The Study Ofimplementation And Develipment Strategy Of The Conversion Of Cropland To Forest In Shaanxi Province

Conversion of Cropland to Forest t is one of China's grand ecological projects, which is featured by strong policy, big investment, wide geological coverage, various stakeholders, complicated procedures, and high-level public participation. China's forestry has entered a new phase of development, the central government places great emphasis on ecological construction, and focuses on the effects of the Conversion of Cropland to Forest and the long-term livelihood of farmers who lost their farming lands. Therefore, analyzing and summarizing experiences gained from the Project, identifying main problems and recommending development strategy have significant implications for the sustainable and healthy future of the Project.Based on wide-range literature review and applying tools such as field investigation and data analysis, this study provides an in-depth investigation of the main achievements and problems of the pre-construction of the Conversion of Cropland to Forest in Shanxi Province. Built upon this investigation, strategies for the future development of the Project have been proposed in order to better understand working methods, shift priorities from planting trees in a large-scale to maintaining and improving existing achievements, increase farmers'income, change from extensive management to methods guided by operational science, and manifest multiple effects of the Project. The study results demonstrate that:(1)Shanxi province is one of China's key provinces that implement the Conversion of Cropland to Forest. In the past ten years, the Project has significant ecological, social and economic effects, which can be mainly observed from: notable improvement of ecological conditions– from'overall deterioration, partial improvement'to'overall improvement, partial virtuous circle'; adjustment of agricultural structure, increase of farmers'income, development of reserve resources, shift of labor force, enhancement of public awareness of ecological issues, and improvement of the relationship between policy makers and the public.(2)Based on extensive investigation and analysis, this study concludes that main factors that limit the effect of the Conversion of Cropland to Forest in Shanxi province not only relate to technological issues, but also involve policies and many other aspects such as limited funding, lack of overall planning, delay of delivery of annual plans, and planting of single tree species. Also, the study puts the source of the problems into two categories and examines them separately: first,local governments'and the public's lack of understanding of the ecological implications of the Project and insufficient application of science and technology in the Project;next, the shortage of professional services and technical support.(3)Based on the analysis of the achievement and existing problems of the Project, this study proposes the following development strategies: keep promoting the Project, improve compensation policies, include the management of the Conversion of Cropland to Forest into the project budget, maintain the Project's achievements, develop long-term mechanisms to maintain the achievements; promote science- and technology-based forestry practices, and enhance forest management.