Final Report - Asian Development Bank

TA 4721-PRC: Preparing the Shaanxi-Qinling Mountains Integrated Ecosystem Management Project
Final Report Appendix 7
278. Funds will be used to demarcate boundaries, develop nurseries, and training in forest
resource management. The level of investment is relatively small once boundaries are demarcated
and nurseries seedlings are established s the remainder is mostly local labor that will be remunerated
through the Project as identified within the Forest Resource Management Plan. The remuneration is
provided as an incentive to participate and in recognition of the limited livelihoods beneficiaries
currently have. The payments during the project and the QNBG revenue transfer will provide short to
medium term income sources until forest revenues are generated.
279. No forest models are provided and the PPTA notes that the integrity and value of the
program will be determined by the process of planning and the extent that programs are defined for
the needs of the local environment, social context and the current land use cover. This represents a
major shift in thinking for forestry programs which have in the past relied on centrally defined planting
models that suit industrial forestry but fail to recognize the needs and potential for mixed forest
systems that fulfill social needs.
280. The Project costing is based on data provided by the Provincial Forestry Design and Survey
Institute of SFD to provide a budget figure for the program and is only indicative of the likely costs. The
costing includes planting costs (CNY 5,875/ha) while maintenance costs of CNY 800/ha will be
provided through by both the beneficiary and the revenue transfer mechanism.. The payment for
planting costs is a direct payment to the farmer for his labor and represents an incremental increase in
income. The break out of the cost is:
� Land preparation 50 pdays
� Transportation of tree and temporary planting 15 pdays
� Planting 15 pdays
� Replacement planting 5 pdays
� Annual establishment and maintenance 15 pdays
� Total labor per ha is 100 days per ha @ CNY30 per day for a total cost of
CNY3,000/ha
� Pest controls CNY75 per ha
� Seedlings (i) 3,330 conifer @ CNY0.5 each, (ii) broadleaf 2,250 @ CNY0.4 each, (iii)
shrubs 5,000 @ CNY0.05 each.
c. Sloping Agricultural Land Technologies (SALT) and Conservation
Agriculture
281. The Government Land Conversion Program is well advanced in the QBCDA project area,
with approximately 70 – 80 % of the agricultural land located on slopes over 25 degrees already
converted out of agriculture. Most land conversion took place between 1999 and 2003. Under the
scheme, commercial trees have been planted however these will not provide income for a number of
years. The most common trees / shrubs planted are Walnut (Juglans spp) Sweet Chestnut (Castanea
spp), Chinese Toon (Toona sinensis) and Chinese Prickly Ash / Sichuan Pepper (Zanthoxylum).
282. The land is classed as ‘ecological forest’, compensation is paid for a period of eight years.
The trees cannot be removed after this period. User right certificates are given to owners who have
converted land for 70 years. Farmers converting to ‘ecological forest’ are paid additional compensation
payments for their ecological contribution.
283. With the removal of agricultural land, many householders have seen their incomes drop
considerably. Many households are unable to grow enough for their own needs. In response some
households rent additional land however many can not afford this option. Animal rearing has declined
reducing protein intakes.
284. Increasing diversity of crops is one objective of the forest rehabilitation program (see above).
Households currently depend on one or two tree based products often grown on the converted land,
and therefore subject to price fluctuations and variations in yearly harvest yields. Diversifying the
range of products and focusing on production of higher value crops with the possibility of adding value
by simple processing procedures (drying medical herbs, producing essential oils ) will provide
livelihood benefits and enable appropriate land use practices to be adopted.
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