A STUDY OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CHINA'S SLOPING LAND CONVERSION POLICY 'TUI GENG HUAN LIN': A CASE STUDY - HANYUAN COUNTY, SICHUAN PROVINCE

摘要

In the summer of 1998 the Yangtze River in China suffered its worst floods in 50 years. In response to this flooding the Chinese government devised the National Forest Protection Plan, a key component of this plan is the Tuigeng huanlin (Sloping LandConversion) policy. Under this scheme, fanners are offered grain subsidies and small cash payments in compensation for voluntarily returning marginal farmland to forest. This article looks at the initial demonstration stage of Tuigeng huanlin in the southwest and northwest of China and focuses on rural households: their participation in the policy; the choices made in terms of tree species (economic or ecological), and; the effect of participation on incomes and livelihoods. It also examines the stability of the policy and the impact these aspects will have on the potential of the Sloping Land Conversion Policy (SLCP) to attain its objectives of environmental protection and increased forest cover in China. It concludes that the government is aware of the shortcomings and is working to correct them.