phenomenon,characterized by notably higher temperatures in urban areas compared to rural counterparts due to heat absorption by urban infrastructure and limited urban forest coverage,serves as a focal point in this study.The study focuses on developing a methodological framework that integrates Geographically Weighted Regression(GWR),Random Forest(RF),and Suitability Analysis to assess the Urban Heat Island(UHI)effect across different urban zones,aiming to identify areas with varying levels of UHI impact.The framework is designed to assist urban planners and designers in understanding the spatial distribution of UHI and identifying areas where urban forestry initiatives can be strategically implemented to mitigate its effect.Conducted in various London areas,the research provides a comprehensive analysis of the intricate relationship between urban and community forestry and UHI.By mapping the spatial variability of UHI,the framework offers a novel approach to enhancing urban environmental design and advancing urban forestry studies.The study’s findings are expected to provide valuable insights for urban planners and policymakers,aiding in creating healthier and more livable urban environments through informed decision-making in urban forestry management.

China's Maritime Governance:Practical Evolution and Theoretical Construction

Increasingly engaged in maritime governance,China has developed its distinct vision and gradually established a complete theoretical system surrounding it.In terms of discourse,China has proposed a collection of concepts and ideas including a maritime community with a shared future,the 2lst Century Maritime Silk Road,Blue Partnerships,and marine ecological civilization.In terms of connotations,China champions such values as lasting peace,common prosperity,openness and inclusiveness,and cleanness and beautifulness.Exteriorly and interiorly,we can observe the unique character of China's vision concerning maritime governance,which will continue to upgrade and bear fruit in future practices,boosting the development of Chinese maritime governance theories,multilateral maritime cooperation,and ocean-related international legislation.Guided by its vision,China is expected to contribute more to global maritime security and marine ecological civilization.

Coupling and Long-term Change Characteristics of Forest Carbon Sink and Forestry Economic Development in China

[Objectives]To analyze the changes in of forest carbon sink and forestry economic development,provide reference for relevant management decisions,ecological governance and resource and environment management,and promote the development of green low-carbon economy in China.[Methods]Based on the data of six forest resource inventories from 1989 to 2018 and related studies,the comprehensive evaluation model of forest carbon sink and forestry economic development,the coupling degree model of forest carbon sink and forestry economic development,and the coupling coordination degree model of forest carbon sink and forestry economic development were adopted.The coupling degree of forest carbon sink and forestry economic development from 1992 to 2018 was analyzed.Stepwise regression and ARIMA model were used to analyze the influencing factors and lagging characteristics of forest carbon sink.The coupling degree between forest carbon sink and forestry economic development in China from 2019 to 2030 was predicted by autoregression and ADF test.The coupling between forest carbon sink and forestry economic development in China and its long-term change characteristics were also discussed in this study.[Results](i)The investment of ecological construction and protection,the actual investment of forestry key ecological projects,GDP and the import of forest products had a significant impact on forest resources carbon stock.The total output value of forestry industry,the actually completed investment of forestry key ecological projects and the export volume of forest products had a significant impact on the forest carbon sink,and the actually completed investment of forestry key ecological projects has the greatest impact on the two.(ii)The impact of actually completed investment of forestry key ecological projects had a lag of 2 years on the forest resources carbon stock and a lag of 1 year on the forest carbon sink.When investing in forest carbon sink,it is necessary to make a good plan in advance,and do a good job in forest resources management and time optimization.(iii)From 1992 to 2018,the coupling degree of forest resources carbon stock,forest carbon sink and long-term development of forestry economy in China was gradually increasing.Although there were some fluctuations in the middle time,the coupling degree of forest resources carbon stock and the long-term development of forestry economy increased by 9.24%annually,and the degree of coupling coordination increased from"serious imbalance"in 1992 to"high-quality coordination"in 2018.From 1993 to 2018,the coupling degree of forest carbon sink and long-term development of forestry economy increased by 9.63%annually,slightly faster than the coupling coordination degree of forest resources carbon stock and long-term development of forestry economy.The coordination level also rose from level 2 in 1993 to level 10 in 2018.(iv)The prediction shows that the coupling coordination degree of forest resources carbon stock,forest carbon sink and the long-term development of forestry economy would increase from 2019 to 2030.The coupling coordination degree(D)values of both were close to 1,the coordination level was also 10 for a long time,and the degree of coupling coordination was also maintained at the"high-quality coordination"level for a long time.[Conclusions]Forest has multiple benefits of society,economy and ecology,and forest carbon sink is only a benefit output.The long-term coupling analysis of forest carbon sink and forestry economic development is a key point to multiple benefit analysis.The analysis shows that the spillover effect and co-evolution effect of forest carbon sink in China are significant.From 1992 to 2018,the coupling coordination degree of forest carbon sink and forestry economic development was gradually rising.The prediction analysis also indicate that the coupling coordination degree between the forest carbon sink and the long-term development of forestry economy will remain at the level of"high-quality coordination"for a long time from 2019 to 2030.Therefore,improving the level of forest management and maintaining the current trend of increasing forest resources are the key to achieving the goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in China.

Multi-scenario Simulation and Spatial-temporal Analysis of LUCC in China's Coastal Zone Based on Coupled SD-FLUS Model

Increased human activities in China's coastal zone have resulted in the depletion of ecological land resources.Thus,conducting current and future multi-scenario simulation research on land use and land cover change(LUCC)is crucial for guiding the healthy and sustainable development of coastal zones.System dynamic(SD)-future land use simulation(FLUS)model,a coupled simulation model,was developed to analyze land use dynamics in China's coastal zone.This model encompasses five scenarios,namely,SSP1-RCP2.6(A),SSP2-RCP4.5(B),SSP3-RCP4.5(C),SSP4-RCP4.5(D),and SSP5-RCP8.5(E).The SD model simulates land use demand on an annual basis up to the year 2100.Subsequently,the FLUS model determines the spatial distribution of land use for the near term(2035),medium term(2050),and long term(2100).Results reveal a slowing trend in land use changes in China's coastal zone from 2000–2020.Among these changes,the expansion rate of construction land was the highest and exhibited an annual decrease.By 2100,land use predictions exhibit high accuracy,and notable differences are observed in trends across scenarios.In summary,the expansion of production,living,and ecological spaces toward the sea remains prominent.Scenario A emphasizes reduced land resource dependence,benefiting ecological land protection.Scenario B witnesses an intensified expansion of artificial wetlands.Scenario C sees substantial land needs for living and production,while Scenario D shows coastal forest and grassland shrinkage.Lastly,in Scenario E,the conflict between humans and land intensifies.This study presents pertinent recommendations for the future development,utilization,and management of coastal areas in China.The research contributes valuable scientific support for informed,long-term strategic decision making within coastal regions.

The Application of China's High Speed Railway Earthquake Early Warning System in Jakarta-Bandung HSR

Earthquake has a significant impact on operation safety of the high speed railway,and for Jakarta-Bandung High Speed Railway(HSR)in Indonesia where it is earthquake-prone,it is necessary to establish an earthquake early warning system to strengthen its earthquake resistance.Based on the principle and technical characteristics of China's high speed railway earthquake early warning system and combining the actual situations of Jakarta-Bandung HSR in Indonesia,this paper describes how to implement China's high speed railway earthquake early warning system in Jakarta-Bandung HSR.It focuses on optimizations in environmental adaptation design and seismic network interface design,earthquake attenuation model parameter adjustment and terminal software interface adjustment,so as to make the system better suit the local situations,and meet operation requirements and guarantee safe operation of Jakarta-Bandung HSR.

Forestry ecological footprint in China during 1973–2003

The ecological footprint （EF） model has received much attention as an assessment indicator for sustainable development in recent years. Firstly, the temporal changes of domestic timber production, imports and exports in China were analyzed from 1973 to 2003, the analysis results showed an apparent fluctuation in timber production during 1973-1995 but a decreasing trend during 1995-2002, an increasing trend in timber imports since 1995 especially after the implementation of the Natural Forest Protection Project （NFPP）, an decreasing trend year by year in timber exports since 1995. Secondly, this paper presented a time series analysis of actual forest area demand in the sustainable yield and production approach in China from 1973 to 2003, which includes both import and export forest area demand. The results showed the actual forest area demand simulated from the sustainable yield approach was slightly higher than that from the production approach during 1978-1988 and a little lower during 1989-2003; however, the actual forest area demands simulated by these two model approaches were larger than calculations that expressed in conventional forest EF. Meanwhile, the results indicated the forestry development in China during 1978-1988 was unsustainable due to overexploitation of forest stocking volumes, and China＇s forestry moved toward sustainable development since 1989 because forest resources are exploited at lower rates than they are regenerated. However, compared to forestry developed countries, the forestry development capacity in China is still lower. Finally, based on the model results we analyzed the relationships between forestry EF and the key policies, including trade policy, economic policy and forest conservation programs. In addition, several suggestions about reducing forestry EF and enhancing sustainable forestry development in China are given.

Prevention and Utilization of Invasive Plants of Agriculture and Forestry in Guangdong Province

Guangdong has become a major＂window＂ for invasive plants, and the largest zone, where cross-border and intercontinental migration frequencies reach the peak. The invasive plants in Guangdong are dominated by Mikania micrantha, Eichhornia crassipes, Alternanthera philoxeroides, Eupatorium odoratum, and Wedelia trilobata. It is an important way for treating the invasive plants by exploring the prevention methods and making ful use of the characteristics of the invasive plants, and it is of great significance to prevent and utilize alien species in a scientific and effective way in order to control the invasive plants with minimal cost.

Current situation of Chinese forestry tactics and strategy of sustainable development

Based on the analysis of the current situation of Chinese forestry and a series of ecological, environmental, eco-nomic, and social problems, this paper emphasized on the importance of forests in social and economic development in China The author pointed out that sustainable development, particularly the sustainable development of forestry, is the inevitable choice to solve the problems of ecological environment and social economics. The objectives, criteria, and strategies of sus-taining forestry were also demonstrated and expounded, from the viewpoints of ecology, economics, and sociology.

Analysis of Textbook "Garden Plant Protection" Construction in Agricultural and Forestry Universities or Higher Vocational Colleges

The survey of textbook 'Garden Plant Protection' was introduced in this study,and the necessity of textbook 'Garden Plant Protection' construction in agricultural and forestry universities or higher vocational colleges was also analyzed.Aimed at the status of textbook 'Garden Plant Protection' construction in agricultural and forestry universities or higher vocational colleges,the corresponding ideas for its construction were put forward.

A Needs-analysis Approach to Postgraduate English Curriculum Design in Chinese Agriculture and Forestry Universities——A Case Study of Shandong Agricultural University

In order to investigate the curriculum design for postgraduate English in Agriculture and Forestry Colleges, this papermakes great attempts to probe into the target needs and learning needs of English in SDAU. Both quantitative and qualitative re-search methods were employed in the survey. The final conclusion of this study is that the current English curriculum design forpostgraduate in SDAU can not satisfy the needs of students and workplace completely. On the basis of such major findings and re-sults, this paper makes attempts to develop an English curriculum design and implementing model for postgraduate English teach-ing in SDAU, hoping to offer implications on curriculum design of postgraduate English in Agriculture and Forestry Colleges and of-fer suggestions on personalized teaching reform of postgraduate English.

Forest fire risk zone mapping from satellite images and GIS for Baihe Forestry Bureau, Jilin, China

A forest fire can be a real ecological disaster regardless of whether it is caused by natural forces or human activities, it is possible to map forest fire risk zones to minimize the frequency of fires, avert damage, etc. A method integrating remote sensing and GIS was developed and applied to forest fire risk zone mapping for Baihe forestry bureau in this paper. Satellite images were interpreted and classified to generate vegetation type layer and land use layers （roads, settlements and farmlands）. Topographic layers （slope, aspect and altitude） were derived from DEM. The thematic and topographic information was analyzed by using ARC/INFO GIS software. Forest fire risk zones were delineated by assigning subjective weights to the classes of all the layers （vegetation type, slope, aspect, altitude and distance from r3ads, farmlands and settlements） according to their sensitivity to fire or their fire-inducing capability. Five categories of forest fire risk ranging from very high to very low were derived automatically. The mapping result of the study area was found to be in strong agreement with actual fire-affected sites.

Surveillance of Hand,Foot,and Mouth Disease in China's Mainland (2008-2009)

Objective Since HFMD was designated as a class C communicable disease in May 2008,18 months surveillance data have been accumulated to December 2009.This article was to describe the distribution of HFMD for age,sex,area,and time between 2008 and 2009,to reveal the characteristics of the epidemic.Methods We analyzed weekly reported cases of HFMD from May 2008 to December 2009,and presented data on the distribution of age,sex,area and time.A discrete Poisson model was used to detect spatial-temporal clusters of HFMD.Results More than 1 065 000 cases of HFMD were reported in China's Mainland from May 2008 to December 2009 （total incidence：12.47 per 10 000）.Male incidence was higher than female for all ages and 91.9% of patients were 5 years old.The incidence was highest in Beijing,Shanghai,Zhejiang and Hainan.The highest peak of HFMD cases was in April and the number of cases remained high from April to August.The spatial-temporal distribution detected four clusters.Conclusion Children 5 years old were susceptible to HFMD and we should be aware of their vulnerability.The incidence was higher in urban than rural areas,and an annual pandemic usually starts in April.

Developing a quantitative index system for assessing sustainable forestry management in Heilongjiang Province,China： a case study

In this study, we developed a comprehensive index system for forestry sustainability of Heilongjiang Province, which includes forest resources sustainability,sustainable economic development, sustainable social development and sustainable advancement in science and technology. Based on this system and the regional forest development, we further evaluated the sustainability of Heilongjiang Province for year 2008-2013. The results show that even though the regional forestry has been preliminarily on the track of sustainable development, it is fragile. Four indicators, e.g. soil and water retention rate,forest stand growth（per unit area）, the proportion of national investment and the annual carbon sequestration have important impact on the sustainability, with a weight of 39.0 % in all the indicators. We also analyzed the factors hindering the sustainable development. It turns out that soil and water retention rate, forest stand growth（per unit area）,the proportion of science and technology funds, per capita GDP and the proportion of the tertiary industry production are the main factors hindering regional sustainable development, which accounts for 50.94 % of the total obstacle degrees in the system. At last, we discussed how to promote the regional sustainable development from the perspectives of forest resources sustainability, economic development sustainability, society development sustainability and the sustainable advancement of science and technology.

Over-mature beech trees (Fagus orientalis Lipsky) and close-to-nature forestry in northern Iran

Oriental Beech is the most important commercial tree species in northern Iran. In recent years wood production companies interested in felling large beech trees for profit have challenged advocates of close-to-nature silviculture who favor conservation. Our study objective was to assess the economic value of over-mature beech trees by relating tree diameter （DBH） to amount of decay. Based on the location of onset of decay, we categorized three types of decay as stump, stem, and crown decay. Trees of greater diameter （age） typically showed greater decay in the stem. Percent of decayed volume, diameter of decayed tissue, and length of decay in tree stems varied between 0.5%-64.3%, 15 cm-75 cm, and 2.0-19.5 m, respectively. With increasing trunk diameter, the propor- tion of truck decay increased. Red heart and dark red heart constituted 25% and 14.3% of sampled trees, respectively. However, we found no correlation between intensity of stem decay and morphological charac- teristics of trees. Seedlings were not abundant around the bases of over-mature trees, suggesting that the trees did not contribute to regeneration of the stand. Beech trees of diameter 〉1 m do not provide valu- able round wood for industries and cause to raise wood production costs. We recommend that these trees 〉1 m DBH should be retained in forest stands because of their low commercial value but high ecological and conservational values such as maintaining biodiversity in forest ecosystems.