The Natural Forest Protection Regulations Are Officially in Effect: Here's What You Need to Know
Funding for natural forest protection will be included in the fiscal budget; commercial logging of natural forests will be completely halted and clearcutting of natural forests prohibited; outstanding contributions to the management, protection and utilization of natural forests will be rewarded... Starting June 1, the "Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Natural Forest Protection Regulations" took effect, which will strengthen the management, protection and rational development and utilization of natural forests in the prefecture and help polish the local ecological brand.
Natural forests are the most important component of the forest ecosystem in Qiannan Prefecture and an important barrier for the ecological security of the upper reaches of the "two rivers."
It is reported that the regulations specify that natural forest protection shall be implemented through tiered protection, divided into a first-level control zone and a second-level control zone; they provide that natural forest protection shall operate under a government administrative chief responsibility system, with county-level people's governments being the primary responsible bodies for natural forest protection, township (town) people's governments and subdistrict offices being the specific responsible units for natural forest protection management, and natural forest tenure holders and forest management units being the managing entities for natural forest protection and stewardship.
The regulations also provide that the prefecture- and county-level people's governments shall include natural forest protection funding in their respective fiscal budgets, to be used specifically for the protection and management of natural forests, vegetation restoration and related infrastructure construction. Natural forest management work funding shall be no less than 1 yuan per mu per year, incorporated into the fiscal budgets at the same level by the prefecture and county levels at a 2:8 ratio. Natural forest protection shall be incorporated into national economic and social development plans, funding for natural forest protection and natural forest management work shall be established, and multi-channel fundraising for natural forest protection shall be encouraged to provide financial safeguards for natural forest protection.
At the same time, the regulations provide that commercial logging of natural forests shall be completely halted throughout the autonomous prefecture's administrative area, and clearcutting of natural forests is prohibited. They explicitly encourage forest tenure holders to protect and utilize natural forests through equity participation, cooperation and other means. Furthermore, they provide that in the second-level control zone, on the premise of not changing the use of forest land and not affecting ecological security and biodiversity protection, operational activities that consume non-timber resources, such as forest health and wellness, understory planting, understory farming and ecotourism, may be developed through the transfer of natural forests.
The regulations provide that within natural forest protection areas, acts that damage natural forests are prohibited, including destroying forests for reclamation, setting fires to clear land, illegal mining, quarrying, sand extraction, soil extraction and hunting, killing wild animals, as well as resin tapping, lacquer cutting, bark stripping, root digging and illegal collection of wild plants, dumping garbage and waste residue, and discharging toxic and harmful substances. According to the needs of natural forest protection management and cultivation and utilization, collective natural forest land may be converted to state-owned natural forest land through government purchase, redemption and other means. Anyone who destroys or illegally logs natural forests will be subject to fines and required to replant and restore the original condition in accordance with the regulations, and in serious cases legal liability will be pursued in accordance with the law.
At present, Qiannan Prefecture has a total of 15.6 million mu of natural forest, accounting for about 70% of the prefecture's 22.5 million mu of forest area, and the forest coverage rate of Qiannan Prefecture has reached 62%. The prefecture has achieved full coverage of natural forest management and protection across all 12 counties (cities).