6. Forest and Grassland

The issue of forest decline has been comprehensively addressed across the province. Both the area of land for forestry and the storage volume of live timber increased. Forest resources have been increasing year by year, through the implementation of a large series of projects such as natural forest conservation and conversion of farmland into forest.

Forest Resources Survey

In accordance with the third investigation into forest resources in Yunnan , the area of land for forestry in the province was 23.8079 million hectares, covering 60.4% of the total areas. Of this total, the area of woodland covered 54.1%, open forest land 4.2%, shrub forest 17.1%, seedling 0.9%, and land with no-trees but suitable for forest 23.7%. Forest coverage, including woodland and shrub-land, was 44.3%, and the total storage volume of live timber was 14,24 million m³ .

Forest Areas and Types

There were 12.8732 million hectares of forest and woodland in the province in 2003. The area of forest and woodland per capita was 0.31 hectares, and the per capita forest storage was 34.8 m³ .

The province has almost half the country's species of seed plants and arbors. There were 105 types of forest, including tropical forest, monsoon forest, sub-tropical broadleaf evergreen forest, warm-temperate needle-leaf forest, and temperate needle-leaf forest in frigid uplands.

Forest Coverage, Timber Generation and Consumption

The forest coverage of the province was 44.3%, of which 33.6% was woodland and 10.7% was shrub forest. The annual amount of timber generation was 58.7389 million m³ , with an annual amount of timber consumption of 54.2593 million m³ .

Nature and Artificial Grassland

There was 15.2667 million hectares of natural grassland in the province in 2003, of which 11.8667 million hectares could be used. The area of degrading natural grassland covered 83.4% of the total area of natural grassland. Of this, 34.8% was slightly degraded, 33.3% was moderately degraded and 15.3% was severely degraded. The area of artificial grassland was 334,700 hectares, increasing by 50,000 hectares compared with 2002.

Forest Pests and Diseases and Fire Disasters

314,600 hectares of forest suffered pests, diseases and damage by rats, covering 2.4% of the total area of the forest and woodland. The main types of pests and diseases were pine moth, small moth, snout moth, Chinese pine needle coccid, sawfly, looper, poisonous moth, snout moth's larva of pine branch, yellows, needle fall, rat disaster and economic trees.

There were 786 cases of forest fire in 2003, 2,168.1 hectares forest was impacted and the area directly affected was 15,483.8 hectares.

Measures and Actions

Natural Forest Conservation Projects

11.9795 million hectares of forest across the province was planned to come under management and protection. In addition, 12.5849 million hectares were managed and protected with a completion rate of 105.1%. 161,900 hectares of artificial woodlands for public usage were planted, covering 99.9% of that required by the national plan. 642.64 million Yuan was invested into the project, of which 390.33 million Yuan was from government Special Funds for the project and 252.31 million Yuan from Basic Construction Funds.

Project Converting Farmlands into Forest

According to the 2003 national plan, the area of land conversion should be 346,700 hectares in total, of which the land conversion for afforestation should be 166,700 hectares, and the area of afforestation in waste mountains and lands suitable for afforestation should be 180,000 hectares. Ultimately 345,500 hectares were forested, of which the land converted for afforestation was 166,700 hectares and the area of afforestation in waste mountains and lands suitable for afforestation was 178,800 hectares. Through the process, 117,325kg of grain, 74.34 million Yuan in cash and 233.09 million Yuan for seedling were distributed in subsidies.

Project on Ecological Shelter Forest Construction

This project included the Pearl River , the Nanding River of the Lancangjiang River Basin , the Honghe shelter forests, and the Greening Corridor Construction. By the end of November 2003, the total area of afforestation completed by these projects was 19,800 hectares with a total investment of 37.50 million Yuan.

Reforestation Project

These projects included the development of a ‘Nut Production Base', a ‘Base for Bamboo and Vine and Valuable Timber Production', and ‘Small-scale Woodlands for Public Use and Fuel-wood Production Base'. A total area of 16,700 hectares was reforested with a total investment of 21.20 million Yuan.

Prevention and Control of Forest Pests and Diseases

257,300 hectares of forest was treated for pests and diseases, covering 81.8% of the total area of the forest. The ‘National Small Moth Engineering Treatment Experimental Pilot Project' started up, with an investment of 1.3 million Yuan by the national government. 2.02 million Yuan from the national bond fund was invested in infrastructure construction for the provincial forest management station and additional stations in 5 counties and 3 prefectures and cities of the province.

Forest Fire Control

The National Forestry Ministry of China input 28.05 million Yuan and the local government input 7.02 million Yuan into forest-fire control. A series of projects was implemented, including an integrated treatment project in key fire-strike areas in Anning in Central Yunnan , the Central and South province, the Northwest province, and South Yunnan , and natural forest-fire control projects in Central Yunnan , Northeast Yunnan , Northwest and Southeast Yunnan . Through these projects, the capacity of watchtowers and their intercommunications was enhanced, and the means to extinguish fires were improved. Subsequently, the capacity in fire control was enhanced.