Chapter
14 - Conservation and Sustainable Use of Natural Resources
14.7 The programme areas in the present chapter are:
C. Protection and Utilization of Water Resources
D. Management and Sustainable Development of Land Resources
E. Cultivation, Protection, Management and Sustainable Development of Forest Resources
C. Protection and Utilization of Water Resources
Basis for action
14.22 At present, the per capita fresh water reserve in China is only 2,500 cubic metres, which is about one-fourth of the world's average. With the increase in population and economic development, more and more cities are facing serious water shortages. The bulk of China's water supply projects were completed during the 1950s and the 1960s, and their supply capacity declined. A long term plan for water supply must be directed at the reasonable development and protection of water resources, and relieving the bottleneck effect of water shortage to socioeconomic activities. How to solve the continuing water shortage in North China, East Jiaozhou Peninsular, mid-South Liaoning, Northwest China and many coastal cities has become a strategic problem arising before the central government.
14.23 The total amount of water resources is not small, but the per capita water resources are not significant and vary with time and location. Generally speaking, the South is rich in water while the North is short of water, and it is quite difficult to construct water development and utilization projects. The degree of water utilization deepens with locations from the South to the North. In forty four years after the establishment of the People's Republic of China a large number of water development and utilization projects have been accomplished with a total amount of water supplied by water conservancy projects topping 500 billion cubic metres per annum. However, agriculture and cities are urgently in need of water. The annual water shortage for agriculture totals thirty billion cubic metres with a total acreage of twenty million hectares being drought-hit. The actual area of irrigated land amounts to mere 48.7 million hectares. In addition, eighty million people in rural areas still have problems with their drinking water. Three hundred cities in China are water-deficient. The water deficiency in cities is divided into four categories, i.e. the resource-limited, the engineering induced, the pollution triggered and the water facility constrained, and water shortage due to the first three categories accounts for over 70% of total water shortage in cities.
14.24 At present, the fresh water supply in most of China's cities is threatened by the deterioration of water quality and the destruction of water ecosystem. Almost 80 percent of the country's waste water is discharged directly into rivers. This has caused high pollution levels in more than one-third of the country's rivers and in the water area of over 90 percent of all cities. The water sources in more than 50 percent of China's major towns are not suitable for drinking. Water ecosystems have been severely impacted, and health of aquatic life, especially fishery resources, is threatened by large-scale reclamation of marshes, inappropriate application of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and soil erosion. Statistics show that the length of rivers void of fish and shrimp totals 2,400 kilometres, and the number of lakes has decreased by 543 over a thirty year period, and a part of the remaining lakes are eutrophic. The loss in fresh water fish yield caused by the destruction of water ecosystem has reached eighty thousand tonnes annually. Protection of water quality and the water ecological environment must be implemented without delay.
14.25 In 1990 China's urban population was about 26 percent of the country's total. It is estimated that by 2000 the urban population will reach 460 million, which is about 35 percent of the country's total. The fast growth of urban populations and industrialization are putting increasing pressure on the water resources and environmental protection in many cities. Over three hundred water needy cities are lacking daily 16 million cubic metres of water. In southern cities, pollution causes 60 to 70 percent of the total shortage. Water shortages are especially felt in northern and coastal cities. As estimated according to current rate of economic growth, water shortage in cities by the year 2000 will exceed twenty billion cubic metres annually. Population growth, the drainage of industrial waste water and over exploitation of water resources will threaten the ocean environment and the supply of fresh water.
14.26 Groundwater is an important source of China's urban and industrial as well as agricultural water supply. About two-thirds of China's cities and one-fourth of its agricultural fields depend on groundwater as the main irrigation source. Agriculture accounts for 81 percent of the total groundwater utilization volume. At present, there are many problems existing with groundwater development and protection, among them are inadequate planning and management, over exploitation, continuous lowering of the groundwater level, continuous increase of funnel structure area, and the general pollution of urban subterranean water. These problems directly affect the sustainable utilization and protection of the groundwater resources. To undo such effects and threats, a long-term groundwater utilization strategy must be adopted.
14.27 According to statistics, of the twelve hundred rivers presently monitored, 850 are severely polluted, and some major lakes are in various phases of eutrophication, and coastal areas are hit by sea water intrusion. Generally speaking, water quality in China is getting worse, being aggravated by the contradiction between water supply and demand. Severe water pollution and water shortages have become the two main obstacles in China's lasting utilization of water resources. While water cannot be substituted, it can be cleaned by natural filtration and man-made filtration processes. Transforming urban waste water into a useable water resource will reduce pressures between water supply and demand, and reduce water pollution. In fact, the treatment of waste water is an important measure for enabling long- term water utilization and should be improved and disseminated.
14.28 The water resources shortage or deficiency problem will exist in the long run. The yearly demand of water based on a expected fourfold GNP growth in China by 2000 will reach 600 million cubic metres, if conservation and rational use of water could take effect and a medium-drought weather would prevail. If the water demand in the first decade of the 21st century is estimated to increase by 2- 3% annually, the total water demand in 2010 will hit a high of 720 million cubic metres, which means that the increment of water demand in ten years will comprise over 100 billion cubic metres. In the end it is necessary to increase the water supply capacity by 120 billion cubic metres before 2010.
14.29 By the turn of century, the North China, Shandong, the Northwest China, the mid-South Liaoning and dozens of coastal cities will be acutely hit by fresh water deficiency. The economic and social development of water needy regions will be increasingly jeopardized by water shortage which will especially affect irrigation in North China, industrial use of water for energy base in Shanxi and the water supply in the mid-South Liaoning and the Shandong Peninsular.
14.30 Global climatic changes may have a lasting impact on China's water resources as evidenced by a twenty-year dry season of the northern rivers, the continued increase of rainfall plaguing the southern rivers, and high frequency of droughts and floods all over the country. It is predicted that the incremental rise in China's sea level is roughly the same as the global average. The rising sea level will lead to increased intrusion of saline water into the water supplies of coastal cities, small islands, and will severely affect the ecological environment and economic development of the low-lying areas on the river delta.
14.31 The water resource management system, formed under the traditional system, hinders the effective development and protection of water resources. One river system is often artificially divided into sections and has more than one management agency. Such a system can hardly realize the unified and appropriate distribution of water resources, and has led to water related disputes between governmental departments, regions and the upstream and downstream sections in the same river system. Traditional water management systems can no longer meet the requirements of the market economy. Thus the reform of the water management system must be carried out soon, and at the same time the function of the management agency must be strengthened.
14.32 The development and protection of water resources is a complicated matter involving various types of waters, departments and domains of science. This programme is mainly concerned with the following seven factors:
- (a) Long-term planning of water supply and demand
and water resources appraisal;
(b) Protection of water resources, water quality and the water ecosystem;
(c) Sustainable utilization and protection of underground water resources;
(d) Guarantee of water for urban living and industrial usage;
(e) Water pollution control and the reclamation of waste water;
(f) The effects of climatic changes on the water resources and the corresponding strategies;
(g) The reform of the water resource management system and the development of its capability.
Objectives
14.33 The overall goal for the development and protection of water resources is to combine the development and utilization of water resources with a full-scale saving of water to alleviate water supply crisis in cities and countryside to maximize the economic, social, and environmental benefits to be obtained from utilization of water resources. Furthermore, to satisfy the increasing demand for a greater quantity and quality of water which results from socioeconomic development of the society. It is also important to protect the natural functions of water resources in relation to hydrology, biology and chemistry, and adjust human activities to within the limits of nature, and synchronize economic construction and water resources protection. Specific objectives are as follows:
- (a) The goal of long-term planning for water
supply and demand and the appraisal of water resources, is to meet China's
demands for water and assure continued development especially in regions
lacking water. Supply and demand planning should take into account national
economic and social development as well as the management of state lands.
Long-term supply and demand planning must be based on the management of
drainage areas and water resources appraisal and must be included in the
state and local development program. Long-term water supply and demand
planning should be included into development programmes at national and
local levels and should function as a basis for action by the state and
local governments, and should be practical and consistent. Supply and demand
planning demands expertise in the techniques of water resources appraisal,
as well as funds, manpower, and organizations to use this expertise;
(b) China shall work to devise preliminary solutions to the problem of pollution of drinking water sources and water systems in scenic spots by the year of 2000, and improve the functions of rivers, lakes and reservoirs to state standards. Groundwater used as urban drinking water sources should meet the state's quality standard. In rural areas, the centralized supply of potable water will be gradually increased, at the same time reducing the incidence of water related diseases, and preventing further degeneration of the water supply. The goal after the year 2000 will be the realization of the benign circulation of water resources and water ecosystem;
(c) In an effort to achieve sustainable usage and protection of water resources China will continue to utilize clean groundwater and at the same time work through effective management and replenishment technique to control the spread of groundwater pollution in over exploited areas by the year 2000. Furthermore, China will complete legislation to put groundwater resources under legal protection for rational exploitation and conservation of groundwater resources;
(d) China will work to bring the tap water popularization rate to 95 percent in 108 cities now having insufficient water supplies, by the year 2000. The government will also work to reverse the deterioration and exhaustion of water resources through the protection of water sources and water environment. After year 2000, following the completion of large scale water transferring projects and water source projects, domestic and industrial water usage in all cities will be ensured, and continued benign circulation of water in these cities will be realized;
(e) Surface water and groundwater sources in centralized water supply networks will be divided into protection areas by 2000. Over 80 percent of the surface water sources will attain quality level B, and at least 75 percent of the groundwater sources will reach the national standards. The environmental quality of major water bodies in China will be improved to some extent. Before 2000 the control over total pollutant discharges will keep major rivers and lakes (the Yangtze River,the Huaihe River, the Yellow River, the Pearl River, the Songhua River, the Taihu Lake, the Puyang Lake and the Dongting Lake) at quality level B,while the water quality of other heavily polluted rivers and lakes will be maintained at level C with deterioration of water quality being controlled to a greater or lesser extent. The water quality of all drinking water sources will reach these standards in 2010. By the year 2000, 20 to 30 percent of sanitary sewage and 84 percent of industrial waste water will be treated, and the regeneration rate of urban waste water will amount to 10 percent of the treated volume. By 2010, the treated volume is expected to be 40 to 50 percent, and the regeneration rate of in water-needy cities will reach 30 to 40 percent;
(f) To increase the reserve strength of agricultural development, the overall irrigated land area will increase from the present 48.7 million hectares to 53.3 million hectares by 2000. The water shortage will soar from 30 billion cubic metres at present to 40-60 billion cubic metres annually in the future. The construction of farmland irrigation projects, medium and small reservoirs, and water transfer and lift projects will make a incremental water supply of 30 to 50 billion cubic metres per annum. In the meantime, dissemination of water-saving irrigative technique such as watering through low-pressure pipelines, spraying, trickling and microsprinkling along with levelling of land and increase of utilization coefficient in canal systems will lead to a saving of irrigative water totalling eight to ten billion cubic metres while the irrigation of 53.3 million hectares of land will be guaranteed.
(g) China, to adapt itself to the impact of water resource availability resulted from climate changes, shall design appropriate strategies for the forecast and control of the influence of climatic changes on water resources, and adopt effective measures to reduce the negative effects. At the same time, study the potential influence the climatic changes have over regions with high drought and flood concentration, and discover means of control;
(h) China will reform the existing management system for water resources, pass new legislation and establish economic systems to promote the integrated planning and management, and to maximize development and protection of water resources for industry, urban development, hydropower generating, inland fishery, transportation, entertainment and maintenance of ecological balance. China will also work to improve the competence of management and technical personnel, and promote public participation in the integrated management of water resources.
Activities
14.34 Activities of utilization, protection and management of water resources include:
- (a) China will work to perfect the management
system and regulations of long-term water supply and demand planning at
both the state and local levels. Advanced technology and methods will be
adopted to create purposeful action including investment plans (increase
of water supply, conservation, management and emergency plans) complete
with cost evaluations. China will unify measures in the protection of potential
fresh water sources through exploration, land use control, development
of forest resources and protection of hillside and river banks and provide
effective distribution of water resources through demand and supply regulation
and pricing such as licenses for water supply, effective distribution of
water resources in needy drainage basins. The public will be made aware,
through media and education, of the importance of water resources, and
will be encouraged to participate, especially women, in water conservation,
planning and managing, water resources appraisal and other related activities;
(b) To ensure protection of water resources the entire drainage area must be treated and managed as a complete system. China will set up a system of quality standards for all waters based on the foundations of biology, hygiene, physics and chemistry. China will implement and promote activities in fisheries, aquatic farming and agriculture that reduce negative impact on fresh water ecosystems. China will complete and improve its monitoring network in water source reserves and other water sources. Discharge of urban waste water and pollution caused by fertilizer and pesticides in the rural area will be reduced. The efficiency in utilization of water resources and energy should be improved to reduce water consumption. In water saturated areas of the South and snail fever inflicted lowland areas, important drainage rivers should be dredged and drainage projects renovated to prevent the occurrence of oncomelania and the subsequent snail fever;
(c) China will examine the present over exploitation of groundwater resources and the results to apply better planning and management for the utilization of groundwater resources. China will speed up legislation in order to control regional and trans-regional development and protection of groundwater resources. China will define groundwater protection areas to promote artificial feeding replenishment. China will attempt to combine storage of surface and groundwater with the use of underground reservoirs, improve utilization of groundwater sources , and reduce waste through pricing. China will carry out integrated management of surface and ground water according to the division of regions or drainage areas and issue regulations and set up technological standards related to the control of groundwater pollution. China will control groundwater pollution caused by industrial waste water, solid waste and toxic pollutants;
(d) The Chinese government exercises unified management of the water resources within its jurisdiction according to the land utilization programme, including water resources, and group interests. To figure out regulations for trans-regional control of water pollution, China will set up urban water source protection areas, and use associated benefit and costs to coordinate the relationship between upstream protection and downstream utilization. The government will set water usage quotas for all industries, implement a country wide water quota program. Emphasis will be placed on accelerating adjustments in the industrial structure and layout, to encourage clean and water saving manufacturing processes, increase the re-utilization rate of water and cut down water consumption per unit of product. China will control industrial pollution and promote afforestation to enhance water quality and to protect water source reserves. Work will be done to promote public awareness regarding choices of water consumption modes and promoting public participation in the protection and conservation of water resources;
(e) The prevention and control of water contamination will be accomplished by drafting cross- boundary standard for water quality control in administrative districts, defining liability of administration for water pollution in its jurisdictional region and issuing waste drainage licenses in the functional divisions of water systems, water quality standards for water use, technical standards for production of water utilizing facilities, and time limits for drainage of pollutants. China will work to educate the public in the protection of drinking water sources, design a trans-regional protection program, and set deadlines for facilities that are pollution sources to improve or move out of major drainage areas. China will reinforce the monitoring of water quality and the legal supervision in the water sources reserves and gradually implement a reasonable system for pollution control in these reserves. China will map out plans for the treatment and utilization of waste water, set quality standards, devise the quality standard for water used for different industries, and deal with polluting enterprises in turn and by stages. About three thousand enterprises produce up to 65 percent of the country's total pollution load, six thousand account for 75 percent of the load, and nine thousand are responsible for 85 percent. Based on this data China will advocate for the establishment of enterprises specialized in the treatment, regeneration and re-utilization of waste water, to promote the environmental protection industry;
(f) China will examine and revise existing policies, laws, and regulations related to development and protection of water resources, while deleting those law terms and policy articles which are unfavourable to the integrated management of water resources. When revising policies, laws and regulations in regard to groundwater, all group interests will be taken into consideration. China will issue exploitation licenses and implement a distribution quota system at the local level to balance the supply and demand and gradually improve the environmental quality of water resources.
14.35 Scientific research and demonstration projects for the development and protection of water resources:
- (a) China will undertake studies of water resources
appraisal techniques, improve the existing environmental and hydrologic
monitoring network, and add new monitoring stations for groundwater survey,
water supply and water drainage. China will set up at all levels a water
consumption accounting system as part of the state's data system. China
will publish "The National Report on Water Resources" every year
and carry on studies of applied scientific technologies in water resources
appraisal, especially in the fields of hydrologic forecast, hydrologic
survey and remote sensing;
(b) The study of water resources and protective demonstration projects will look at planting forests and soil stabilization shelter-belts in the upstream area of rivers, ban destructive reclamation in the middle and downstream lakes and cisterns, and protect the living environment for fish and other aquatic life. It will research and spread new technologies in the areas of water resource preservation, hydrologic ecology protection and water contamination prevention, and launch a number of large capacity water conservancy projects and projects to transfer water from one drainage area to another, and regain the hydrologic ecological balance;
(c) China will concentrate on the construction of urban water supply projects, speed up the construction of reservoirs and the research on projects for transferring water between different drainage areas. China will adopt measures of circulating water usage, multipurpose water usage and re-utilization of waste water in urban factories, mines and other enterprises. China will select water saving model industries and model cities, research and spread the technology of waste water reclamation and encourage business operation of urban public water supply utilities. China will engage in research on the technology associated with the simplified water purification, energy-saving water purification and low-cost re-utilization of municipal sewage;
(d) China will develop and complete an information model of the hydrologic environment, including rivers, lakes, reservoirs and groundwater, at the national, provincial and municipal levels. China will devise a simple and practical water quality management program, innovate methods for overall control of pollutants, and practice waste water regenerating techniques. China will develop technologies in pollution control of rivers, lakes and groundwater. China will set up demonstration projects for protection of different types of drinking water sources. China will set up demonstration projects for the control of polluted lakes, evolve techniques for damming polluted rivers, controlling flow, oxygenized aeration technique and the purification of large aquatic systems, and establish demonstration projects for recycling of industrial cooling water,low and medium-grade process water and surface water replenishment of water resources;
(e) China will complete a water survey system which employs new techniques to appraise the effects of the climatic changes over the water resources. China will assess the effects of climatic changes over flood concentration, the economy and environment. China will survey the effects of climatic changes over water resources, such as the influence of the greenhouse effect on urban flood concentration and flood prevention. China will promote research and spread the technology of light saline water irrigation and construct projects as well as adopt non-project measures in areas exposed to the climatic influence, and enhance research work on protection of pollution-free and non-eutrophic lakes (such as the Honghu Lake);
(f) China will construct large scale key projects of development and protection of water resources, in order to promote trans-regional water distribution. An estimated ten to fifteen of such projects will be constructed before the year 2000. China will engage in research of substitutionary water sources, such as artificial replenishment of subterranean water, utilization of low quality or polluted water, and desalination of sea water. China will speed up construction of urban water supply projects and agricultural irrigation projects, and reinforce supervision, management and evaluation of environmental impact along with construction of water irrigation projects.
14.36 Activities of international and regional cooperation include:
- (a) China will cooperate with neighbouring countries
in the water resource assessment, and employ the advanced techniques and
the experience of the developed countries in this field;
(b) China will carry out international cooperation in the protection of water resources, and through consultation, devise strategies and action plans for global, trans-national, nationwide and trans-regional protection of drinking water sources and the management of water resources;
(c) China will participate in cooperative research on techniques to be used in the fields of pollution control of drinking water sources, functional recovery of subsurface water, prevention of saline water intrusion, waste water treatment combining artificial and natural purification, and the co-exploitation and utilization of international rivers;
(d) China will adopt overseas planning and management mode for exploitation of water resources and employ successful foreign technology, experience and equipment in waste water regeneration and re-utilization, and set up various types of demonstration projects for waste water regeneration and utilization;
(e) China will participate in international cooperation and exchange for the training of technical personnel specialized in water resource management, water pollution control and remediation, as the personnel base for environmental protection enterprises;
(f) China will participate in international cooperation to study climatic changes and their influence over water resources, and train professionals in this field.
14.37 Activities of mechanism and capacity building including:
- (a) China will work to improve the comprehensive
management of water resources at the state level. At the regional level,
China will work to perfect the existing water resources management system,
and reinforce the regional rights in the development and protection of
water resources, in particular, establish or complete a unified system
for management of water resources with every drainage basin being regarded
as an separate unit, realize unified control over exploitation, harnessing,
conservation and utilization of surface water and groundwater in urban
and rural regions, and create a coordinative mechanism responsible for
dividing interests between relevant bodies for collaboration and protection
of water resources within the reaches of river basin. When possible, the
government will assign the authority to the municipal, prefecture and township
governments according to relevant legislation to enable direct management
of water resources. Under appropriate conditions the property right of
water resources can be non-gratuitously transferred to realize business
management;
(b) China will organize a water supervisory team to exercise unified supervision and management over water APE. China will reform the investment system of water APE, employ economic stimuli and pricing systems in water supply and demand management. China will develop a nationwide system for water resources conservation with the participation of experts and general public. Based on the existing information systems and observation means on the development, utilization and conservation of water resources in various sectors, a national information system on the comprehensive management of water resources will be developed and established in order to realize the modernization of management tools.
D. Management and Sustainable Development of Land Resources
Basis for action
14.38 The total area of China is 960 million hectares, among which the cultivated land, forest land, pasture, land for construction sites, waters and unexploited land account for 13.8%, 20.7%, 27.55%, 2.95%, 3.8% and 31.3% to the total, respectively, as revealed by the statistical survey of 1985. China is a hilly country with mountainous regions and hilly areas making up two-thirds of its territory, and it is also a populous country characterized by a shortage of arable land. The per capita acreage equals about 0.9 hectare while the per capita arable land comprises about 0.11 hectare, which equals only one-third of the world's average. In recent years cultivated land has been disappearing at a rate of several hundreds of thousands of hectares every year. The conflict between agricultural demand for land and that of urbanization and industrialization is becoming more and more significant. Excessive cultivation of grasslands, over-grazing, utilization of land by village and township enterprises, soil pollution and erosion and rapid urbanization have caused serious damage to and deterioration of land resources.
14.39 The land resources emerge on the market as an increasingly unsubstitutive factor of production in so far as the mechanism of market economy keeps running in China. With respect to the management of land resources, China is facing the problem of setting up and improving the market-oriented mechanism, policies and regulations and modernizing land management. It is necessary to help create the fundamental influence of market mechanism on allocation of land resources, and concurrently reinforce the logic intervention of the government to implement highly efficient, fair and sustainable utilization of land.
14.40 China has undertaken many national information surveys of land resources, and accumulated a large storage of information. Since the survey methodology, data management and renewal, and aid to policy-making have been lagging behind the world's advanced level, till now a complete and effective system for dynamic monitoring and management of land has not been formed. It is possible to afford the government with a practical and reliable basis for policy-making in land resources management. To reinforce the capacity building in land management, realize dynamic monitoring and modernize information management is a pressing item on the agenda.
14.41 Wetlands are a special land resource and fill a unique and valuable ecological niche. China has about 25 million hectares of wetland, of which, swamps and estuary marshes amount respectively to 11 million hectares and 2.1 million hectares. The protection of China's wetland has long been overlooked. These areas are frequently drained for cultivation, or rebuilt into fish or shrimp ponds, and sometimes are excavated and drained of water. In many areas wildlife is killed in large numbers, and the ecosystem shows an overall tendency of degeneration. In recent years signs of improvement have been seen, as specialized wetland reserves and other natural reserves containing wetland have been established. China has joined in 1992 "The International Convention on Important Wetlands in Particular Habitats for Water Poultry", but damage to the wetland still exists largely because of the delayed call for protection and lack of unified planning and management.
14.42 The programme area H of this chapter refers to the sustainable utilization of grass resources. As for the sustainable use and conservation actions in respect to the arable land, inclines and other non- agricultural land resources please see the related programme areas in Chapters 11 and 16.
Objectives
14.43 By the year 2000, a general programme for land survey and utilization will be implemented at the national, provincial, regional, municipal and prefectural levels. Furthermore, China will work to clarify the general direction, goals and tasks of utilization; balance the demands for land; improve land utilization patterns; complete the information system for land management at different government levels; set up a network for land use monitoring; follow the dynamical changes in land conditions; and implement modernization of land management.
14.44 China will work to amend policies and legislation for land management suited to the mechanism of market economy, fully introduce non-gratuitous use of land, stepwise push the land use onto a market track, realize effective integrated control over development and utilization of large areas of land, conduct all-out harnessing of degenerated land, and enhance evaluation, integrated utilization and management of hilly land to raise the effectiveness of land use.
14.45 Legal enforcement and management bodies will be established at state and local levels to oversee the protection of wetland resources, improve scientific management, protect a group of the most important wetland resources and put an end to activities of destroying wetland resources and habitat at will. It is projected to set up one hundred diversified natural wetland reserves.
Activities
14.46 The integrated management of land resources:
- (a) Management activities in the surveying, monitoring
and planning of land resources. To strengthen the management of development
and utilization planning for a large area, such as for agriculture, industry
and urban housing, over a nationwide range. To strengthen the macro-management
of neighbouring land development zones, through macro-assessment and evaluation
of land resources, land usage, and impacts of land utilization and exploitation.
Cultivated land shall be categorized and transformation of cultivated land
into non-agricultural land will be controlled. Management and cooperation
will be encouraged in land allocation for large scale construction projects
and trans-regional land usage and in working out an overall programme for
land utilization at the province, region or municipality and prefecture
levels. It is necessary to enhance survey of hilly land resources and undertake
suitability assessment, formulate programmes for sustainable use of land
in mountainous areas, and establish model projects for sustainable development
of hilly land to prevent natural disaster and reinforce integrated management
of hilly land resources;
(b) The state's land management body and legislature will thoroughly examine and perfect the relevant requirements for land legislation and regulations, and draft laws and regulations for the land market and the non-gratuitous usage of land. Local governments should, with regard to the particulars of the local market, adopt regulations and measures that are functional under the market economy based on the state's relevant laws, and promote a number of land markets with their managing agencies. Local governments should complete the preparation of regulations for the land market, the transferring of land use rights and land registration and assets management, and launch general survey of basic land price to establish a fundamental land pricing system applicable to various districts in China. Furthermore, local governments should establish organizations to evaluate land investment profitability at both region or municipality, and prefecture levels, regulate the land market and unify the urban and rural land markets. Land management bodies at the municipality and prefecture levels will have to complete the overall planning of land utilization, and design land utilization programs including urban housing, public land usage, land for industrial and agricultural purposes, and special reserves.
14.47 The following steps will be taken to complete modernization of information management for land resources:
- (a) China will establish a land information management
body to establish regulations and technical codes for land information
collection, processing and use, and to exercise a market type operation
and management of land information;
(b) Land information management systems and databases will be established at the state and provincial levels;
(c) China will establish a land registration system in large and medium size cities in all economically developed regions, and develop market information management system for land resources and an expert system for resources, which must be paid for by the user;
(d) Land management professionals will be trained in maintaining and utilizing the land information system, so that the reliability of data gathering is enhanced;
(e) A land management computer system will be established, and connected with that of the world's relevant organizations as well as the computer systems of the land markets scattered all over China, to promote a network of information sharing;
(f) Modern computer software and hardware will be utilized to promote advancement in the fields of applied remote sensing, image processing, mapping, GPS as well as decision-making models and system analysis.
14.48 China will survey land resources at four levels: state, province, region or municipality and prefecture. Management of the survey data and land registration data will be computerized to facilitate information sharing within China as well as with other countries. The Government is to regularly release land information and policies to the public, and enhance women's role in this task.
14.49 Utilization and protection of wetland resources:
- (a) Management of existing wetland will focus
on preventing careless cultivation of the resource. In cases of real need,
such as a small area for dikes, usage of wetland can be approved after
the submission of the proper design for the project;
(b) Protection of wetland areas will be strengthened by setting up organizations, with legal means to enforce protection, in the most important areas. Laws and regulations shall be drafted to give the organizations enforcement tools;
(c) Wetland utilization and protection will be considered as an essential part of the overall planning of land resource utilization and protection, while a national strategy and action plan for wetland protection is to be envisaged. If an existing dike prohibits flood drainage, or spoils the scenery and the ecological environment of a lake or river, and if the reclaimed swamp is the breeding place of important aquatic birds, the dikes must be eliminated and the area allowed to return to swamp;
(d) China will actively engage in scientific research of wetland resources to determine the amount and distribution of wetland, the quality and utilization potential of various types of wetland, and the best way to manage wetland resources.
14.50 International cooperation. To actively participate in and promote international research on the sustainable utilization potential of land resources and to strive for international cooperation in comprehensive research on land use planning and sustainable productivity in five ecological types and five middle and small cities. Finally, to strive for international cooperation in the building of wetland reserves and scientific research on wetland resources.
E. Cultivation, Protection, Management and Sustainable Development of Forest Resources
Basis for action
14.51 China's forest area totalled 128.63 million hectares or 13.4 percent of China's total land area in 1991. The per capita forest area equals less than 15 percent of the world's average. Forest cover has increased by 39 million cubic metres from an annual deficit of 30 million cubic metres in the early 1980s, thus, in China there is a positive trend in the sustainable development of forest resources. But, the consumption of commercial forests still exceeds the growth. Forest quality remains poor with low canopy density, the country's average canopy density is 0.52. Large areas of forests are still threatened by uncontrollable degeneration, pests and plant diseases, misuse, and pressures resulting from energy shortages in rural areas. To eliminate the deficit in forest cover and prevent further destruction of forests united emergency efforts are needed to awaken public awareness and encourage public participation in conservation activities.
14.52 Forest is an essential component of China's land ecosystem. Besides offering commercial timber, it protects the environment by checking winds and reducing erosion, conserving water, taking dangerous carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, and enhancing and protecting the diversity of wildlife and their habitats. Forests are also valuable from the aspect of eco-tourism. China's traditions of exploitation and management tend to ignore this multi-functional character of forest resources. Attention is paid only to the direct commercial value of timber resources, while completely overlooking the ecological value. This has resulted in the deterioration of forest cover as evidenced by the present minimal existence of forest cover, low production capacity, worsening quality and the spread of pests and forest diseases. International organizations, consortia and the Chinese Government have begun to take note of the diversified ecological functions and characteristics of forest resources, and are anticipating the advent of protective measures.
14.53 The formulation of a national forest monitoring system is fundamental to forest management and sustainable forest utilization. At present, a state forest monitoring system has been completed, but systems at the prefecture or bureau level are still in the experimental phase. On the whole, China's forest monitoring system, especially that at the local level, needs improvement, despite some rudimentary achievements. There are many problems existing in the supervision and management of forest resources, such as free felling of forest, low timber prices, and interrelationship of forest ownership and user rights. The market economy requires a business management system of forest resources.
Objectives
14.54 China wishes to speed up afforestation, improve forest quality, increase total forest coverage to 15-16 percent by the end of the century, significantly eliminate the timber "deficit" of the whole country by 2000. Convergent with this goal is preventing the destruction and deterioration of existing forest, and promoting the general improvement of the ecological, economic and social benefits of forests.
14.55 China will adopt effective measures to maintain the ecological value of forests and appraise the resource benefit. Advance technologies and professional skills will be employed to design and carry out campaigns to maintain, manage and utilize forest resources.
14.56 China will set up a national forest monitoring system by the end of this century, which includes local networks, a data monitoring system and geographical information system. China will establish an assets management system for forests as soon as possible, implement the non-gratuitous usage of forest resources, and complete a forest monitoring and management system that fits into the market economy.
Activities
14.57 Activities of forest resources management:
- (a) China will promote forest management activities
to prevent forest destruction and further deterioration. China will plan
for forest growth and utilization, enhance the forest management bodies
at all levels, and work to increase the public awareness of the significance
of afforestation. Tree planting will take specific land conditions into
consideration, emphasize the fostering of mixed forest, adopt various afforestation
methods, such as artificial afforestation, air-seeding, closing hillside
for afforestation, and peripheral tree planting. Furthermore, China will
implement a forest fell quota system through implementing planning of the
total cut by utilizing restrictive management and supervision of forest
felling, timber transporting and marketing and issuing timber felling licenses.
Laws and regulating measures will be drafted and adopted to prevent illegal
behaviours that damage forest resources. The "family contracting responsibility
system" will be used in rural areas to encourage afforestation in
deserted lands that are unfit for agricultural purposes;
(b) China will create a program to develop a forest management surveying system that incorporates relevant technical standards. China will establish and perfect four state level forest surveying centres in the Northeast, the middle South, the North and the Northwest. China will set up provincial and prefectural forest surveying bodies and create a national forest information database and the geographical information system. China will implement policies and regulations to promote experimentation on and spread of management models for monitoring forest ownership and usage. China will perfect the forest supervising agencies at provincial and prefectural levels to phase in a system for non-gratuitous use of forest resources, implement forest pricing and introduce a system which could push the forest production on to a market track. China will set up a unified, well suited to the socialist market economy new system which could incorporate supervisory work with forest resources and assets management. The government will supervise the implementation of a forest development program to monitor and control felling and regeneration. China will carry out price reform for forest products, gradually abolish the loss subsidy given to the forestry enterprises, and collect a compensation fee for exploiting forest resources;
(c) China will promote activities in the fostering and protection of forest resources. To accomplish this goal China will attach importance to the construction of bases for fast growing high-yield commercial forests, and reinforce the shelter forest network in the Northeast, Northwest and North of China, the shelter belts along the upper and middle Yangtze River Basin, the coastal shelter forest network and the afforestation project in Taihang Mountain. Furthermore, China will work to develop trees that are fast growing, have a high yield, have a high calorific value, and multi-functional trees to aid in solving the energy problem in rural areas and mountain areas with severe shortages of firewood. Emphasis should be placed on the fostering development of fuel forests, and encouraging the exploration of alternative energy sources such as biogas, solar energy, and more efficient wood burning kitchen ranges. Efforts will also be made to reinforce the protection of the forest zones, prevent forest destruction and deterioration caused by pollution, forest fire, plant disease, pests and artificial factors.
14.58 Activities to maintain the multiple functions of forest:
- (a) Activities to implement a forest development
programme will take into consideration relevant agricultural programs and
wildlife protection programs;
(b) The multiple functions of forests will be maintained by establishing natural forest reserves designed to protect and save rare and endangered animal and plant species, and establish breeding and raising centres of endangered animals;
(c) Afforestation of mountain areas, highlands, deserted lands, degenerated cultivated lands, dry and semi-dry areas and maritime belts will be carried out to prevent further deterioration of the ecosystem and to regenerate degraded lands;
(d) China will adopt forest utilization measures that are ecologically and economically feasible. Such measures include planning and management, improved equipment, storage and transportation and are aimed at minimizing waste and maximizing forest profitability;
(e) China will advocate better protection of natural forests and natural forest areas, encourage eco-tourism in virgin forests, and utilization of non-timber forest products such as herbs, gum, breeding, agriculture and aquaculture;
(f) Management functions in the prevention and control of forest fires, plant diseases, pests, and destructive felling of timber, will be reinforced and a number of demonstration projects will be established.
14.59 Activities in scientific research and educational training:
- (a) China will double the attention given to
forestry research by organizing subject teams to solve key problems of
afforestation, and engage in the research on seed multiplication, containerized
saplings, vegetative propagation, high yield tree saplings, and dry land
afforestation. A quota system and methods for increased forest utilization
and regulation of forest reclamation will be established;
(b) China will take various measures to improve the maintenance of the ecological values of forests. One goal will be to develop the forest public education system to make the value and multipurpose usage of forests known to the public. Research on forest values in relation to sustainable management, biodiversity, impact of air pollution, and evaluation and accounting of the commercial and the non-commercial value of forest resources will improve the maintenance of healthy forests. China will develop forest utilization and exploitation techniques that minimize the impact on the environment or are low in pollution, and work to develop and promote non-timber forest products. China will train forestry professionals and workers with the emphasis placed on the young and women. Furthermore, China will develop comprehensive prevention and control methods for pests and plant diseases, detection and forecasting of forest fires, and research and spread new fire prevention techniques.
14.60 China will set up demonstration project bases and training centres dedicated to the layout of the shelter belts and the network for fast growing high-yield forests. Model forest policies and management centres will be established and in one prefecture from each province or autonomous region will be selected for setting up demonstration units. China will set up a national training centre for forest resources management and forestry administration.
14.61 International cooperation:
- (a) China will cooperate with international organizations
or concerned countries in scientific research, and work for foreign technological
assistance in setting up demonstration projects and training bases to promote
the international training and exchange of technical personnel;
(b) With the assistance of UNDP, China will finish the forest resources monitoring system for the whole country and some important provinces or autonomous regions;
(c) China will promote technological exchange in forest monitoring, with an emphasis on uninterrupted checking of forest resources, computerization, remote-sensing technology, application of geographic information system, data renewal applicable to mathematical models of forest resources and forecasting models;
(d) China will also adopt foreign experience in the business management and supervision of forest resources under the market economy;
(e) China will carry out exchange and cooperation with the international rural community in the field of forestry.
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