CHINA In the last decade of reform, China has made impressive headway in protecting and improving its environment. Massive reforestation projects, including the planting of 10 billion trees during the 1980s, have resulted in 38.3 million hectares of man-made forest. Improvements in energy sources for the poor has resulted in a decline in collection of fuelwood from forests.

China has two major regions of natural tropical forest: Hainan Island and Xishuangbanna in the Yunnan Province. The Hainan Province is home to China's only tropical rainforest, which contains 25 percent of China's mammal diversity and 33 percent of the country's bird diversity. The rainforest has been plagued by poaching (rampant throughout the country) and collection of fuelwood in the past, though today tougher restrictions, along with reforestation projects, offer a glimmer of hope for these diverse forests. The bulk of China's tropical timber comes from plantations in Yunnan and on Hainan Island.

Today most of China's influence on tropical forests comes on the consumption side. Chinese firms are active in legal and illegal logging operations around the globe, as well as being major sponsors of large agriculture projects (Indonesia and the Amazon), road and infrastructure construction (South America), and oil and mining development (South America, Asia, Africa). Below are some recent news articles on China's growing environmental impact beyond its borders:

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Suggested reading - Books

• The River Runs Black: The Environmental Challenge To China's Future
• China's Environment And The Challenge Of Sustainable Development
• China (Eyewitness Travel Guides)
• The Rough Guide to China
• National Geographic Traveler China

CIA World Factbook

CIA-World Factbook Profile
FAO-Forestry Profile



Last updated: 4 Feb 2006