Forestry Bureau Officially Launches a New Round of Returning Farmland to Forest
On September 25, the 2014 plan task of returning 5 million mu of farmland to forest and grassland was officially issued, marking the official launch of a new round of the farmland-to-forest program. On September 28, the State Forestry Administration held a national teleconference on the implementation of returning farmland to forest, to implement the "Overall Plan for a New Round of Returning Farmland to Forest and Grassland" approved by the State Council, arrange and deploy the new round of farmland-to-forest work and the 2014 construction tasks, and promote the all-round development of ecological forestry and people's livelihood forestry.
Zhao Shucong, Director of the State Forestry Administration, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Zhang Yongli, Deputy Director of the State Forestry Administration, presided over the meeting. Feng Jiaping, Chief Engineer of the Administration, and relevant leaders from the Western Development Department of the National Development and Reform Commission and the Agriculture Department of the Ministry of Finance attended the meeting.
Zhao Shucong said that after the catastrophic floods of 1998, the Party Central Committee and the State Council, with far-sighted vision and a clear assessment of the situation, resolutely made the major decision to implement the farmland-to-forest project. After more than ten years of effort, by 2013 the central government had invested a cumulative total of 354.2 billion yuan, and the whole country had completed a cumulative total of 447 million mu of farmland-to-forest tasks, directly benefiting 32 million farming households and 124 million farmers, and the project construction had achieved remarkable ecological, economic and social benefits. Practice has proven that implementing the farmland-to-forest project is a wise decision of far-sighted vision made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council, is a landmark project for our country to promote ecological civilization construction and the transformative development of forestry, and is a successful model for promoting harmony between man and nature and achieving sustainable development; it has won the heartfelt support of grassroots cadres and the masses and has been widely praised by experts and scholars at home and abroad.
Zhao Shucong pointed out that at present, soil erosion and wind-sand hazards are still the most prominent ecological problems in our country, and there are still large areas of sloping farmland and desertified farmland across the country that continue to be cultivated, causing soil fertility decline, river siltation and a decline in the water conservation capacity of important water source areas, seriously threatening the production and living conditions of the people and the safety of their lives and property, and seriously constraining the process of ecological civilization construction and sustainable economic and social development. Implementing a new round of returning farmland to forest is a major decision made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council, a strategic measure for building an ecological civilization and a beautiful China, an inevitable choice for solving our country's problems of soil erosion and wind-sand hazards, and also an objective requirement for promoting farmers' escape from poverty and prosperity and building a moderately prosperous society in all respects; the broad masses of grassroots cadres and the people eagerly look forward to it.
Zhao Shucong required that we must deeply study and comprehend the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's series of important speeches and the important instructions and directives of Premier Li Keqiang, deeply understand the great significance of continuing to do well the work of returning farmland to forest for promoting the development of ecological forestry and people's livelihood forestry, increasing our country's forest resources and responding to global climate change, fully implement the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, conscientiously organize and implement the new round of farmland-to-forest work, and truly do well and solidly this major matter that bears on the national economy and the people's livelihood. We must adhere to giving priority to ecology, closely centering on the fundamental goal of enhancing ecological functions and expanding forest area, give priority to selecting tree species with strong soil and water conservation functions, and give priority to arranging farmland-to-forest in areas of important ecological location, fragile ecological conditions and concentrated contiguous areas of special difficulty. We must respect scientific laws, proceed from reality, advance steadily in accordance with natural laws and economic laws, and prevent arbitrary official dictates and formalism. We must strengthen policy implementation, accurately grasp the overall requirements and policy measures of the new round of returning farmland to forest, do well in publicity and mobilization, policy training and other work, so that grassroots cadres and the masses are familiar with the policy content and clear about the work requirements, and ensure that in the implementation process there is no deviation and no distortion. We must strengthen later-stage management and protection, promptly issue forest right certificates, scientifically formulate forest management plans, implement the main body and responsibility of management and protection, seriously investigate and deal with acts such as arbitrarily requisitioning or occupying farmland-to-forest land and unauthorized resumption of cultivation, and consolidate the achievements of returning farmland to forest in accordance with the law. We must fully implement responsibilities; governments at all levels and relevant departments, especially forestry departments, must each perform their own duties, form a joint force and advance together, and at the same time must implement well the responsibilities and rights and interests of farming households that return farmland to forest.
Zhao Shucong stressed that 2014 is the opening year of the new round of returning farmland to forest. On the basis of doing well in publicity and mobilization and policy training, all localities must conscientiously do well in work such as farmers' applications, operation design, seedling supply and technical services, and as soon as possible break down and assign the tasks to specific hills and plots and to the farming households that return farmland to forest, ensuring that the tasks are fully completed this winter and next spring. We must strengthen supervision of the project implementation process and acceptance inspection of the implementation results, do well in the checks on seedling quality, planting quality, inspection and acceptance, and assessment and monitoring, ensure the quality of project construction, and get the new round of farmland-to-forest work off to a good start and a good beginning.