The Restoration Initiative (TRI) worked to pioneer sustainable forest management in China’s state-owned forest farms (SFFs), which cover a whopping 77 million hectares of the country’s landscape and employ roughly 750,000 people. These forests have traditionally been mismanaged and utilized for excessive timber harvesting, leading to soil degradation and fragmented ecosystems. TRI’s project, piloted in Chengde, Ganzhou, and Bijie, aimed to reverse these trends by implementing forest landscape restoration (FLR) practices.
Transforming State-Owned Forest Farms
TRI’s project in China centered around working with State Forest Farms (SFFs) to develop and implement sustainable forest management and restoration plans. These plans were designed to integrate forest ecology with diversified production beyond timber, aiming to deliver ecosystem services such as biodiversity conservation, soil stability, and carbon sequestration. The project spans three distinct sites—Chengde in Hebei, Ganzhou in Jiangxi, and Bijie in Guizhou—across seven state-owned forest farms.
Major Milestones and Impact
Over a five year lifespan, TRI’s project in China yielded significant achievements in restoring degraded landscapes. The project successfully brought a total area of 229,831 hectares under restoration, with the same astounding amount of landmass undergoing improved management. Surpassing the initial targets, this restoration work has greatly improved the ecological health of the regions, providing essential ecosystem services such as clean water, enhanced soil productivity, and increased carbon storage.
The involvement and active engagement of local communities were pivotal to the project’s success, with 63,000 direct beneficiaries reaping the rewards of holistic ecosystem restoration. These community members participated in various capacity-building activities, training sessions, and workshops aimed at enhancing forest management practices and promoting sustainable livelihoods. By equipping locals with the necessary skills and knowledge, the project has fostered a strong sense of longevity in sustainable land use.
Policy Development and Promise
One of the key achievements of the TRI project in China was its contribution to policy development. The project facilitated the creation of two significant policies: the “Green Path to Growth State Forest Farm Policy Research in China’s New Stage of Economic and Social Development” and the “Implementation Roadmap of Pilot Sustainable Forest Management in China.” These policies provide a robust framework for integrating FLR and sustainable forest management into national strategies, ensuring the longevity of the project’s positive impacts.
Naturally, the project has still encountered various challenges such as the need for continuous adaptation to local conditions and the integration of FLR with local Chinese concepts. To address these challenges, the project has combined FLR with the “Systemic Governance of Mountains, Rivers, Forests, Farmlands, Lakes and Grasslands” (MRFFLG) theory. This integration has supported the localization of FLR practices and facilitated their mainstreaming in China.