Abstract
This chapter describes the six largest programs introduced during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Together, these six Key Forestry Programs (KFPs) cover 97 % of China’s counties and target over 100 million ha of land for forestation. The Grain for Green is the largest of these programs, in terms of area covered, people affected, and money invested. This book only reviews the Grain for Green, but in many villages more than one program was introduced concurrently. In this chapter, we argue that the government introduced the KFPs not only because environmental deterioration had reached a critical point, but also because China was producing a surplus of grain, which lowered farmers’ incomes, and because inequality between the eastern and western provinces was reaching a critical point. The Grain for Green in particular addressed all these problems concurrently, through direct payments to poor farmers willing to set aside marginal land. Partly for this reason, the Grain for Green is considered by many as the best reforestation and rural development program ever undertaken in China.
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Notes
- 1.
These official figures have to be taken with a pinch of salt. Until 1994 the canopy density had to be over 30 % for a vegetated area to be considered a forest, while from 1994 onwards a canopy density of 20 % was sufficient. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the forest cover has considerably increased with the six KFPs.
- 2.
The program is set to end 16 years after it initially started. It started at different times in different areas, but in most places it is expected to end in 2016–2019.
- 3.
When considering these changes, one should bear in mind that until 1994, the canopy density had to be over 30 % for a vegetated area to be considered a forest, while from 1994 onwards a canopy density of 20 % was sufficient.
- 4.
三农”问题
- 5.
In 2000, the government started the financial reforms for agricultural products (which covered the whole national territory only in 2006). Through this reform, taxes on agricultural products, including trees and timber, were abolished. Since 2007, farmers in China no longer have to pay taxes or fees for agricultural or non-timber forest products, though they still pay limited fees for timber.
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Delang, C.O., Yuan, Z. (2015). China’s Reforestation and Rural Development Programs. In: China’s Grain for Green Program. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11505-4_2
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