Logging restrictions in China: A turning point for forest sustainability

Abstract

During the past 50 years, China has experienced excessive exploitation of natural forests and countrywide development of forest plantations. Although forest coverage increased from 5.2 percent in 1950 to 16.5 percent in 1998, the natural forest has sharply declined in quantity and quality. China's logging restriction, the core of the Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP), protects millions of hectares of forests from further clearing. This 13-year-old program helps China adjust the age structure of national forests and provides a new chance for restoring forest sustainability.