November 2012

China’s Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP) is credited with helping protect 100 million hectares of Forestland. More than one third of that forestland is actually owned collectively by farmers. Because of the logging ban, farmers and rural communities, traditionally dependent upon mountains and forests for basic livelihood, cannot harvest trees or develop the land for other purposes. These farmers, who typically live in China’s poorest regions have not been compensated for their income loss. This paper takes stock of the policy, legal and social reasons to reform the NFPP so that affected farmers and communities are properly compensated and focuses on the implications of two possible approaches to reforming the system. | Download PDF (1.5MB)