FMP_Manual_Participatory Strategic Forest Management Planning Manual_Draft_EN_Jürgen Fichtenau

7/31/2019 FMP_Manual_Participatory Strategic Forest Management Planning Manual_Draft_EN_Jrgen Fichtenau

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EUROPEAN UNIONDelegation of the European Commission to China and

Mongolia

ParticipatoryStrategic Forest Management Planning

ManualD R A F T

10 m

20 m

Prepared by: Jrgen FichtenauInternational Forest Management Planning ExpertSeptember 2007

FCT

FCT

FCT

FCT

Intended Measures

0.00

5,000.00

10,000.00

15,000.00

Collective State

conifer broadleafe mixed


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Participatory Forest Management Planning ManualPrepared by: Jrgen Fichtenau; September 2007

2

Page

Introduction to this Manual 5

1 Pre-Planning Stage 6

1.1 SFMP Planning Team 61.2 Assessment of available planning data 61.2.1 Forest Inventory Results 71.2.2 Land use planning results 71.2.3 Ecological information/silvicultural demonstration plot

info8

1.2.4 Socio-economic data (incl. local demand and consumption) 81.2.5 Maps 91.3 Procurement of missing planning data/maps 101.3.1 Additional studies 101.3.2 Other sources 10

1.4 Stakeholder analysis 111.5 Sensitization of stakeholders 121.6 Contents and chapters of the SFMP 13

2 Planning Stage - Technical Aspects 14

2.1 Assessment of different land use classes and foresttypes

14

2.1.1 Land use types 142.1.2 Forest types 172.2 Determination of yields per forest type and owner 192.2.1 Increment calculation per ha 192.2.2 Increment calculation by ownership 232.3 Development of harvestable volumes and AAC by forest

type and owner23

2.4 Determination of local demands 272.4.1 Assessment of local demands for timber and fuelwood 272.4.2 Assessment of local demands for NTFP (incl. Bamboo) 302.5 The Demand Supply Scenario 322.6 Zoning of Forest Functions 332.6.1 Production Forests 34

2.6.1.1 Production Forests in restricted areas (example Ceyuan) 392.6.2 Protection Forests 402.6.3 Tourism 412.6.4. NTFP 432.6.5 Grazing 442.6.6 Other forest functions 452.7 Development of forest management scenarios 472.7.1 Timber and fuelwood scenario 472.7.2 Grazing scenario 502.7.3 Tourism 512.7.4 NTFP 53

2.8 Silvicultural Treatment 542.8.1 Forests 562.8.2 Bamboo Forests 58


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3

2.9 Map production 602.10 Supporting measures 632.10.1 Monitoring 632.10.2 Forestry Extension 64

2.10.3 Others 65

3 Planning Stage Procedures / Meetings/Workshops 673.1 Workshop 1: Presentation of facts to stakeholders at

provincial level, initial proposals68

3.1.1 Composition and roles of participants, expected outputs 693.2 Worskhop 2: Presentation of first SFMP draft to

stakeholders at local level, development of objectivematrix

70

3.2.1 Composition and roles of participants, expected outputs 71

4 Approval Stage 73

4.1 Workshop 3: Presentation of SFMP working draft tohigh level stakeholders at provincial level

73

4.1.1 Composition and roles of participants, expected outputs 744.2 Workshop 4: Public Presentation of the SFMP in the

county76

4.3 Final Government approval mechanism 764.4 How to use the SFMP 764.4.1 Target group, purpose, duration 764.4.2 Update 77

5 Annexes

1 Increment tables

2 SFMP table of contents Ceyuan and Xiao Xing3 Survey on the utilization of Non-timber Forest Products inCeyuan

4 Bamboo Forest Management in Ceyuan 5 Information on silvicultural demonstration plots and selection

of Future Crop Trees (Excerpts from Draft Technical Reporton Design and Establishment of Demonstrations for Close-to-Nature Silvicultural Model Development

6 Geo-spatial Information Processing and Cartography ForStrategic Forest Management Planning by Ms. Leng Yunfa

List of Tables, Maps and Charts Page


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4

Table 1 Identification of stakeholders for natural resources managementin Xiaoxing

12

Table 2 Land use classes of total project area 15Table 3 Areas and stocking volumes of major forest types in Xiao Xing 18Table 4 Increment calculations for Xiao Xing- Broadleaf, medium,

collective21

Table 5 Species composition table FRIDAP, collective forest, broadleaf-medium, Xiao Xing

22

Table 6 Total Harvestable Volumes in Xiao Xing 24Table 7 Aixi village harvestable volumes 24Table 8 Determination of Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) per Hectare 26Table 9 Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) Xiao Xing Overview 27Table 10 Air Dry Density of dominant tree species (g/cbm) in Songpan 30Table 11 Air Dry Density of dominant tree species (g/cbm) in Yanling 31Table 12 Demand-Supply Scenario by village 32Table 13 Criteria for the zoning of different forest types 37Table 14 Zoning of Conifer Production Forests by ownership 38

Table 15 Demand-Supply Scenario by village 48Table 16 Grazing strategy in Xiao Xing 50Table 17 Monitoring Tasks 63

Map 1 Production Forests of Xiao Xing 35Map 2 Location of Production Conifer Forest Type 38Map 3 Potential Production Forest in Ceyuan 40Map 4 Potential Tourism map 42Map 5 NTFP Map of Xiao Xing 43Map 6 Productive Pasture Land 44Map 7 Potential areas for forest fires 46Map 8 Production Forest Guna village 62

Chart 1 Decision Tree Songpan 16Chart 2 Imbalance between wood/timber demand and supply of 6 villages 33Chart 3 Production Forests of Xiao Xing by ownership in hectares 36Chart 4 Silvicultural treatment model for mixed forest type in Xiao Xing 57Chart 5 Frequence of Meetings and Workshops during SFMP Preparation 67

List of Tables, Maps and Charts

Table 1 Identification of stakeholders for natural resources managementin Xiaoxing

Table 2 Land use classes of total project areaTable 3 Areas and stocking volumes of major forest types in Xiao XingTable 4 Increment calculations for Xiao Xing- Broadleaf, medium,

collectiveTable 5 Species composition table FRIDAP, collective forest, broadleaf-

medium, Xiao XingTable 6 Total Harvestable Volumes in Xiao Xing

Table 7 Aixi village harvestable volumesTable 8 Determination of Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) per HectareTable 9 Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) Xiao Xing OverviewTable 10 Air Dry Density of dominant tree species (g/cbm) in Songpan


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Table 11 Air Dry Density of dominant tree species (g/cbm) in YanlingTable 12 Demand-Supply Scenario by villageTable 13 Criteria for the zoning of different forest typesTable 14 Zoning of Conifer Production Forests by ownershipTable 15 Demand-Supply Scenario by villageTable 16 Grazing strategy in Xiao XingTable 17 Monitoring Tasks

Map 1 Production Forests of Xiao XingMap 2 Location of Production Conifer Forest TypeMap 3 Potential Production Forest in CeyuanMap 4 Potential Tourism mapMap 5 NTFP Map of Xiao XingMap 6 Productive Pasture LandMap 7 Potential areas for forest firesMap 8 Production Forest Guna village

Chart 1 Decision Tree SongpanChart 2 Imbalance between wood/timber demand and supply of 6 villagesChart 3 Production Forests of Xiao Xing by ownership in hectaresChart 4 Silvicultural treatment model for mixed forest type in Xiao XingChart 5 Frequence of Meetings and Workshops during SFMP Preparation

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Introduction to this Manual

This Manual is a users guide how to develop participatory Strategic Forest

Management Plans and is based on experiences made during the preparation of twoStrategic Forest Management Plans for each one township in Hunan and in Sichuanprovinces between February and June 2007.

Even though the contents of this Manual is based on these 2 regional experiences, itis meant for distribution and guidance also in other provinces of China.

The Manual describes 3 different planning stages of strategic forest managementplanning as they are now recommended. The planning stages are:

Pre-Planning Stage (assessment of data; sensitisation of stakeholders)

Planning Stage (Technical Planning; Conduct of participatory workshops)

Approval Stage (Presentation of Plan and approval mechanism)

The chapters used in this guide do follow the time frequence and different steps,which are recommended to use when preparing a Strategic Forest ManagementPlan.

For better understanding, practical examples from the 2 townships are used, forwhich Management Plans already have been prepared. These townships are Ceyuanof Yanling county in Hunan province and Xiao Xing township of Songpan county inSichuan. Most practical examples used in this Manual are taken from the Xiao Xing

Plan because this plan was based on the experiences in Ceyuan and is thereforeregarded to be the more experienced one.

The Approval Stage of Strategic Forest Management Planning still is in its infantstage, because at the time of preparing the Manual approval procedures have notbeen fully developed yet, because strategic forest management planning is in itsinfant stage and in the process of learning and experimenting.

Main target group of this Manual are forest technicians from the county and townshipforestry bureaus, since they are the ones, who mainly will be in charge to developForest Management Plans.

Another target group are forest policy officers of all levels, who are interested inadvancing the new approaches of Strategic Forest Management Planning.

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1 Pre-Planning Stage

1.1 SFMP Planning Team

During the piloting phase of Strategic Forest Management Plan preparation(preparation of 2 draft SFMPs in Hunan and Sichuan), the procedures were drivenby 2 consultants (one international and one national Forest Management Planningexperts).In a transition phase the national expert will guide the SFMP preparation in one ortwo additional townships with the help of the County Forestry Bureaus.

In future however, the SFMP planning task will solely be achieved by the CountyForestry Bureau !

The Strategic Forest Management Planning Team (SFMP Team) should be a smalltask force comprising of 5 following officers:

1 GIS expert2 Forest Management Planning experts2 Forestry Resources experts1 Forest Policy Expert

This SFMP team will seek advice on a case to case basis from technical experts inother related stakeholder offices (like environment, water resources, animalhusbandry etc.).

It is strongly recommended that the 5 SFMP team members are released from otherduties during their Management Plan preparation in order to guarantee a smoothimplementation of this very disciplined team work.

1.2 Assessment of available planning data

Information on geo-and topographic features in a township, administrativeboundaries, ownership, forest resources statistics, land use and socio-economic

conditions is a pre-condition for the preparation of a Strategic Forest ManagementPlan. Without these data inputs (including maps) strategic forest managementplanning is not possible.

As a first step the Forest Management Planner has to take stock of the existing dataand maps and their accuracy in order to decide which topics need more data input orwhich data input accuracy is questionable and needs clarification or if additionalinformation is needed on this topic.

This chapter describes the required data input in detail.

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1.2.1 Forest Inventory Results

Required information from the Multi Resources Forest Inventory includes:

Forest Types Species composition per forest type

Number of stems, basal area and volumes per species per diameter class

Total Stocking volumes per forest type per ha

Information on seedling regeneration

Information on erosion and grazing occurrence

Observations on biodiversity and bio-physical conditions

Occurrence of NTFP in frequency and species composition

The results from the forest inventory provide the basis for stocks and growth rates (in

order to determine increments and thus sustainable yearly harvestable volumes).In addition valuable information on non-timber-products in the township will enablemap production on these products (also see chapter 2.7.4, zoning of NTFP).Furthermore the inventory results provide the base information for forest mapping,see chapter 1.2.5

1.2.2 Land Use Planning Results

Results from Land use planning exercises are needed in order to determine areas,

which are: suitable for timber harvesting operations thus productive forest management

restricted from forest management due to ecological-, soil conservation-orwater catchment protection reasons

The Land use planning results in principle delineated areas for development,rehabilitation and protection. This was done in 2 different steps (see chart below)

1

and followed participatory principles. The different described steps were mutuallyagreed upon by all stakeholders (also see chapters 1.2.5, maps and 2.1.1, land usetypes for details):

1From Land Use Strategy Manual; By C. Dreiser and Leng Yunfa; July 2006

quantity quality function sensitivity

development rehabilitation protection

fair good poor important highimportant

Step 1:assessment

Step 2:general

managementstrategy


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1.2.3 Ecological information/silivicultural demonstration plot info

Ecological information

Ecological information has been developed under the Eco System Model and

provides information on:

Vegetation Types

Use restriction

Sensitive Areas

Description on reasons for degradation

Target Forest Types in Natural Forests

Management proposals for each vegetation type

The information has in parts already been integrated into the land use strategy !

Eco modelling however has only been done in EU China NFMP project counties sofar and needs to be implemented also in other counties/townships, becauseinformation on vegetation types and target forest types is a very importantbackground information for the development of silvicultural treatment models.

Silivicultural demonstration plot info

Silvicultural demonstration plots have been established in various townships ofHunan and Sichuan provinces and provide:

Treatment guidelines for forest types valuable information on suitable estimations on required input and expected

extraction of harvestable timber

information on effects of treatment

For detailed information on eco-modelling and silvicultural treatment, please refer tochapter 2.8.1, silvicultural treatment of forests.

1.2.4 Socio-economic data (including local demand and consumption)

Socio-economic data provides the Forest Management Planner with valuablebackground information on:

Population (number of households per village)

Gender issues

Ethnicity

Income situation

Ownership of agricultural land and (collective) forests

Livestock

NTFP consumption Fuelwood-and timber consumption

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The information on fuelwood/timber/NTFP consumption (as well as other forestproducts, like grazing, bamboo etc.) is crucial, since these figures provide the basisfor the demand-supply scenario, thus the decision on a suitable forest managementscenario for the township.

1.2.5 Maps

Maps provide the background for spatial information in the GIS system. Informationfrom following maps are needed:

1. Forest Type Map2. Land Use Strategy Map3. Administrative Boundary Map4. Topographic Map

Forest Type Map

The Forest Type Map should be based on SPOT 5 satellite image interpretation. Incases where the Forest Type Map has to be prepared without SPOT 5 satellite imageinterpretation ( and based on sub-compartment level 2 inventory data), a match withthe sampling plot data from the Forest Inventory is extremely difficult, as could beobserved in the Ceyuan case. Therefore only satellite image based forest maps shallbe used.The necessary GIS procedures how to match inventory results with the spatial datafrom satellite imagery is explained in detail in Annex 6.

Land Use Strategy Map

This map reflects the results of the participatory procedures on land managementand land use planning defining areas for protection, development and rehabilitationand therefore presents the background information for all future managementactivities.Geographic elements including rivers, lakes, roads, residential areas or topographyshould be based on 1:10.000 topographic maps for township level, because the erroron the ground is only about 3m at this scale.

Administrative Boundary Map

In order to avoid administrative boundary problems in mapping and area calculations,it is recommended to use the administrative boundaries from the 1:10.000 CountyForestry Bureau sub-compartment map, which shows the village boundaries with amuch higher degree of accuracy.The 1:80.000 administrative map of the Civil Administration Bureau of the countylacks this accuracy, and when trying to match both different maps in the GIS system,border irregularities cannot be avoided.

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Topographic Map

Topographic maps at township level should be based on a scale of 1:10.000 (error

around 3 m). If for some reason special objects have to be displayed at county level,a scale of 1:50.000 is advisable (error on the ground around 10 m).

Each special topic map describes a certain special characteristic object, such as:forest type, current situation of land use, soil type etc. Because coordinates of allspecial topic map layers are generated on the basis of topographic map data, thecoordinate error of special topic map layer is bigger than that of a topographic mapwith the same scale.

1.3 Procurement of missing planning data/maps

1.3.1 Additional studies

Depending on the kind of information, which is missing but crucial for the preparationof the SFMP, additional studies may be necessary to be conducted.In most cases the missing information is related to PRA data, in particular a lack ofprecise data on fuelwood-, timber-and NTFP consumption (as was the case duringthe preparation of the Ceyuan and Xiao Xing SFMPs).Another example for urgently needed additional information is the topic of bamboomanagement. Also in this case an additional study was initiated in order to gain moretechnical subject matter information on this topic.Procedures are described in detail in chapter 2.4, determination of local demands.

1.3.2 Other sources

In most cases the County Forestry Bureau and the Forest Inventory Institutes are thebest sources of information regarding missing or questionable data.There are serious limitations however regarding data on village sizes and theiradministrative boundaries. There are huge discrepancies about information on village

sizes in the project GIS system and village area information received from the CountyForestry Bureaus.Village areas in the project GIS are based on the second level inventory map (scale1/10.000). This map contains sub-compartment information with ownership attributes(state land, collective land). Other maps however exist, where official villageboundaries are displayed, but of different scale, different accuracy and differentlayout of boundaries. This leads to frequent disputes between villagers and the stateabout the village boundaries. This fact explains the discrepancy between differentdata information on village boundaries, namely between information obtained fromthe Songpan Forestry Bureau and data available in the project GIS system.

This problem cannot be solved for the time being unless proper (possibly GPSbased) surveys have been done on a village basis and maps are harmonized.

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1.4 Stakeholder Analysis

Since the preparation of a Strategic Forest Management Plan is based onparticipatoryprinciples, it is very important to include all relevant stakeholders in theSFMP planning process.

One of the first tasks for the SFMP team therefore is to decide, who at township levelhas a stake in the natural resources. Since the SFMP addresses the multiplefunctions of the forest resources, not only the villagers or the local forestry authoritiesare concerned with the management of the natural resources, but a number of otherstakeholders as well.The identification of stakeholders has to take place PRIOR to the sensitisationmeetings/workshops (described in the next chapter), because all relevantstakeholders have to be involved from the very beginning in order to achieve amaximum level of participation.

Identification of stakeholders

Typically, and according to experience in 2 townships in Hunan and Sichuanprovinces, the stakeholders will comprise of those authorities mentioned in table 1,but this may vary according to the region. For example in the case of Hunanprovince, the Ecological Leading Group for Broadleaf speciesand The NatureReserve Zone Management Bureauhave to be included in the group ofstakeholders. Other provinces may require additional stakeholders, which are notmentioned in the table below.

According to experience, it is not possible to deal with functions and roles ofstakeholders during the planning workshops due to time constraints.But it is important to gain knowledge on the different functions/responsibilities of thedifferent stakeholders and how their roles may change in future when implementingthe SFMP. This is partly due to the fact, that It is unclear at this moment if jobdescriptions for the different functions do exist, who has issued them and who wouldbe the possible partner to discuss them !. So, as a major first step, job descriptionshave to be discussed, amended or even produced yet.Next major step would be to define how the traditional role under the existing systemwill change with the implementation of the SFMP.

Therefore it is recommended that besides naming the different stakeholders, adetailed list of main responsibilities and future tasks should be provided in connectionwith the implementation of this SFMP. The description of each stakeholder shouldcontain information on:

General task and responsibility of the agency

Main interests

Main domain (function/authority) of the stakeholder

Specific tasks and responsibilities in connection with the implementation of theSFMP and how these will influence the future function/role of the stakeholder

Naming specific activities under this SFMP to be undertaken by thisagency/stakeholder

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Following table 1 should be used during the initial meetings/workshops in the pre-planning stage of the SFMP preparation, in order to receive a better understanding.

Table 1: Identification of stakeholders for natural resources management in

XiaoxingNo. Stakeholder Main Res-

ponsibilitiesMaininterests

Mainfunction/authority

Intendedfuturefunction/role

1 County Forestry Bureau

2 Forest Farm

3 State Forest Enterprise(SFE)

4 Forest Station

5 Township Government

6 Agricultural Bureau

7 Tourist Development Bureau

8 Water Resources Bureau

9 Environmental ProtectionBureau

10 Animal Husbandry Bureau

12 Village committee

13 Xy stakeholder

14 Xy stakeholderNote: Above list of stakeholders only is the Xiao Xing example and may vary from township totownship !!

Working through this list will also enable the stakeholders to take part in a learning

process and reflect upon their own present and future contributions to the SFMP !

1.5 Sensitisation of Stakeholders

From experiences made in Ceyuan and Xiao Xing townships it is VERY advisableand strongly recommended to inform stakeholders at the local levels about theintended activities in connection with the preparation of a Strategic ForestManagement Plan in their township.This task is easier in counties and townships where the EU NFMP Project is testing

Co-Management strategies and where it has supported the establishment of Co-Management Committees, in which elected village representatives and respectivestakeholders from government institutions try to negotiate solutions for issues andproblems arising from natural resources management topics.In provinces/regions where such committees do not exist ( for example in Ceyuantownship in Hunan province where most of the forest resources are collectivelyowned), it is recommended to establish a system with the help of the village linkworkers, in which elected village/community representatives are able to express theirviews on behalf of their communities.

In virtual all villages of China the SFMP approaches are new to all stakeholders, andit is necessary to sensitize them for the procedures and their expected roles andcontributions in connection with SFMP preparation.

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2 Planning Stage - Technical Aspects

2.1 Assessment of different land use classes and forest types

The first steps in technical planning procedures are the:

1. Determination of net operable areas for timber harvesting (productionforests) and

2. To determine the planning units for timber harvesting calculations

The determination of areas for timber harvesting depends on the land use types in atownship thus areas, which are restricted for management for protection reasons(soil-and water conservation).The planning units for timber harvesting are the forest types in a township and NOTcompartments as presently practiced in China.

Compartments and sub-compartments are not chosen to be suitable managementunits, because even though in theory they represent uniform forest types delineatedby their boundaries, in reality these sub-compartments do not present the neededmicro level distinctions of uniform areas of one forest type. Furthermore, thecompartment boundaries are NOT delineated using satellite imagery like the forestmap in the Strategic Forest Management Plan, which is based on satelliteinterpretation, thus provides a much better bird perspective of uniform forest areasand their boundaries. Last not least, compartments do not respect the distinction ofprotected forest areas at a micro level for soil-or water conservation reasons.Compartments cut through protected areas, whereas the forest type managementunit in the SFMP clearly respects these small scale and micro level geographicconditions.

2.1.1 Land Use Types

Information on land use strategy and the resulting land use strategy map is one ofthe pre-conditions for any forest management planning.

It is therefore the main goal of the land use strategy, to concentrate the protection

activities on the ecologically most important and sensitive areas while suggestingareas where economic resource utilization should be diverted to instead.

Land use strategy considers the planning region in the context of an eco-system,rather than in the context of ownership boundaries. It aims at the identification ofviable alternatives to the destruction of the resources.

As already mentioned under chapter 1.2.2 there exist 3 different major land usetypes:

3

1. Areas designated for protection2. Areas designated for rehabilitation

3. Areas designated for development

3Land Use Strategy Manual; By C. Dreiser and Leng Yunfa; July 2006


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Protection in the sense of the land use strategy does not mean no-go area.Depending on the sensitivity and the importance of the function and the resourcesquality, utilization activities must be more or less restricted.Rehabilitation aims to let the resource regenerate, hence some type of utilization

may be restricted.Development areas are areas where utilization should be less restricted than before,while the regeneration should aim towards a more ecologically stable resource.Example is the step-by-step conversion of a plantation forest into a natural forest.Additionally, the land use strategy includes the category unchanged. This refers toareas which are not especially sensitive or overused and have no importantecological function. Here, utilization should take place within the limitations of a long-term sustainable development.

A so-called decision tree is the core of the land use strategy. Every aspect of theLUS must be included in the decision tree. It must be comprehensible, clear and

transparent for the participants (see chart 1 next page).A decision tree is a graphical expression of a hierarchical decision procedure. Itfacilitates a transparent procedure for all parties involved.

Example Xiao Xing

Ecological forests play a dominant role in Xiao Xing in terms of water sourceprotection and soil conservation (land use classes P1 and P2). A large proportion ofthe township (46%) is located in such protected areas and should therefore beprotected from all management activities.

Table 2: Land use classes of total project area

Landuse

ClassDefinition ha

Total areain %

P1 Land for water source protection 3120.57 10.1

P2 Land for soil conservation (slope >35) 11100.85 35.9

R1 Land for rehabilitation of degraded natural forest 5027.98 16.3

R2 Land for rehabilitation of degraded shrub andgrass 4199.34 13.6

U1 Undegraded natural forest 6584.41 21.3

U4 Unchanged crop land 846.96 2.7

D2 Conversion Land 15.69 0.1

Total 30895.8 100.00%


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ParticipaPrepar

Chart 1: Decision Tree Songpan


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2.1.2 Forest Types

As mentioned earlier, the forest types are the planning units for forest managementactivities.

Following 4 major forest types have been identified during the forest inventories inHunan and Sichuan:

1. Conifer Forest Type

Mix ratio of different conifer species (e.g. mix percentages of spruce and fir)

Distinction of 3 different crown cover density classes (open, medium anddense crown cover)

Separation of stem diameters into 4 different diameter classes (defining thematurity of forest type)

2. Broadleaf Forest Type

Mix ratio of different broadleaf species (e.g. mix percentages of birch andpoplar)



3. Mixed Forest Type

Mix ratio of broadleaf and conifer species (e.g. mix percentages of poplar/oakand spruce/fir)



4. Bamboo Forest Type

Mix ratio of broadleaf and conifer species (e.g. mix percentages of chestnutand Chinese fir)


Separation of stem diameters into 4 different diameter classes (defining the

maturity of forest type)

The division into different forest types and density sub-types is important for thecalculation of yields/increments and for the silvicultural prescriptions during the forestmanagement planning process, because useful management scenarios can only bedeveloped for forests of similar conditions (growth parameters, geographicaldistribution, similar objectives).

Other important entry data from the forest inventories are:

Species composition per diameter class and forest type Basal area per diameter class and and forest type

Stocking volumes per ha and forest type

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Each of these parameters are separately assessed for the two different ownershippossibilities, namely for state and collective forest areas.All inventory results are available in the FRIDAP (Forest Resources Inventory DataAnalysis Program) for computation and user friendly display of inventory results.

Also see chapter 2.2.1

Most important result of this first assessment step on analysing the foresttypes is to determine:

the area sizes per forest type and density sub-type (this step goes handin hand with forest zoning: production forest zoning as explained indetail in chapter 2.6.1)

Stocking volumes per forest type and density sub-type per hectare

Example Xiao Xing

The forest management planner has to produce the following table as entryinformation for all following technical steps, especially increment calculations (as willbe explained in the next chapter).Area calculations are GIS based results of forest zoning (see chapter 2.6.1 fordetails), whereas the stocking volumes per ownership are to be found in the FRIDAPspecies composition tables.

Table 3 : Areas and stocking volumes of major forest types in Xiao Xing

Forest Type Area inHectares

Collect. State

Stocking Volumeper ha

Collect. State

Conifer dense 624.1 6289.6 302.82 296.5

Conifer medium 1171.1 4837.8 144.8 207.3

Conifer open 325.1 969.1 75.1 87.1

Broadleaf dense 55.7 885.2 61.6 66.2

Broadleaf medium 156.9 679.6 53.5 129.6

Broadleaf open 60.6 337.7 49.7 15.2Mixed dense 71.5 812.3 36.4 257.4

Mixed medium 216.3 1720.2 41.9 152.5

Mixed open 31.8 347.7 24.5 95

Sub Total 2713.1 16879.2

Total 19592.3

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2.2 Determination of yields per forest type and owner

In order to determine sustainable timber yields ( harvesting volumes ), accurateresource data (from forest inventories) and reliable information on growth and yield ofthe forests are needed.

Even though some growth and yield models have been developed for use in variousregions in China and the project provinces, estimates from these models have notbeen linked to natural forest attributes or to the existing inventory database.

4

In the absence of a country wide growth and yield model, the growth percentagehas been widely used instead to calculate stand increment for different species inChina, because the method is simple and can be easily calculated for updating forestresources data at stand level.

2.2.1 Increment calculation per ha

Even though the growth percentage model is simple, it in fact provides the forestmanagement planner with a serious problem how to determine exact yields andyearly increments of each tree species. Growth and yield models are based onscientific analysis of long term permanent inventory plots, which monitor the diameterand height developments of one species in different altitudes and under differentgeographic conditions over a period of many years.

Note:In this regard, the EU China NFMP established permanently marked inventory plots inpilot counties (20% of all inventory sample plots), which should be used forgrowth/yield monitoring analysis ! Furthermore and in addition, the establishment and

permanent analysis of silvicultural demonstration plots (also see chapter 2.8.1) can beused for this purpose.

Due to the absence of more sophisticated growth models for the time being, thesimple but imprecise Growth percentage calculation tables for different species indifferent provinces had to be used for this exercise (see annex 1). In the case of XiaoXing the growth percentage table for Songpan, provided by the Forestry Bureau, hasbeen solely used. In the case of Ceyuan however, 3 different growth percentagetables were used: Emphasis was laid on the Yanling county growth percentage table,but for some species additional 2 tables from 2 different authors (see annex 1) wereused and the lowest percentage, provided by each author, applied.

Example Xiao Xing

For example, in order to determine the increment volume of the forest type:Broadleaf, medium density classforcollective forestareas in Xiao Xing, theplanner needs to know the:

Species composition for that density class and forest type

Volume per species per ha for each diameter class and forest type

Total volume of all species and all diameter classes per ha and forest type

4Lei Yuancai, Yield Estimate Report, January 2006


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The information can be found in the FRIDAP, and the respective table has to bechosen as shown in Table 5 second next page.

In this example the dominant species are Betula and Poplar, and their respectivevolumes per diameter class are recorded in an Excel spread sheet, because thevolume results of the most frequent species of that forest type and density class haveto be weighted against each other (see table 4 next page).

The (weighted) average increment percentage is 5.1%.The increment volume per ha is 2.73 cbm (5.1% of the average stocking volume perha, which totals 53.5 cbm/ha as recorded on the species composition table undergrand total volume result).Then the average stocking volume per ha of this forest type ( 53.5 cbm ) will bemultiplied with the total area of this forest type, 62.83 ha (result of GIS forest zoning

exercise). The total stocking volume for the medium dense broadleaf forest typetherefore is 3,361.4 cbm.

As a result: The sustainable harvestable amount per year for this forest typetotals 171.53 cbm (2.73 cbm/ha x 62.83 ha total area) !

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Table 4: Increment calculations for Xiao Xing- Broadleaf, medium, collective

Increment Calculations for Xiao Xing Township Broadleafed Forest Medium Dense (collective)

Betula Poplar

Incrementvolume %of stocks V/ha

% inStocks

WeightedValueIncrement% ofstocks

Increment volume% ofstocks V/ha

% inStocks

WeightedValueIncrement % ofstocks

DBH

Young 5-20 5.39 4.87 44 237.16 5.93 19.7 76.5 453.645

Middle 20-40 3.62 6.21 56 202.72 3.78 6.04 23.5 88.83

Mature 40-65 2.58 0 0 0 3.78 0 0 0

Overmature >65 2.02 0 0 0 3.78 0 0 0

total 11.08 100 25.7 100

Average 4.4 5.4

Broadleaf,mediumDense,

AverageIncrementin % ofstockingvolume

Broad leafed species Average 30.1 132.44 69.9 377.46 5.1

Total aea Broadleafedtrees 62.83 ha

Average Stocking V / ha 53.50 cbm

Total stocking vol 3,361.4 cbm

Increment percent(average) 5.10 %

Increment volume perha 2.73 cbm

23

Increment volumetotal 171.53 cbm


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ParticipaPrepar

Table 5: Species composition table FRIDAP, collective forest, broadleaf-medium, Xiao Xing


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2.2.2 Increment calculation by ownership

The described procedures from the previous chapter are repeated for all forest typesand their density sub-types by ownership.The separation of increment calculations by ownership is important, because as the

Xiao Xing example clearly shows, increments per ha vary significantly in some casesdepending on ownership and location of forest resources.

In a next step increment calculation results and necessary computations per foresttype and owner are summarized in a overview table (see example below), whichprovides the entry information for the development of the Annual Allowable Cut(AAC) as described in the following chapter

Conifer dense (collective forest) Xiaoxing

Total area conifers 354.78 ha

Average Stocking V / ha 302.82 cbm

Total stocking vol 107,434.5 cbm

Increment percent (average) 2.10 %

Increment volume per ha 6.36 cbm

Increment volume total 2,256.4 cbm

2.3 Development of harvestable volumes and AAC by forest type and owner

The Strategic Forest Management Plans so far prepared in Hunan and Sichuan weredeveloped for areas, which consist of forests in the predominantly young till mediummature aged classes. The expression of harvesting therefore does not only refer tothe removal of mature trees (with a breast diameter > 50 cm), but also to thinningoperations in younger aged stands.Harvestable volumes therefore include all trees with a breast diameter >10 cm.

The development of yields/increments per forest type per ha were described in theprevious chapter. A side product of the increment calculations was already the

determination ofmaximum harvestable volumes, which is the sustainable yearlyharvesting amount. Table 4 in chapter 2.2.1 contains this maximum yearlyharvestable volume in the last row titled Increment Volume total. This value is themultiplication ofincrement volume per ha x total area of a specific forest type.

The Forest Management Planner will now display ALL forest types and sub-types inan overview table detailing:

1. Forest Type2. Area in hectares3. Stocking Volume per ha4. Increment Volume per ha

5. Harvestable Volume per ha

All information has to be displayed separated by ownership !

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Example Xiao Xing

Table 6: Total Harvestable Volumes in Xiao XingArea in Hectares Stocking Volume

per haIncrement volume per

haHarvestable volume

in cbm

In cbm Collect. State

ForestType

Collect. State Collect. State Collect. State

Coniferdense

354.78 3898.08 302.82 296.5 6.36 5.34 2256.4 20815.7

Conifermedium

676.53 2972.41 144.8 207.3 3.04 3.73 2056.7 11087.1

Coniferopen

151.95 651.28 75.1 87.1 1.58 1.57 240.1 1022.5

Broadleafdense

24.5 431.1 61.6 66.2 3.26 3.05 79.9 1314.9

Broadleafmedium

62.83 269.65 53.5 129.6 2.73 5.57 171.5 1502

Broadleafopen

24.44 131.57 49.7 15.2 2.18 0.68 53.3 89.5

Mixeddense

52.42 308.48 36.4 257.4 1.64 5.66 86 1746

Mixedmedium

98.27 938.61 41.9 152.5 1.8 2.9 176.9 2722

Mixedopen

14.81 190.67 24.5 95 0.61 1.62 9 308.9

Total 1460.53 9791.85 5129.8 40608.6

The Xiao Xing total harvestable volume thus totals 40.607 cbm.

The same exercise will now be repeated for each village. The harvestable volumes atvillage level will later serve as guiding figures for the development of the VillageForest Management Plans

Table 7 : Aixi village harvestable volumesVillage FOREST TYPE ha Volume

per haTotal

VolumeIncrement

per haMax

harvestablevolume

Conifer dense 83.15 302.82 25179.5 6.36 528.8

Conifer medium 69.19 144.78 10017.3 3.04 210.3

Conifer open 31.41 75.1 2358.9 1.58 49.6

Subtotal Conifer 183.75 37555.7 788.7

Broadleaf dense 3.48 61.6 214.4 3.26 11.3

Broadleaf medium 2.14 53.5 114.5 2.73 5.8

Broadleaf open 3.42 49.65 169.8 2.18 7.5

Subtotal Broadleaf 9.04 498.7 24.6

Mixed medium 13.75 41.93 576.5 1.8 24.8

Subtotal Mixed 13.75 576.5 24.8

Aixi

Total 206.54 38630.9 838.1

The final step, namely to determine the Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) per forest type.

As explained earlier, increment determination had to be done based on the simpleand imprecise growth percentage model. Usually the Annual Allowable Cut is basedon rather sophisticated formula calculations regarded as indicators for sustainability.

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27

But these are only applicable if detailed growth and yield models exist (see the use ofPaulsen-Hundeshagen and Heyer formulas used in a GTZ Forestry Project inMalaysia in the box below).

5

5GTZ : Sustainable Forest Management and Conservation Project (SFMCP), Technical Document

No. B54 : Forest Management Planning Rules and Guidelines (Guideline 3c: Yield Regulation) by G.Haase and W.Schindele: Final Draft; August 2005


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For strategic forest management planning in China, the determination of the AnnualAllowable Cut (AAC) therefore had to be simplified, because it is not possible tocorrect a data base, which is based on growth percentages, by using sophisticatedsustainability indicator formualas.

The determination of the Annual Allowable Cut for the purpose of Strategic ForestManagement Planning considers a safety factor(deduction in % from theharvestable volume) for uncertainties associated with the forest inventory, forecastingof growth increment percentages, measuring errors and harvesting losses.The deduction percentage should be in the range of 10-20%.In Xiaoxing for example a more conservative deduction of 20% on the harvestablevolume was applied whereas in Ceyuan the deduction was 15%, which can beregarded as an average value.

Table 8: Determination of Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) per Hectare

Forest Type Increment volume perha

in cbm

Collect. State

Annual Allowable Cut(AAC = 80% of

increment)in cbm/ha/year

Collect. State

Conifer dense 6.36 5.34 5.09 4.27

Conifer medium 3.04 3.73 2.43 2.98

Conifer open 1.58 1.57 1.26 1.26Broadleaf dense 3.26 3.05 2.61 2.44

Broadleaf medium 2.73 5.57 2.18 4.46

Broadleaf open 2.18 0.68 1.74 0.54

Mixed dense 1.64 5.66 1.31 4.53

Mixed medium 1.8 2.9 1.44 2.32

Mixed open 0.61 1.62 0.49 1.3

As a final result, the Forest Management Planner will now display ALL forest types

and sub-types in an overview table detailing:6. Forest Type7. Area in hectares8. Stocking Volume per ha9. Increment Volume per ha10. Harvestable Volume (AAC) per ha

All information has to be displayed separated by ownership !

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Table 9 :Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) Xiao Xing Overview

Area in Hectares Stocking Volumeper ha

Annual Allowable Cut(AAC) per ha/year

Total Harvestablevolume (AAC)

in cbm/year

In cbm Collect. State

ForestType

Collect. State Collect. State Collect. State

Coniferdense

354.78 3898.08 302.82 296.5 5.09 4.27 1805.8 16644.8

Conifermedium

676.53 2972.41 144.8 207.3 2.43 2.98 1644 8857.8

Coniferopen

151.95 651.28 75.1 87.1 1.26 1.26 191.5 820.6

Broadleafdense

24.5 431.1 61.6 66.2 2.61 2.44 63.9 1051.9

Broadleafmedium

62.83 269.65 53.5 129.6 2.18 4.46 137 1202.6

Broadleafopen

24.44 131.57 49.7 15.2 1.74 0.54 42.5 71

Mixeddense

52.42 308.48 36.4 257.4 1.31 4.53 68.7 1397.4

Mixedmedium

98.27 938.61 41.9 152.5 1.44 2.32 141.5 2177.6

Mixedopen

14.81 190.67 24.5 95 0.49 1.3 7.3 247.9

Total 1460.53 9791.85 4102.2 32471.6

Total harvestable volume 36573.8

2.4 Determination of local demands

The previous chapter explained how to determine the yearly sustainable supplyofthe natural resources. In order to develop a suitable Forest Management Scenario at

township level, the supply has to be compared with the demandfor forest productsby the local population.Strategic Forest Management Planning therefore is based on balancing demand andsupply (also see chapter 2.5 for more details).

2.4.1 Assessment of local demands for timber and fuelwood

Assessment of local demands for timber and fuelwood should be done during thePRA exercises as very crucial entry data for forest management planning. However,as it turned out during the preparation of SFMPs in Hunan and Sichuan, reliable andscientifically sound data on the demand figures was not available.Local demands for fuelwood and timber in particular depend very much on:

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30

Geographical location of the village (therefore heating requirements during thewinter)

Local material for housing (bricks or wooden)

Number of livestock (heating of fodder for animals)

Electricity supply (as alternative source for heating)

The collection of information on consumption patterns for fuelwood and timber is alsohampered for political reasons, because collection of these products is strictlyregulated or forbidden due to logging bans or the declaration of certain areas asNature Reserve or otherwise restricted area (e.g. for tourism). Therefore localvillagers are very reluctant to provide open answers on demands, fearingrepercussions from the authorities.Therefore only structured and guided interviews at village level paired withmeasurements of wood piles and weighing of forest products with a hand held scalewill provide sufficient scientific background information and acceptable figures.Important factors for this exercise is the determination of a statistically sound samplesize and the distribution of households to be interviewed during the survey.Annex 3 provides detailed information on a survey carried out in Ceyuan for thispurpose, which can be recommended for the future.

6

It has to be stressed however that the survey examples used in this chapter aremainly useful for strategic considerations at the TOWNSHIP level. Moredetailed information has to be generated at the OPERATIONAL level inconnection with the development of Village Forest Development Plans !!

Example Ceyuan

Determination of Sample size

This survey applied random sample method in all project villages, the total samplesize was decided by the following formula:

n=t2c2/E2

N:Total households of project villages (856 households)n: Sampled households from Nt: Reliability (t=1.96 while reliability is 95%)c: Variant CoefficientE : Relative Error

We assumed t=1.96, E10% and C=28% depending on the data calculated from theforest income (RMB/year/person) of previous survey report. Then

n=1.96228

2/10

2=31

6Dr. Luo Mingcan: A Survey on the Utilization of Non-timber Forest Products in Project Villages of

Ceyuan Township,Yanling County, Hunan Province; April 2007


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We add 20% of the above result to n in order to insure the precision, therefore, thefinal sample size is n=40 households.

Distribution of Sample

According to the distance from road of natural villages, and the number of naturalvillages in each administrative village, the final distribution of sample, i.e., thedistribution of interviewed household is 1 household in each natural villageapproximately.

Distribution of Interviewed Households

Near Road Far away from RoadType

Village Number

Covered Natural

Villages Number

Covered Natural

Villages

Liangqiao 3Tongluozhou, Tangtou,Huangjiazhou

3Makou, Huanghualong,Zoumazhou

Pinhu 4Chabei, Liaojia, Pinghu,Qiujia 5

Sushan, Longxing,Dageng, Xinhu,Liangshan

Rongtang 4Laomaochong,Fanjiapai, Daniaoao

3Maziqiu, Niutang,Shanghengduan

Shangdong 6

Pingao, Tangbei,Shangwan,Gaoliangchong,Shanxia,Paili

4

Shiheping, Daowo,Kucaichong, Ganxia

Xiaping 3 Qinguangping, Xiaping,Shiliukeng 5 Pinggeng, Yangtianlong,Fengshulong,Dongmaolong

Total20 20

Important Note:A more informal door-to-door interview approach was exercised in Xiao Xingtownship. Woodpiles in front of houses were measured, in order to determineconsumption of fuelwood. The villagers would tell the interviewer, for how manydays-,weeks-or month a specific woodpile would last for heating.

The woodpile measurements are converted into true cubic meters with a conversionfactor of0.65 in order to compensate for the open spaces between logs in a pile. Forexample if the wood pile measurement is: 10m Length x 2m width x 2m height = 40cbm, this figure has to be multiplied by the factor 0.65, so that the correct amount ofcubic meter is 26 cbm.

RecommendationAccording to experiences and in order to acquire meaningful and reliable figures, theinterviewer has to be very sensitive in asking the right questions and to verifyanswers by supporting questions. Figures provided by the villagers have to bedouble-checked for consistence, and it has to be verified, which consumption figuresare given for which time period (daily, weekly, monthly or yearly consumption, byperson or the household). Consumption for heating, cooking, animal fodder

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preparation.in which quantities (head load, tractor load, bundle etc. etc.). This isimportant to mention, because imprecise questions lead to questionable answers.Figures have to be urgently verified by scales and measuring tapes, in order todetermine Kg or meter etc. Consumption figures are required in Kg, so measuring ofbundles or small wood piles should be exercised.

It is definitely NOT advisable to send out questionnaires to village householdsand ask them consumption figures through this method. The interviews haveto take place in person !!

2.4.2 Assessment of local demands for NTFP (including Bamboo)

The assessment of NTFP consumption and marketing can be done during the samesurvey as for the fuelwood/timber assessment. This was practiced during thementioned survey in Ceyuan and can be recommended for the future. Followingresults were achieved during this survey (also see Annex 3 for details):

Conversion of fuelwood into cubic meters

Once information on fuelwood is acquired, the figures have to be converted into cubicmeters for further calculations. It is necessary to know the specific air dry density ofeach important fuelwood species for this reason, which differs depending on thegeographic distribution and altitude of every species.Following tables on Air Dry Density of dominant tree species were obtained from theCounty Forestry Bureaus in Songpan and Yanling:

Table 10: Air Dry Density of dominant tree species (g/cbm) in Songpan

No. Species Air dry density(ADD)

1 Betula utilis 0.5972 Quercus aquifolioides 0.96

3 Acer mono 0.709

4 Abies faxoniana 0.447

5 Picea 0.466

6 Larix 0.458Source: Dr. Luo Mingcan, 2007

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Table 11: Air Dry Density of dominant tree species (g/cbm) in Yanling

No. Species Air dry density(ADD)

1 Cunninghamia lanceolata) Chinese fir 0.371

2 Pinus massoniana 0.519

3 Betula austrosinensis 0.6924 Schima superba 0.611

5 Bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) 0.639Source: Dr. Luo Mingcan, 2007

The average air dry weight of all species in kg per m3

for a townshipis calculated by

using following formula:

Vol* Species 1 x ADD + Vol Species 2 x ADD + Vol Species 3 x ADDTotal volume of species 1-3 *

Vol. = Volume in m3

ADD = Air dry density

* = Volumes are obtained from the FRIDAP Species Composition Table (volume) pertownship from the forest inventory results ! See table 12 next page.

Example Ceyuan7

NTFPs Resources and Relevant Self-consumption Volume

The main NTFPs used by locals include bamboo, bamboo shoot, firewood, tea leaf,oil tea, wild mushrooms, potherbs, pepper and forage grasses. NTFPs used bylocals, except bamboo and bamboo shoot, are mostly for self-consumption, only onementioned he sold tea leaf, five said they sold wild mushrooms and two said theysold oil tea last year among the 40 interviewed households. And, the sales are verylow, namely, 2 kg of tea leaf earned 40 RMB, 33 kg of dry wild mushrooms earned1335 RMB and 70 kg of oil (oil extracted from oil tea) earned 1320 RMB,respectively.

Average Self-consumption Volume of NTFPsAverage Self-consumption Volume of NTFPs (kg/household/year)

Tea Leaf Oil Tea PepperWild

MushroomsForageGrasses

Potherbs

3.527.5 1.5 4.6 1760 3.6

Note: The figure presented under the oil tea means the oil extracted from oil tea.

7Dr. Luo Mingcan: A Survey on the Utilization of Non-timber Forest Products in Project Villages of

Ceyuan Township,Yanling County, Hunan Province; April 2007


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Average Household and Per Capita Annual Incomes from Bamboo and Bambooshoots

Bamboo Bamboo ShootTotal Average Income

from Bamboo andBamboo Shoot

I ISCV SV SCV SVPH PC

PHPH PC

PC

14457 3672 918 15 1715 2955 740 6627 1658

Note: SCV=self-consumption volumeSA=sale volumeI=incomePH=per householdPC=per capitaThe unit of bamboo is pole; the unit of bamboo shoot is kg; the unit of income isRMBThe average population in each household is 4

2.5 The Demand Supply Scenario

Demand for forest products by the local population and sustainable yield of the forestresources are the key entry calculations for the determination of the forestmanagement strategy and scenarios (to be discussed under chapter 2.7.1).All information needed for this exercise has already been described in the previouschapters, namely the assessment of local demands for timber and fuelwood (chapter2.4.1) and the determination of harvestable volumes (chapter 2.3).The demand-supply calculations should then be done for each village separately andthen displayed in a summary table (as in the example of Xiao Xing below). Fuelwoodand timber demands from each village are compared with the maximum sustainableharvestable volume per village in order to receive a positive or negative balance.

Example Xiao XingAs can be easily seen in this example, all villages in the Xiao Xing township show anegative balance between demand and supply.

Table 12: Demand-Supply Scenario by village

Village No of HH Fuelwooddemand

incbm/year*

Timberdemand

incbm/year

+

Maxharvestable

volume(cbm)

TotalDemand

in cbm/y

Balance

Aixi 47 1692 80 838.1 1772 -933.9

Beizisi 105 3780 120 1200.4 3900 -2699.6

Daerbian 83 2988 120 1104.1 3108 -2003.9

Guna 66 2376 80 863.9 2456 -1592.1

Pingan 57 2052 80 1113.1 2132 -1018.9

Xinfeng 27 972 40 10 1012 -1002

Total 385 13860 520 5129.6 14380 -9250.4

* = 36 cbm per HH/y+= 1 new house per year a 40 cbm

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This information is very crucial in order to determine a suitable strategy to overcomethis problem as will be discussed later.

The information can also be displayed in charts for a better graphic impression, it isthen recommended to display the results at township level.

The chart shows that in the example case of Xiao Xing, the natural resources in thewhole township could very well satisfy the existing demands for fuelwood and timberof the local population. However, since 86% of forest resources are located on stateland where local villagers are not allowed to collect fuelwood or harvest timber,balancing demands and supply requires a negotiation process and a politicaldiscussion, based on the technical facts provided by the forest management planningprocess !

Chart 2: Imbalance between wood/timber demand and supply of 6 villages

0.00

10,000.00

20,000.00

30,000.00

40,000.00

50,000.00

Demand Harv.volume coll. Harv.volume state

Demand Harv.volume coll. Harv.volume state

2.6 Zoning of Forest Functions

Identification of forest functions and zones constitute integral parts of forestmanagement planning. Multifunctional zoning is an important step in defining and

locating the net production area for timber production. At the same time howevermultifunctional zoning is an essential planning tool for multiple-use forestmanagement. It is thus recognized that forests are not only considered to be sourcesfor production of timber and fuelwood, but also fulfil a wide range of other importantforest functions. The forest management planner has to balance economicconsiderations with the requirements of safeguarding ecological/environmental andsocio-economic functions. Therefore, besides timber production, forest resourcesalso provide multiple uses like protection (soil-,water-nature protection), tourism,recreation, NTFP collection and others.

A very important step during the Strategic Forest Management planning procedurethus is the task of forest function planning (zoning) and mapping to identify andlocalise the various forest functions.

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Even though in some cases ground truthing and field checks are necessary,multifunctional zoning tasks are mainly performed with the help of GIS.

Objectives of multifunctional zoning are as follows:1. To identify and delineate the various functions (ecological, environmental,

social) of the township.2. To balance the maintenance and enhancement of these functions with the

objective of sustainable timber production by defining managementprescriptions for the identified zones.

3. To establish a reliable estimate of the net timber production area.

Compatibility of Forest Functions

Forest functions may overlap or exclude each other. In general, all forest functions ofstrictly protective nature are not compatible with timberproduction. Functions ofrestrictive nature are partly compatible with timber production (for example theExperimental Zone of the Nature Reserve in Ceyuan township). If functions overlap,the more restrictive forest management scenarios must be applied.

This manual focuses on zoning of production forests, because zoning of protectionforests has already been achieved during the land use planning exercises prior to thepreparation of Strategic Forest Management Plans. Chapter 2.6.2 will however give abrief introduction to the zoning of protection forests.

2.6.1 Production Forests

Target of this forest zoning is the determination of the net production area for timberharvesting and other forest uses.With the help of GIS the forest management planner will use 3 different steps in orderto determine the sustainable net production area for timber harvesting:

(1) Zoning of production forests (overview)(2) Location of the different forest types [ broadleaf-,conifer-, mixed forest- and

bamboo forest (if applicable) types ] or other uses, like tourism, grazing etc.

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(1) Zoning of production forests (overview) Example Xiao Xing

The first step in the zoning procedure is the determination of the production forests.Production forests are forests, which are determined for timber harvestingoperations. These forests are located in areas, which do not fall into any protection

category. Following criteria have to be fulfilled in order to classify as productionforests:

Include all forest types (coniferous-, broadleaf-and mixed forest types) Stem breast diameter > 10 cm Location in slopes < 35 degree and 100m from mountain ridges ( outside soil

protection ) Outside of water conservation areas in upper catchments (outside water source

protection )

With the help of GIS, the forest management planner/ GIS specialist will now produce

the production forest overview map based on above criteria, differentiating theproduction forests by ownership (see map 1).

Map 1 : Production Forests of Xiao Xing

As already explained in the previous chapter, and in order to receive detailedinformation about the area sizes of the different forest types and their respective

stocking volumes, all production forest types (divided into the open-,medium-anddense categories) areas are displayed in a table showing:

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Size in ha for each forest type category

Volume in cbm per ha for each forest type category

Total volume for each forest type category

In the Xiao Xing township example, when applying above criteria, a total of11.252 hacan be managed as production forests. The majority of these production forests arelocated on state forest land (9.792 ha) and a total of 1.460 ha are collective forestswithin the boundaries of the administrative villages.

The vast majority of these production forests in the Xiao Xing example consists of theconiferous forest type (77%), followed by the Mixed forest type (14%). Broadleafforests constitute to the smallest kind of production forest types and cover 9% of XiaoXings production forest area.The total stocking volume of all forest types together is 2.4 Million ha.

Note:

When displaying information in a Strategic Forest Management Plan, the use oftables is common practice. However, in order to keep the readers attention, use oftables alone is not recommendable. Therefore it is advisable to also use graphic aidsto convey information (block charts, pie charts etc.)The example below from the Xiao Xing SFMP gives an example.

Chart 3: Production Forests of Xiao Xing by ownership in hectares

0.00

1,000.00

2,000.00

3,000.00

4,000.00

5,000.00

6,000.00

7,000.00

8,000.00

Collective state

conifer broadleafe mixed

(2) Location of the different forest types [ broadleaf-,conifer-, mixed forest-

and bamboo forest (if applicable) types ] or other uses, like tourism,grazing etc.

The next step in the zoning procedures is the identification oflocations ofeachindividual forest type for timber harvesting purposes.

The results of these zoning steps will provide Location Maps for each forest type

Area statistics and harvestable volumes for each forest type

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With the help of the GIS system, 5 different criteria have to be applied when zoningindividual forest types:

1. Select all trees of this type (either conifer OR broadleaf OR mixed ORbamboo)

2. Select areas with crown density more than 20%3. Select trees, not shrubs (stem breast diameter more than 10 cm)4. Only choose forest areas OUTSIDE areas classified for soil protection5. Only choose forest areas OUTSIDE areas classified for water source

protection

Table 16 below summarizes the criteria to be applied for each forest type forindividual zoning.

Table 13: Criteria for the zoning of different forest types

Forest Type Crown

Coverage(density)

in %

DBH (Diameter

of stem atbreast height)

in cm

Soil protection Water source

protection

Conifer > 20% >10 < 35 degree slope100m distance frommountain ridges

Outside of waterconservationareas in uppercatchments

Broadleaf > 20% >10 < 35 degree slope100m distance frommountain ridges


Mixed > 20% >10 < 35 degree slope100m distance frommountain ridges


Bamboo > 20% >10 < 35 degree slope Outside of waterconservationareas in uppercatchments

100m distance frommountain ridges

One example may demonstrate the display of an individual forest type as outlinedabove (in this case the Conifer Forest Type in Xiao Xing township.

Example Xiao Xing SFMP:

Conifer Forest Type

When applying all zoning criteria from table 13 for the Conifer forest type, followingmap for the location of this forest type can be generated:

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Map 2: Location of Production Conifer Forest Type

In order to complete this overview and to also get an idea about the area sizesofeach density class by forest owner and their respective stocking volumes, the areacalculations for the zoning of this forest type are displayed in a table showing:

Size in ha for each forest type category

Volume in cbm per ha for each forest type category

Total volume for each forest type category

Table 14: Zoning of Conifer Production Forests by ownership

Ownership Densityclass

ha Volumeper ha

TotalVolume

(cbm)

YearlyIncrement

volume incbm / ha

Max.harvestable

volume

Dense 354.78 302.82 107434.5 6.36 2256.4

medium 676.53 144.78 97948 3.04 2056.7

open 151.95 75.1 11411.4 1.58 240.1Collective

subtotal 1183.26 216793.9 4553.2

dense 3898.08 296.47 1155664 5.34 20815.7

medium 2972.41 207.26 616061.7 3.73 11087.1

open 651.28 87.13 56746 1.57 1022.5State

subtotal 7521.77 1828472 32925.3

total 8705.03 2045265 37478.5

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41

2.6.1.1 Production Forests in restricted areas (example Ceyuan)

Production forests may be located within the boundaries of restricted areas, forexample a Nature Reserve as in the case of Ceyuan (also see chapter 2.7.1).

A Nature Reserve is divided into 3 parts:1. Experimental Zone2. Buffer Zone3. Core Zone

Since 60% of the potential forest management areas in that township are inside theNature Reserve with severe management restraints, limited management has to beconsidered in the Experimental Zone of the Nature Reserve due to the fuelwood-andtimber consumption demands of the local population.The Experimental Zone is defined as:The area surrounding the buffer zone can be designated as the experimental zone,

where people may enter for various activities such as scientific experiment,educational practice, visit and investigation, tourism, and the domestication andbreeding of rare and endangered wild species. 8

Since the development of the Strategic Forest Management Plan is regarded as ascientific experiment, this part of the Nature Reserve shall be included in the zoningprocedure for management.In summary, management in the Experimental Zone of the Nature Reserve isproposed, whereas the Core and Buffer Zones remain restricted from use asstipulated in the law.

Example Ceyuan

Potential Production Forest

The zoning is titled as potential production forest, because the government first hasto amend the Nature Reserve restrictions to the local conditions, namely to allowmanagement activities in the Experimental Zone.These potential production forests exclude forests in areas protected for soil-andwater conservation, forests on very steep slopes (> 35), and they also exclude thecore -and buffer zones of the Nature Reserve! The experimental zone of the

Nature Reserve however has been included due to the potential use of forests withinthat area.Using these above mentioned zoning parameters, around 3.800 ha of forests can beregarded as potential production forest.The majority of the management forests consist of the coniferous forest type (41%),followed by the bamboo forest type (34%). Broadleaf forests are represented by21%, and the mixed forest type plays a minor role (4%).The total stocking volume is close to 150.000 ha.

8REGULATIONS OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA ON NATURE RESERVES


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Map 3: Potential Production Forest in Ceyuan

2.6.2 Protection Forests

Zoning of protection forests, as already explained in chapter 1, has to be done during

the development of the land use strategy development prior to forest managementplanning.

Protection Forests fall into one or more of the following categories:

1. Forest is located in water source conservation area2. Forest is located in soil conservation zones3. Forest is located in wetlands and natural conservation zones4. Forest is located in areas of natural importance and scenic areas

The Strategic Forest Management Plans so far did not include management

proposals for such protected areas, because under present Chinese laws andregulations, management activities are not allowed.However, strict protection alone, without human intervention, is not feasible, becauseit is not possible to preserve a landscape in a given condition, landscapes do consistof living creatures and develop their own dynamics.

A recommendation for the preparation of future Strategic Forest ManagementPlans therefore is to include a chapter on management of protected areas (notonly forests), where a minimum amount of human intervention guarantees ahigher degree of protection, than to leave these protected areas to themselves!

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2.6.3 Tourism

Zoning of planned tourism activities should result in a bigger scaled map (1:5.000)

displaying:1. Exact locations of planned tourism-and/or recreation areas at village scale

level2. Display of important geographic features for the planned activities (for

example rivers concerning water sport activities, mountains concerning hikingactivities, roads for bike riding etc.)

3. The map should include symbols marking exact locations where and whichtourism/recreation activity is planned.

In addition, pictures of the areas could be added to the SFMP to give the reader abetter impression of the concerned areas.

The stakeholders shall decide on the expected products in connection with tourismdevelopment. Products are mainly the activities, which are planned for tourists, butalso establishments and services benefiting the local community.A potential list of possible tourism activitiesincludes:

Hiking Water sports like kayaking/rafting Bird watching Pony trekking Mountain bike riding Camping Outdoor barbecue Village stay

As a result, a tourism map could look like the example given below, which uses thevillage map of Guna village in Xiao Xing, the displayed tourism activities however arepure theoretical and just serve as an orientation example !

The map legend has to be adapted for this purpose. The map title would be: Eco-Tourism activities in xy village. Each tourism activity would be displayed with adifferent symbol and colour.For example:A star (red) = HikingA point (brown) = Horse trekkingA square (blue) = Bird watchingAnd so on..

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Map 4: Potential Tourism map

A table could be added on the map, displaying intended area sizes and/or distancesfor planned activities:

Tourism activity Area insquare km

Intended Length of road/river needed for theactivity

Bird watching 4

Water Rafting 5 km of xy river

Horse Riding 15 km of trails through conifer forest in xy villageand 10 km in xy native village

RecommendationCriteria should be developed by a Tourism expert for zoning/landscaping areasaccording to their feasibility for eco-tourism use !!

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2.6.4 NTFP

Non Timber Forest Products provide a major source of income for families in ruralareas, and NTFP management issues therefore play an important role in theStrategic Forest Management Plan.

Information from socio-economic surveys and from sample plot results of the MultiResources Forest Inventory indicate the importance and frequency of various NTFPin the respective township. With the help of GIS a map can be generated displayingthe location of important NTFP for planning purposes (also refer to report of the GISspecialist on GIS procedures how to prepare the map based on the inventory data).9Especially at the operational planning level ( Village Forest Management Plans) thelocation of important NTFP for each specific village should be mapped in detail inorder to develop NTFP marketing strategies for each village.

Example Xiao XingIn the Xiao Xing SFMP a NTFP map was generated, which included the zoning of 4

important NTFP in order to show locations of these important NTFP for futureconsideration in marketing strategies.The map legend also shows the frequency for each product (number of inventoryplots where the specific NTFP has been found.

Map 5: NTFP Map of Xiao Xing

9Leng Yunfa: Spatial information Processing and Mapping on Strategy Forest Management Planning:September 2007


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2.6.5 Grazing areas

In townships, where free grazing of animals has been identified as an issue/problemin connection with the sustainable management of natural resources, the zoning ofpotential pasture areas will help the forest management planner and the concerned

stakeholders to develop a grazing strategy as integral part of the SFMP.

Example Xiao Xing

In order to determine locations and areas, where grazing of animals could take placewith a minimum amount of damage to the environment (regarding geographicalfeatures, not animal carrying capacity), zoning of production pasture should becarried out as background information for the development of a future grazingscenario (see chapter 2.7.2 for more details).Following criteria have been adopted for the zoning of productive Pasture (or grazingland):

Includes grass land, shrub and herbal vegetation Location in slopes < 35 degree and 100m from mountain ridges (outside soil

protection ) Outside of water conservation areas in upper catchments (outside water source

protection )

Map 9 provides the overview of locations of productive pasture land with a total areaof 4.727 ha (3.865 ha on state land and 862 ha on collective land).

Map 6: Productive Pasture Land

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2.6.6 Other forest functions

Depending on the requirements and special situation in a township, a number ofother forest functions may be determined (other than already mentioned under thischapter 2.6). A variety of other forest functions for zoning could include:

Areas for special conservation of bio diversity or a special vegetation type Areas designated to Wildlife Management

Special habitats for endangered species

Special function in fire protection or high risk of forest fireand so on

The topic of fire prevention has been named as one important objective for the XiaoXing SFMP. Therefore this example shall be used in order to demonstrate thezoning of areas, which are in danger of forest fires.

General ConsiderationsWild fires pose a potentially dangerous threat to the forests in many townships andmay occur frequently (either already at present or in future).Especially vulnerable and at a high risk for forest fires are townships:

With a high percentage of conifer forest types

With a high percentage of conifer forests in the young age class

Young conifer forests which have not been thinned regularly

With extensive grassland areas

Young conifer stands, with high numbers of trees and a high amount of dead anddying wooden material are most prone to forest fires. For the purpose of zoning thesepotential areas prone to forest fires it can be assumed, that the open conifer foresttype classifies most for this purpose. Open conifer forest types in many cases arerelicts of clear cut logging operations in the past, which have been either fully orpartly re-planted or are partly results of natural regeneration with high seedlingnumbers.

Management considerations

Preference for thinning operations in these young conifer stands and cutting of fire

lines shall be given to those areas within the production forest area, however, inexceptional cases and on case to case decisions, it may be recommendable to alsocarry out thinning for fire prevention reasons in open conifer forest areas, which arelocated in protected areas.These thinning operations for fire prevention reasons are urgent and necessary onceyoung conifer plantations reach the age where the canopy starts closing.

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2.7 Development of forest management scenarios

For the development of a suitable forest management scenario, 3 factors are ofhighest importance and heavily influence all decisions:

1. Ownership of the forest resources in a township (mainly collective or mainly

state forests)2. Long term objectives of the SFMP3. Forest productivity (thus positive or negative balance when comparing

demand and supply)Overriding factor however is the ownership, because even if the productivity of theforests are high, the areas under management regime of the villages are often stilltoo small in order to fulfil their rising demands for forest products. The geographiclocation of a township also heavily influences this situation, as areas in mountainousregions often paired with limited electricity supply are more dependent on the naturalresources than better developed areas in the lowlands.

Forest man

Documents

FMP_Manual_Participatory Strategic Forest Management Planning Manual_Draft_EN_Jürgen Fichtenau