title: Effects of conservation policy on China's forest recovery.
abstract: Forest loss is one of the most pervasive land surface transformations on Earth, with drastic effects on global climate, ecosystems, and human well-being. As part of biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation efforts, many countries, including China, have been implementing large-scale policies to conserve and restore forests. However, little is known about the effectiveness of these policies, and information on China's forest dynamics at the national level has mainly relied on official statistics. In response to international calls for improved reliability and transparency of information on biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation efforts, it is crucial to independently verify government statistics. Furthermore, if forest recovery is verified, it is essential to assess the degree to which this recovery is attributable to policy, within the context of other relevant factors. We assess the dynamics of forest cover in China between 2000 and 2010 and evaluate the effectiveness of one of the largest forest conservation programs in the world-the Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP). Results indicate that forest cover has significantly increased in around 1.6% of China's territory and that the areas exhibiting forest gain experienced a combined increase in net primary productivity (ca. 0.9 Tg of carbon). Among the variables evaluated at county level, the NFCP exhibited a significantly positive relation with forest gain, whereas reduction in rural labor showed a negative relationship with both forest loss and gain. Findings such as these have global implications for forest conservation and climate change mitigation efforts.
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA.
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Viña
authors.affiliation: Center for Global Change and Earth Observations, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA.
authors.forename: William J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: McConnell
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA.
authors.forename: Hongbo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA.
authors.forename: Zhenci
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48823, USA.
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D002681:China; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D065928:Forests; D005843:Geography; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis
keywords: Conservation policy; Natural Forest Conservation Program; economic development; forest transition; land use change; spatio-temporal dynamics