Snow disaster influence on forestry and reconstruction measures

State Forestry Administration

February 19, 2008

Since the mid-January of this year, due to the extreme weather influence, the catastrophic blizzards and icy rains disaster which covered over half of China has caused great losses on forestry. According to the latest statistics, in 19 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities including Hunan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Hubei, Anhui, Guangxi, Zhejiang, etc, the disaster-hit forest area reached 279 million mu, 1,781 state-owned forest farms and 1,200 nurseries were severely damaged, about 760 tons of tree seeds and 10 billion seedlings were frozen off, 30,000 wildlife under the priority state protection were frozen injured or dead, 72,000 km of fire control roads was damaged, 32,000 km of water transmission pipe was frost-cracking, 328,000 km of electric transmission lines, 61,000 km of roads and 39,000 km of communication lines were damaged, 2.2 million m2 of houses for business, scientific research and schools were destroyed. The direct economic losses in forestry amounted to RMB 57.3 billion yuan with the 2.6 million disaster-hit population of forestry staff, and the disaster-hit forest farmers had a huge population, the disaster-hit population in Hunan Province had already reached 9.24 million. Due to the recent low temperature, it will be a rather long time for the snow melts, disaster situation in forestry still maintains, and losses in forestry will be further enlarged.

The blizzards and icy rains weather had exceptionally long duration, large hit area and severe harm, no similar history has been recorded in many areas. The disaster on forestry has four features:

Firstly, forestry losses accounted for a high proportion of total losses. According to the survey on 8 provinces including Hunan , etc, forestry losses accounted for 40-60 percent of the disaster losses in each province. The direct forestry economic losses in Jiangxi Province amounted to about RMB 11.27 billion yuan, accounted for 41 percent of the total RMB 27.2 billion yuan economic losses. Forestry losses in Guilin of Guangxi Province and Qiandongnan prefecture in Guizhou Province accounted for over 60 percent of local disaster losses.

Secondly, seedlings, bamboo forest and newly planted forests were severely attacked by blizzards. It was very common that seedlings froze to death. In Hubei Province the affected area of bamboo forest came to 3.88 million mu accounting for around 80 percent of the total, 75 percent of the citrus plantations on the converted land from farming were attacked by blizzards in regions of Danjiang Reservoir, Fushui Reservoirs and Three Gorges Reservoir. In various provinces, the newly planted forests in recent years experienced even more severe attacks.

Thirdly, the economic losses of the forest farmers are heavy. After the conversion of farmland into forests and tenure reform of the collective forest, the economic forests established by investments from the state and local people suffered heavy losses. Especially after the tenure reform of the collective forests in South China , over 80 percent of collective-owned plantations of Moso Bamboo, Slash Pine and Oil tea Camellia with short management cycle and good economic benefits were contracted to farmer households who manage and benefit from these plantations. And these three kinds of forest plantations suffered the most serious attack by the blizzards, which caused the local forest farmers heavy losses.

Fourthly, the calamities give rise to serious secondary disasters. After the calamities, there will be easy occurrence of landslide, mud-rock flow, forest fires, forest pest and diseases and illegal logging, etc.

The frozen rains and blizzards have caused the Chinese forestry heavy economic losses and will exert serious impact on forestry development in the future.

1. Great impact on people's livelihood. The local farmers in the mountainous areas depend much on forestry for their livelihood and the income from forestry account for over 50 percent of the total forest farmers' revenue in the affected areas. These calamities caused heavy reduction of the forest farmers' income in 2008. The long production and restoration cycle of forestry will influence the incomes of these forest farmers in the years. During these calamities, the farmers experienced the risks of forestry operation, which will have impact on farmers' participation in collect forest tenure reform.

2. Great Impact on ecological development. These affected areas are those where forestry has experienced fastest development and greatest vitality with the best endowments of forest resources. The affected forest area accounts for 1/10 of the total of the country, which exceeds the total area of land converted into forest from farming, or total planted forest area in three years from 2004-2006 and equals the total additional forest area of the whole country in one five-year plan period. The destruction of that large area of forest resources on such important ecological locations of land conversion into forest from farming, nature reserves and state forest farms will cause serious impact on the ecology in China and the smooth achievement of 20 percent national forest coverage target till 2010.

3. Significant implication on demand and supply of forest products. This disaster on one hand caused large area of economic forests frozen to death and threatened supply of economic forest products supply in the next few years, on the other hand, the forest resources have been greatly damaged, which results in sharp decrease in such materials as timber, bamboo, resin, camellia oil, as the sources for forest industry. That will make the conflict of timber demand and supply even worse and cease the operation of forest enterprises, thus put an impact on the employment of million people and demand and supply of forest products in the next few years.

4. Arduous tasks faced by forest rehabilitation. Most of the trees frozen to death and damaged by heavy snow are the ones planted during the implementation of Land Conversion Program for Forests and Shelterbelt Conservation Program for Yangtze River , which brought great difficulty to the reforestation and rehabilitation. In the mean time, the infrastructure related to forests including forest fire control, pest control, road construction and scientific research have been devastated. The sustainability of forest development is obviously weakened and the created great difficulty in recovery of forest production.

To deal with the disaster, under the leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, SFA has paid great attention to it and formed a leading group for disaster relief immediately. The group takes immediate actions and forest administrative bodies at all levels use their best efforts to come forward to disaster relief. Millions of forest workers have come to the frontline, for instance, 89,000 forest policemen are enforced, 25,000 vehicles are mobilized, 8,000 times to streamline transportation, 42,000 vehicles in traffic jams are released, 1,800 cases in danger of house are solved, and 2,800 km road are cleared for snow and sleet and 28,000 people are rescued. The economic loss of farm, livestock, houses, vehicles amounts to over 69 million Yuan. The disaster relief has achieved its progress at present stage.

 (1) Timely deployment of disaster-resistance and relief action. On December 24, 2007 the State Forestry Administration issued a notification which requires that all regions shall check hidden danger, improve emergency plan and implement all security and prevention measures. After the disaster occurred, the SFA attached great importance by setting up a leading group for disaster relief actions and a 24-hour-on-duty system for forestry departments at all levels, and required that “forestry departments at disaster-hit areas shall organize personnel to go to the forefront, help the disaster-hit units in emergency and disaster rescue, and allocate resources to help the disaster-hit populations get through”. On January 24, 2008 the SFA circulated Notification on Taking Preventive Measures to Cope with Sharp Temperature Decrease and Strong Snow Weather, which requires that all forestry departments and relevant units should maintain smooth and safe transportation in forestry regions, conduct self relief activities and provide assistance, and ensure the normal production and life of the local populations in forestry regions. On February 1 it circulated Notification on Further Intensifying Measures Coping with Disastrous Rain, Snow and Frozen Weathers and Disaster-Relief Activities. On February 2 it notified all regions to report snow disaster damage and relevant measures taken, and asked that communications with such units as forest farms, nurseries and nature reserves should be maintained through wireless communication devices used in forest fire management and disaster be reported. On February 3 it circulated an Urgent Notice on Intensifying Power Demand Side Management in Forestry Regions and Implementing Proper Power Supply. On February 5 it circulated a Notification on Intensifying Relevant Activities in Later Period of Rain, Snow and Frozen Weathers. On February 6 it released a gazette on Intensifying Prevention and Coping Measures on Secondary Disasters from Rain, Snow and Frozen Weathers, and disseminated to all regions over hundred pieces of disaster information, disaster-relief technologies, and reconstruction requirements through major news media and SFA official website.

(2) Timely dispatch special task forces to disaster-hit areas for investigation and disaster-relief guidance. During the Chinese Spring Festival, six (6) special task forces headed by administrators of SFA went to places serious hit by disaster, including Hunan, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Anhui, Hubei, Fujian, Guangdong, etc., to investigate local disaster situation in forestry, visit forestry workers and farmers, provide assistance to localities on disaster-relief activities. Yichang Forestry Bureau of Hubei arranged helicopters to transport overcoats, bedcover and food such as vegetables to the state-owned Dalaling forest farm, having been isolated by the snow for over 20 days, which secured the life of forestry workers and farmers in surrounding villages.

(3) The relief fund has been urgently allocated to the disaster-stricken areas. On February 1, SFA allocated urgently about RMB 4.3 million yuan to forest workers who suffered heavy losses in 6 provinces including Hunan , Jiangxi , Guizhou , Hubei , Anhui and Guangxi. On February 2, the Ministry of Finance, at the request of SFA, allocated again forestry relief funds to the above-mentioned 6 provinces, totaling RMB 30 million yuan. The cadres and workers of SFA also have donated RMB 300,000 yuan to the disaster-stricken areas in time.

(4) The secondary disaster should be strictly prevented. The emergency treatment should to be strengthened, including prevention of tree seedlings and young plantations and stands from cold and frost, protection of wild fauna and flora, prediction and forecasting of forest pests and diseases and prevention of forest fires. Experts and technicians were organized to compile booklets for technical measures on disaster relief aimed at main tree species and to provide technologies for the people in the disaster-stricken areas.

(5) The post-disaster production reconstruction plan should be made. SFA worked out a comprehensive plan for post-disaster forestry reconstruction on February 10, including seedling production capacity rehabilitation, reconstruction (new construction or maintenance) of infrastructure at grass-roots level units and reconstruction of infrastructure for forest fire prevention. The plan for post-disaster reconstruction has been submitted to the Command Center for Coal, Power, Oil, Transportation and Emergency and Disaster Rescue of the State Council, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance.

Under the guidance of Party Central Committee, State Council, Party Committees and governments of various levels, national forestry system endeavored on disaster combating and relief, and has fulfilled the first objective of “ensuring no forestry staff died due to cold or hunger, and enjoying a happy Spring Festival”. For the next step, SFA will maintain to be guided under the scientific development outlook, follow the general requirement of Party Central Committee and State Council on disaster combating and relief, based on the characteristics of forestry industry, follow natural and economic rules, insist on the principles of human-oriented, scientifically planning, looking ahead, stressing focal points, strengthening support, and promoting stably, attach importance on the integration of reconstruction after the disaster with improving livelihood, lay stress on improving the development of forestry production infrastructure support capabilities, and promote the effective construction after the disaster in an all-round way. Currently, 8 elements including “ensure, clear, sell, plant, enrich, reduce, develop and prevent” should be strengthened, and 6 works should be further improved.

(i) Endeavoring to strengthen 8 elements. The first element is ensuring. Ensuring living level of forestry staff and forest farmers will not degrade; ensuring forestry productive force can be recovered as soon as possible, for trees, bamboos and seedlings which still have vitality and recover possibility, we should endeavor to preserve them; ensuring wildlife suffer as little as possible. The second element is clearing. We should strive to make the clear plan for fallen trees and bamboos, adjust logging quota, integrate the clearing of fallen trees and bamboos with forest management, ensure that under the situation that bamboo shoots can naturally germinate in the next year, the fallen bamboos can be cleared in time; ensure to clear fallen trees without destroying current alive trees, thus reducing the trees and bamboos economic losses. The third one is purchase. The guidance for sales of timber and bamboo should be strengthened. Direction of wood and bamboo supply should not only ensure the sold-out of cleared wood and bamboo, but also prevent the possible forcing down of purchasing price due to the magnitude of wood and bamboo in the market, so as to avoid the short supply of wood and bamboo in the subsequent years. The protective policies for purchase of wood and bamboo should also be studied to prevent more losses of forest workers. The fourth one is planting. In light of the severe losses to forest stand and seedling, the plan to grow more trees would be adjusted in a timely manner, mobilize seed resources so as to ensure adequate for seedlings in these areas. The fifth one is subsidy. All kinds of subsidy should be made in place to secure the work done in disaster relief. The policies for subsidy in Land Conversion Programs should be further developed. The six one is reduction. Favorable policies should be developed to cut off tax in forest and help the disaster stricken areas for their development and forest production. The seventh one is construction. Efforts would be made to plan and organize disaster relief, improving construction standards, road construction in forests, development of infrastructure including grid, bridges, forest fire control facilities, so that the process for disaster relief could be guaranteed. The eighth one is prevention. It is kept under great control to prevent secondary disaster like mountain slides, mud-rock flow, forest fire, pest and insects, wildlife diseases and illegal logging and over harvesting.

(ii) Further strengthen 6 items of work. 1. Overall assessment of the calamities. Experts and related staff will be organized to undertake an overall assessment of forest and wild fauna and flora losses, destruction of forest area infrastructure and forest production and forest farmers' economic losses caused by the blizzards, and provide basis for rebuilding of the forest production. 2. Further improvement of the rebuilding plan. The integrated plan for rebuilding after the calamities will be improved in order to achieve scientific planning and smooth operation. 3. Soonest restoration of forest production. Supply of tree seeds and seedlings should be guaranteed with active launch of afforestation and replanting activities this Spring. With tending of young and middle-aged forests, the dead and fallen trees will be cleared in due time. The forest construction funds will be adjusted to increase the investment in the affected areas. Guidance will be provided to the affected areas to smoothly implement the key ecological programs including the Natural Forest Protection Program, Conversion of Land into Forest from Farming Program and Coastal Shelterbelt Plantation Program with efforts made to ensure the accomplishment of the annual forest establishment task. 4. Intensification of technical guidance. Forestry technicians shall be organized to provide technical service in disaster-hit areas and ensure the technical aspects in forestry post-disaster reconstruction. As a priority, seed and seedlings and technical service shall be provided to major farmers engaged in tree-planting, farmers cultivating oil camellia, bamboo, farmers participating in land tenure reform, and reduce the damage to a level as lower as possible. 5. Sending officers to the grassroots to provide guidance in post-disaster reconstruction. Officers from the SFA head office will be further organized to provide guidance on investigation and post-disaster reconstruction oriented to the disaster-hit areas. 6. Summarization of lessons. Disaster rescue capacity of forestry sector will be further strengthened through summarizing experiences in coping disaster and developing self-relief. The forestry infrastructure construction standard will be revised and the set-up of forest insurance systems will be studied.