RECOFTC in China

RECOFTC in China

The remarkable progress China has made in recent years in forest tenure reform, supporting programs and reforestation can provide many lessons for the region as a whole. There are also many differences within the country and innovations can still be more widely applied. Nevertheless, there are some further challenges to address including gender issues and forest allocation, procedures and compensation for regulatory takings, and supporting farmers to make the most of their small forest plots whilst contributing to wider sustainable landscape management. These latter challenges require action-research for the establishment and development of new forms of collaborative landscape management groups and value-adding cooperative enterprises.

 

The next few years may also be an appropriate time for reviewing the management of state managed forests and enterprises with a view to increasing the involvement of individual households in, and hence the benefits from, forest management. China’s forestry administration needs to adapt to these emerging needs. RECOFTC is developing a partnership with the State Academy of Forestry Administration (STAFA) with whom it intends to engage in specific capacity-building activities in selected provinces as opportunities arise and resources become available—particularly in provinces where forest tenure reform has taken place and collective forest management activities are emerging, and for neighboring countries exist.