China's Forests: Global Lessons from Market Reforms

International concerns about greenhouse gases and threats to biodiversity, as well as regional concerns about water supply, erosion control, watersheds, and local economic well-being make the study of forest policy more important than ever before. Understanding the factors that affect the forest environment in China, the country with the world's largest population and one of its most dynamic economies, is a critical step toward improving the long-term welfare of the global community. This is the first book to comprehensively evaluate the effects of forest policy as it has followed or extended from agricultural, trade, and other reforms that began in 1978. Among the issues it addresses are the pressures exerted by the growing economy on the forest environment, the environmental effects of extractive activities, the property rights arrangements that have fostered the most sustainable management practices, and the contribution that forestry can make as an agent of development. China's Forest Policy pays particular attention to China's successful use of economic incentives. As a laboratory for policy reforms, the geographic breadth of China, the diversity of its forest environments, and its extensive record of policy experimentation provides a rich supply of contrasting examples and statistically meaningful results. The analysis of these results offers important lessons for future policy reform in China and in almost every other nation in the world.

Table of Contents:
Contributors Foreword by Uma Lele Foreword by Genchang Chen Preface 1. Introduction William F. Hyde, Jintao Xu, and Brian Belcher Appendix Table: Policy Reform in China�s Forestry Jiurong Zhang and Xuhe Chen 2. Devolution as a Means of Expanding Local Forest Management in South China: Lessons from the Past 20 Years Dachang Liu and David Edmunds 3. Taxes and Fees in the Southern Collective Forest Region Jinlong Liu and Natasha Landell-Mills 4. Central Characteristics of Reform: Measures of the Effects of Improved Property Rights, a Stable Policy Environment, and Environmental Protection Runsheng Yin 5. Policy Reform and Investment in Forestry Daowei Zhang 6. Forest Exploitation and Protection in Reform China: Assessing the Impacts of Policy and Economic Growth Scott Rozelle, Jikun Huang, and Vince Benziger 7. Deforestation and Reforestation in Hainan: Roles of Markets and Institutions Yaoqi Zhang, Jussi Uusivuori, Jari Kuuluvainen, and Shashi Kant 8. Forestry, Poverty, and Rural Development: Perspectives from the Bamboo Subsector Manuel Ruiz P�rez, Brian Belcher, Maoyi Fu, and Xiaosheng Yang 9. Impacts of Policy Reforms on Forest Environments and Biodiversity Jeffrey A. Sayer and Changjin Sun 10. Conclusions and Policy Implications William F. Hyde, Jintao Xu, Brian Belcher, Runsheng Yin, and Jinlong Liu Index

About the Author :
William F. Hyde is a senior associate at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and a senior scientist at the Forest Economics and Policy Analysis (FEPA) Research Center, University of British Columbia. Brian Belcher is a program leader and Acting Director of Livelihoods Program at CIFOR. Jintao Xu is Deputy Director, Centre for Chinese Agricultural Policy, Chinese Academy of Science.

Review :
'An informative read...An excellent book on China's forests.' International Forestry Review 'This is the first book to comprehensively evaluate the effects of forest policy as it has followed or extended from agricultural, trade, and other reforms.' Bois et fori? ts des tropiques