Forestry development to reduce poverty and improve the environment

Rongjia Wang · Jianfeng Zhang · Tonggui Wu ·Shiyong Sun · Zongtai Li · Deshun Zhang

Abstract Poverty reduction is a world-wide concern. At the end of 2017, according to the rural poverty standard in China, there were 30.46 million poor in China. However,complete poverty alleviation by the end of 2020 had been achieved. This is signif icant and complicated, especially as poverty-stricken areas and ecologically fragile areas overlap.During the process of poverty alleviation, the development of forestry projects was not only conducive to improving the environment but also an important way to reduce poverty. Therefore, based on an analysis of the causes of poverty-stricken areas, this study examined successful cases in diff erent regions and proposed ways to promote economic growth: providing state subsidies for tree planting and forest maintenance; developing undergrowth economy; and/or initiating an industrial chain. It also introduces principles to promote forestry progress, according to local conditions,keeping a balance between economic development and the environment. This study provides eff ective ways to promote forestry development and rural poverty alleviation.

Keywords Poverty alleviation · Forestry · Ecological construction · Sustainable development

Introduction

According to the data from the World Bank, 1.12 billion people live in poverty based on a daily income below US$1.90. At the end of 2017, according to the rural poverty standard in China, aper capitanet income of less than 2300 yuan (about 340.65 USD, and all the USD was calculated at the exchange rate of the year) (Li and Xu 2018), there were 30.46 million poor in China (Li et al. 2018). Most of China’s poor are concentrated in mountainous areas (China National Bureau of Statistics 2001; Jia and Hou 2011). Except for a few counties with discrete distributions, there are more than 370 poverty-stricken counties with a basic contiguous distribution which can be divided into the following 13 areas:Wumeng Mountains, western Yunnan border, eastern margin of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Dabie Mountains, Luoxiao Mountains, Qian-Dian-Gui stone desertif ication area, Qinba Mountains, Liupan Mountains, Wuling Mountains, Lüliang Mountains, Yanshan-Taihang Mountains, southern Greater Khingan Range, and southern Xinjiang (Jia and Hou 2011).These regions cover about 1.70 million km 2 with a population of 119 million, of which 104 million are in rural areas(Jia and Hou 2011).

Areas of poverty and ecologically fragile areas have a high degree of overlap. According to the China National Bureau of Statistics ( 2019), the f ive provinces with the lowestper capitadisposable income in 2018 were Tibet, Gansu,

Guizhou, Yunnan, and Qinghai. These provinces are mainly in southwest China. Theper capitadisposable income in these f ive regions was only 17,286 yuan (2519.83 USD),17,488 yuan (2549.27 USD), 18,430 yuan (2686.59 USD),20,084 yuan (2927.70 USD) and 20,757 yuan (3025.80 USD), respectively, all below the national average of 28,228 yuan (4114.87 USD). At the same time, the forest cover in these f ive regions is 12.14%, 11.33%, 43.77%, 55.04% and 5.82%, respectively. These f ive regions have lowerper capitadisposable income and forest cover than developed regions such as Zhejiang (per capitadisposable income 45,840 yuan(6682.22 USD); forest cover 59.43%), and Guangdong (per capitadisposable income 35,810 yuan (5220.12 USD);forest cover 53.52%). It may be considered, therefore, that people are poor in these areas partially due to poor ecological conditions. These areas are ecologically fragile and concentrated contiguous poverty-stricken areas. As a result,to fundamentally change the situation, the practical way is to promote ecological construction within the process of poverty alleviation.

Numerous countries have adopted ecological measures by way of forestry development to alleviate poverty and promote economic development (Sarma et al. 2010; Wang et al. 2014; Bai et al. 2015; B?sch et al. 2015; Viitala 2016;Yang and Wang 2016; Patrício et al. 2019; Pra et al. 2019;Rakatama and Pandit 2020). Brown et al. ( 2011) reported that in Ethiopia, through the regeneration of over 2700 ha of degraded forests, considerable social, economic, and ecological benef its could be realized. Boulay et al. ( 2012)questioned 461 eucalyptus tree farmers and 171 non-tree farmers in Thailand and found that, by planting eucalyptus,their incomes and quality of life were eff ectively improved.Haretsebe and Farai ( 2014) found that in Botswana’s Forest Reserves, through the development of eco-tourism, not only the environment could be improved but also tourism could increase incomes and promote economic development.Misbahuzzaman and Smith-Hall ( 2015) studied the incomes of residents in seven villages in the mountainous area of Chittagong, Bangladesh and found that forestry income accounted for 11.59% of the income of residents, indicating that although income from forestry was not the main source,it was nonetheless of signif icance in improving the local economy state and eliminating poverty. Oli et al. ( 2016)found that in the middle hills of Nepal, forestry increased incomes and eff ectively reduced rural poverty, as measured by the Gini coeffi cient (a common indicator universally used in the income gap of residents in a country or region).Duguma et al. ( 2018) also found that in sub-Saharan Africa,the development of forestry (e.g. production of non-timber forest products) through community-based forest management could eff ectively reduce poverty and promote the protection of forestry resources. Feurer et al. ( 2018) studied 110 households in Myanmar and the impact of community

forestry (i.e. the village owned forests) on residents’ incomes and found that the poorest households obtained the highest share from community forestry (36%). At the same time,the development of forestry was found to be conducive to raising local incomes and reducing poverty. Nambiar ( 2019)found that in subtropical and tropical regions-especially in rural areas-developing forestry initiatives promotes economic growth, improves the environment, and mitigates climate change. Research by Phimmavong and Keenan ( 2020)showed that developing forest plantations in Laos made it easier to reduce poverty in northern areas. In addition,research by Torres-Rojo et al. ( 2019) in Mexico and Humphries et al. ( 2020) in the Brazilian Amazon also showed that the development of forestry initiatives can increase the economic income of residents. These studies have shown that ecological programs such as the development of forestry projects can eff ectively improve the environment and bring economic benef its and raise incomes.

Through numerous studies, it has been shown that the development of forestry programs can promote economic development. Therefore, in some areas although natural conditions may be poor, it is possible to promote economic growth out of poverty through the development of forestry activities. Clearly in order to fundamentally achieve poverty alleviation, a key is to combine forestry cultivation, environmental improvement, resource utilization, and industrial development. It is hypothesized that developing forestry programs in these regions will help to reduce poverty, including the implementation of major projects such as the construction of watershed protection forests, protection of natural forests, returning farmlands to forests and grasslands, and conserving aquatic biological resources. Furthermore, it is benef icial to the prevention of urban and rural soil, air,and water pollution, energy conservation and emissions reduction, and the development of a recycling-based green economy.

Causes of poverty in poverty-stricken areas

Poor natural conditions

Most poverty are in ecologically fragile areas, i.e., in mountainous and plateau areas (China National Bureau of Statistics 2001). Living conditions are harsh, natural disasters such as landslides, desertif ication, soil erosion, f loods, droughts,and extreme cold temperatures occur frequently. According to China Statistical Yearbook (2019), in 2018 alone, the population aff ected by disasters such as f lash f loods, debris f lows and low temperatures in the provinces of Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, was almost 8.36 million, 5.08 million, and 4.80 million, respectively, causing economic losses of 54.25 billion yuan (7.91 billion USD) (China National Bureau of Statistics 2019). The development of forestry programs to increase vegetation cover can reduce the occurrence of disasters such as debris f low, thereby reducing economic losses(Mao 2014). In the plains area, due to ease of migration,many young and middle-aged workers go out to work and earn an income. Therefore, the plains area is characterized as an area of good economic development, and the potential for eliminating poverty. However, in some mountainous, hilly and plateau areas, that may have ecological fragile areas owing to natural conditions, and the limitations imposed by natural disasters, transport infrastructure is poor so young and middle-aged workers f ind it diffi cult to earn an income.As a result of poor transportation links, construction in these areas is lacking, especially in terms of the quality and quantity of basic services such as education and health services. In such areas, there is a large gap in education compared with developed areas, mainly due to inadequate transport, the spread of residents, and poor education facilities. In 2018, education funding in Guangdong Province was 386.10 billion yuan (56.28 billion USD), much higher than in Sichuan (192.75 billion yuan) (28.10 billion USD), Yunnan (132.92 billion yuan) (19.38 billion USD), and Guizhou(124.88 billion yuan) (18.20 billion USD) (China National Bureau of Statistics 2019). This led to a lack of training for young and middle-aged workers in poor areas, resulting in a labor force that could only engage in simple physical or perhaps dangerous work, and their capacity for self-development was weak. This creates a vicious cycle which limits the income of residents in poor areas.

Low effi ciency of resource allocation

Because of the underdevelopment of the economy in poverty areas, equipment used in agricultural production is outdated and the rate of utilization of resources is low. For example, electromagnetic cookers and microwave ovens which are effi cient and harmless to the environment, are generally found in prosperous areas. However, in poorer areas, cooking is often still done over open f ires, which requires fuelwood,leading to deforestation. In addition, studies have shown that cooking or heating with wood is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and eventual mortality (Yu 2018). Not only is the effi ciency of resource utilization low but the environment is being damaged. The deterioration of the local environment causes a decline in the quality of life which is not conducive to economic development.

Insuffi cient ecological compensation funds

Because poverty areas are mainly concentrated in mountainous and hilly areas, on plateaus, and in other ecologically fragile areas, in the vicinity of these areas, in order to avoid further deterioration of the environment, the Chinese government has established ecological functional areas.These areas refer to the establishment of forests, grasslands and wetlands to exert their ecological benef its while restricting the development of agricultural land (Li and Wen 2013). Therefore, in these areas it is diffi cult to obtain higher incomes through agricultural production. However, due to the low incomes of local people, the government receives less money from taxes, making it diffi cult to provide subsidies to poor families to improve their incomes. In 2018,taxes in southwestern provinces such as Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan were 281.98 billion yuan (41.10 billion USD),126.60 billion yuan (18.45 billion USD) and 142.33 billion yuan (20.75 billion USD), respectively-all less than those in eastern, economically developed provinces such as Zhejiang (558.66 billion yuan) (81.44 billion USD) and Guangdong (973.75 billion yuan) (141.95 billion USD)(China National Bureau of Statistics 2019).

Roles of forestry in poverty alleviation

Poverty reduction is a serious challenge faced by governments at all levels. Hence, they have taken diff erent measures to increase local incomes to reduce poverty as early as possible. Tan and Yan ( 2017) employed statistical data from 2010 to 2014 to carry out empirical research in Chongqing and found that agriculture, forestry and water conservancyper capita, education expenditureper capita, and social security expenditureper capitapromoted net income of rural residents and had a signif icant negative impact on the poverty rate. This suggests that forestry activities, as part of the rural economy, can increase the income of rural residents and reduce poverty.

Forest resources not only have unique ecological protection value, but also have great economic development potential because of the characteristics of sustainable development(Peng et al. 2011; Krott and Giessen 2014; Patenaude and Lewis 2014; Schaafsma et al. 2014; Chow 2015; Fisher et al.2014; Hawes et al. 2016; Walelign et al. 2016; Gao et al.2018; Khuc et al. 2018; Rosa et al. 2018; Hassan et al. 2019).Therefore, using forestry programs to alleviate poverty can be a win-win situation between environmental protection and poverty alleviation. In recent years, China’s forestry sector has responded positively to the national strategy of eliminating absolute poverty, implementing ecological improvements and achieving notable results (Cao and Luo 2018; Dou et al. 2018; Li and Xiao 2018; Liu 2018; Wang et al. 2018; Zhang et al. 2018). Forestry-targeted poverty alleviation refers to integrating initiatives into all aspects of social development, optimizing the allocation of resources,and reforming processes of the poverty alleviation system to improve effi ciencies (Zheng and Wang 2016; Gao and Zhi 2019). This may be implemented by increasing vegetation cover, improving the ecological environment of mountainous and hill areas, and transforming the economic development model to achieve improvements to livelihoods.

To implement the national forestry-related poverty alleviation strategy, China’s forestry sector has introduced relevant regulations based on the requirements of poverty alleviation, combined with local natural conditions and the status of resources. In the early stages of the implementation of the strategy, the government carried out research, identif ied the occurrence of poverty, and focused on formulating implementation plans (Chen and Qiu 2017). The implementation stage of the strategy focused on various villages (Dou et al.

2018). In response to the natural conditions of the areas,all level of government initiated programs in accordance with their “l(fā)and greening” and “peasant income increasing”policies. Forestry programs are not just about aff orestation,including those related to forestry activities such as subsidies for returning farmland to forests, but include staffi ng for forest protection, and ecological tourism. Through the development of forestry programs to promote economic growth, the following methods may be applied:

(1) Government support. There are two main government forestry measures: reliance on policy subsidies for returning farmland to forests, and creation of forest guard posts to provide a stable income. For instance,the Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP) includes farmland on slopes exceeding 25°, is a project aimed at returning farmland to forests, and for which low-income households can receive a state subsidy of 1200 yuan(196.08 USD) three times in f ive years for each 1/15 ha of land converted (Lai 2007; Song et al. 2014). Duan et al. ( 2015), in a study in the Wuling Mountains, found that participation in the SLCP increased total income on average by 11.7%, with that of the poorest farmers reaching 24.7%. This shows that the development of forestry programs through measures such as the SLCP can improve the environment and increase incomes.Li et al. ( 2015) studied the impact of the SLCP on the income of residents on the Loess Plateau and found that the SLCP and government subsidies increasedper capitaGDP and household incomes eff ectively.According to the SFGAPRC’s (State Forestry and Grassland Administration of the People’s Republic of China) offi cial website (SFGAPRC 2019a, b, c, d, e, f,g a-g), in seven provinces, including Shanxi, Shaanxi,and Inner Mongolia, theper capitaincome of farmers in Gansu and Ningxia regions has increased the most,at 6643 yuan (962.96 USD) and 6158 yuan (892.66 USD), respectively, and in Inner Mongolia, the area aff orested is the largest (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Aff orestation area and per capita income increase in seven provinces, China, in 2019. Note: 1 USD is about 6.8985 yuan in 2019

(2) Inspiring farmers incentives. Farmer orientated forestry measures include planting economical tree species and developing an undergrowth economy. According to local conditions, choose suitable economic species such as chestnut and apple for planting for income by selling produce. Develop the undergrowth economy,produce forest by-products in the interstices of forest growth, by planting f lowers, herbal medicines and cash crops and carry out animal husbandry, such as raising chickens, ducks and geese, thus local households can obtain economic benefits without felling trees(Bao 2018). Hogarth and Belcher ( 2013) found that in Guangxi, China, growing bamboo shoots can increase residents’ incomes. In addition to selling in traditional markets, bamboo shoots can also be sold through electronic trade platforms to expand sales channels and increase income.

(3) Initiating industry chain. In addition to directly implementing forestry measures, extending the forestry industry chain can also increase income. For example, owing to forestry development, the environment has been improved and eco-tourism can be developed,taking advantage of the characteristics of regional natural resources and carrying out activities such as forest-based recreation and environmental education to attract tourists and enhance the local economy. Djoudi et al. ( 2015) found that local economic revival can be promoted through the development of forestry and tourism.

Apart from these forestry measures, technical extension, f inancial inputs, and infrastructure construction also play crucial roles. With these integrated actions, poverty reduction has been possible in several regions. Hence, ecological initiatives such as developing forestry programs can eff ectively improve the local environment as well as increasing income of residents, helping to eliminate absolute poverty.

Role of forestry development on environment improvement

As a major component of terrestrial ecosystems, forests, in addition to providing economic benef its, also have ecological functions such as air purif ication and water and soil conservation (Vieira et al. 2018; Zhang et al. 2019a, 2019b).Mexia et al. ( 2018) studied a 44-ha park in Almada, Portugal and found that in urban parks, mixed forests have the best eff ect on air purif ication. Parsa et al. ( 2019) used an i-tree Eco model to study the air purif ication eff ects of forests in the Tabriz region of Iran and found that, in 2015, the forests cleansed the air of 238.4 t of atmospheric pollutants.According to forecasts, in the next 20 years, a total of 814.46 t of atmospheric pollutants might be removed.

In addition to purifying the air, forests also have a function in soil and water conservation and in controlling nonpoint source pollution. Xu et al. ( 2019) studied the interception eff ect of a riparian buff er zone in Beijing and found thatPinus tabulaeformiscould eff ectively intercept rainfall andPlatycladus orientaliscould reduce nitrogen and phosphorus entering the river. These results showed thatP. orientaliscould reduce total phosphorus concentrations from 0.20 mg/L to 0.12 mg/L and total nitrogen from 5.00 mg/L to 2.50 mg/L.

To summarize, forests have both economic and ecological functions such as purifying the air and controlling non-point source pollution. Therefore, poverty alleviation through the development of forestry programs can bring economic benef its and improve the local environment and promote sustainable development.

Principles and practices of developing forestry programs

Principles of forestry development in poverty- stricken areas

Four main principles for promoting forestry development and economic growth should be emphasized: (1) combine multiple forestry initiatives; (2) recognize local conditions;(3) balance economic development and environmental protection; and, (4) establish a compensation system for upstream Yangtze River & Yellow River basins.

Combination of multiple forestry initiatives

Through research and analysis carried out in previous studies(Duan et al. 2015), the development of forestry programs to promote economic development and eliminate poverty cannot be achieved through a single method. Multiple methods must be combined and a multi-pronged approach adopted to jointly promote economic development and poverty alleviation. For example, the combination of governmentorientated and farmer-orientated forestry measures provide subsidies for returning farmland to forests and initiating a non-timber forest products economy. Under this approach,farmers would return farmland to forest cover, obtain government subsidies, thereby generating additional incomes and use the funds to purchase animals, such as chickens and ducks, and implement non-timber forest product activities.After three to f ive years of development, the non-timber forest products activities might have taken shape and provided a level of income. At this point, even if government subsidies stopped, the residents will not return to poverty conditions. Soltani et al. ( 2012), in a study in Iran’s Zagros region, found that 64% of households combined a strategy of forestry activities, animal husbandry and self-suffi cient agriculture. Households that relied solely on forest products and grazing were the poorest (27%), while those that combined commercial crops with non-agricultural labor (9%) earned higher incomes. This demonstrates that, by combining the development of forestry activities with a variety of other initiatives, the potential for raising incomes and reducing an area of poverty is greater. The development of a single forest-based economy, although possible to obtain a certain income level, may not be enough to eliminate absolute poverty. Duan et al. ( 2016 ) surveyed 1838 rural households in several places, including Jiangxi, Fujian, and Shaanxi and found that by diversifying income, they could reduce their dependence on forestry income. This further conf irms that the development of a variety of forestry programs for economic development can reduce dependence on a single industry and avoid poverty reoccurring. Therefore, based on developing forestry activities, other steps should be taken to diversify and increase incomes and promote regional economic development.

Forestry activities according to local conditions

Due to diff erences in the ecological environment, topography, and vegetation in diff erent poverty-stricken areas,there are various ways to develop forestry activities. However, if the activity is unsound, it will fail to help develop the economy and may lead to greater ecological damage and economic losses. For example, in most povertystricken areas, returning farmland to forests can be used to obtain government subsidies to increase income. As Duan et al ( 2015) noted for the Wuling Mountains, most farmers received subsidies through the SLCP. However, for some mountainous areas, slopes are excessive and not conducive to establish plantations because original vegetation will be destroyed, causing soil erosion. Although the development of plantations of economic value in these areas may yield income, the environment will suff er damage, and will result in greater economic losses. For such areas with large slopes, economic development could be promoted through ecotourism. Attempts could be made to attract hikers and climbers who require lodgings and food. Local farmers could benef it and this would contribute to reducing local poverty.

Balancing economic development and environmental protection

For some ecologically fragile areas, forestry programs will revive the local economy and improve the environment, preventing further deterioration. For example, in the sparsely populated Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the terrain is high, the climate cold, droughts are common, the vegetation is low and sparse and once destroyed, recovery is very diffi cult. Forestry initiatives should be developed such as closing hillsides for reforestation, avoiding the impact of human activities on the environment, promoting ecological restoration, emphasizing ecological functions of forests and their economic benef its.

For ecologically fragile areas where populations are concentrated, environmental degradation is inevitable.Therefore, forestry initiatives in these areas should aim to deliver economic benef its and also their ecological functions. The optimum way would be to combine ecological and economic benef its and increase incomes while improving the environment. Yan et al. ( 2017) also suggested that for the Liaohe River Basin, poverty alleviation and environmental improvement projects should be introduced in ecologically fragile areas. Hirons et al. ( 2018), in their study in Ghana and Ethiopia, demonstrated that it is equally important to develop the economy and to protect the environment. These studies have shown that, in ecologically fragile areas, not only must the economic functions of forests be attended to, but equally important, are the ecological functions.

In a study in Yan’an City, Shaanxi Province, Cao et al.( 2017) found that people living in an ecologically fragile environment faced the dual problems of poverty and environmental degradation. Moreover, both were interrelated to form a “poverty trap”. To address this problem, they proposed a new “green purchase” method, where terraced fields were constructed, fruit tree orchards established,grazing restrictions implemented, and ecological migration encouraged. Accordingly, not only were villagers’ incomes increased, but the local environment was improved. In fact,since 1999, Yan’an City’s vegetation cover has increased by 0.89% per year, twice that of Shaanxi Province. This research showed that it is equally important to develop the economy and improve the environment in ecologically fragile areas.

Establishing an ecological compensation system

Diff erent parts of the same river basin are closely linked in environment and functions. For example, in 1998, a major f lood occurred downstream of the Yangtze River, and one of the reasons was that the upstream area had been deforested,ecology destroyed, soil erosion aggravated and the riverbed raised. Therefore, improving ecological conditions in upstream regions is important for downstream areas. However, there are often large diff erences between upstream and downstream areas. The rural poor live in upstream regions,and these areas are short of funds for ecological restoration, while downstream areas are often well developed and adequately funded. Taking the Yangtze River Basin as an example: in 2018, tax incomes in upstream regions such as Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan were 281.98 billion yuan (44.32 billion USD), 126.60 billion yuan (18.45 billion USD) and 142.33 billion yuan (20.75 billion USD),respectively, all less than those in downstream areas such as Jiangsu (726.37 billion yuan) (105.88 billion USD) and Shanghai (628.50 billion yuan) (91.62 billion USD) (China National Bureau of Statistics 2019). In view of this, an ecological compensation system for both upstream and downstream areas of the river basin should be established (China National Development and Reform Commission 2019). Providing a part of the ecological compensation fund from the downstream to the upstream area can alleviate the f inancial problems of the upstream area and help the people to carry out ecological engineering, i.e., planting trees and restoring vegetation to improve the environment. During this process,local people can obtain income by participating in these works, which is helpful to alleviate poverty. On the other hand, with the construction of forests, healthy ecosystem in upstream areas will assist downstream areas in getting clean water and reduce the probability of f loods.

Developing forestry programs to promote regional socioeconomic progress

Activities of Sichuan Province

Sichuan Province is an inland province in western China and its economic development is relatively minor compared with the eastern coastal areas. However, there are many mountains which are conducive to develop forestry initiatives, and in fact, it was the f irst to join the SLCP project.

Since 2015, the Sichuan provincial government has invested more than 60% of its forestry budget into povertystricken counties each year. The forestry sector adopted the following three methods to establish sound economic aid for forest management: f irst, low income households can use forestry subsidies as shares in investment cooperatives to obtain wages and dividends through labor input; second,through cooperatives, specialized forest planting can be carried out but land and tree species are uniformly planned by cooperatives; and third, state-owned forest farms will entrust the land to poor households for planting, which can be operated by independent management or by a cooperative, and the people can obtain a certain proportion of the dividends(Wang 2015). Beginning in 2016, and for the following three or four years, the forestry sector in Sichuan Province will add 290,000 ha of modern forestry industrial bases for planting valuable timber, walnuts and fruits in 88 counties and build 40 new forest parks. At present, there are 25,000 lowincome people who have become forest guards, and this has raised 70,000 people out of poverty. In addition, 5000 new forest guard jobs were added in 2017, and the ecological compensation was over 3.72 billion yuan (0.55 billion USD)(Chen and Qiu 2017).

Sichuan Province will continue to focus on ecological poverty alleviation as a means to accelerate the development of forestry innovations. In the process of implementing ecological forest protection, the provincial government will focus on implementing ecological-orientated poverty alleviation planning and on increasing forest guards (Sichuan Forestry Department 2015).

Successful programs in other parts of China

According to the “China National Report on Monitoring Ecological Benef its for the Conversion of Croplands to Forest Projects in 2016” (SFGAPRC 2017), there are a number of examples of successful forestry programs for enhancing economic development in other parts of China.

Lijiang City, Yunnan Province, has improved its economy by vigorously developing forestry initiatives, eff ectively increasing the income of farmers. In 2014-2016, Lijiang City established approximately 669.20 ha of plantations,involving 44 townships, 202 administrative villages, 10,811 households, and 35,637 people. Among them, low-income households established over 180 ha of plantations, involving 5517 households and 11,840 people, with each household receiving 5631 yuan (813.73 USD) during the period. In addition, through the “cooperative + base + poor households” and other models to develop fruit trees, pomegranate (Punica granatumL.), mango (Mangifera indicaL.) and other commercial forest species, incomes of poor households have increased.

The 18 poverty-stricken counties in Chongqing Province have established 0.10 million ha of new plantations and gardens and are planning new plantings of 0.15 million ha.This new round of aff orestation subsidies amounts to 2.20 billion yuan (0.32 billion USD) and will involve direct cash subsidies to farmers of over 1.40 billion yuan (0.20 billion USD), aff orestation seedling subsidies of 750 million yuan(108.38 million USD), andper capitasubsidies of 1538 yuan (222.25 USD).

Zhenba County of Shaanxi Province has adopted measures such as “cooperatives + agricultural production bases + farmers” and “enterprises + agricultural production bases + farmers” to develop forestry projects such as tea (Camellia sinensis(L.) O. Ktze.) and walnut (Juglans regiaL.) plantations to promote economic development and income growth for communities. From 2014 to 2015, total aff orestation was 516.79 ha, and the government subsidy was 3.90 million yuan (0.56 million USD), which gave an annual increase of 1020 yuan (147.40 USD)per capitafor 1154 low-income households.

Conclusions

Forests provide ecological and economic benef its. Based on an analysis of the causes of poverty and successful cases in diff erent regions, principles to develop forestry programs may be summarized as: (1) develop forestry programs according to local conditions; (2) balance economic development and environmental protection; and, (3) establish a compensation system for upstream communities of river basins. Through the case studies of Sichuan Province and other regions in China, it has been demonstrated that forestry development, economic revival and poverty reduction can be achieved. From a long-term point of view, although a single forestry development initiative may provide a certain level of economic benef it in the short term, it may not be sustained. Therefore, by combining a variety of forestry initiatives obtain long-term and stable economic growth might be obtained, and the chance of eliminating poverty. However, in ecologically fragile areas, the purpose of forestry development is not simply to develop the local economy but also to improve ecological conditions and prevent further deterioration. In these areas, forestry projects should focus more on ecological reconstruction than economic benef its. Only by improving the environment through ecological functions of forests, avoiding further deterioration of the environment,can promote economic growth. In addition, establishing an upstream and downstream ecological compensation system can alleviate f inancial diffi culties and provide forestry subsidies for upstream areas to improve its ecology. It can also support downstream communities to prevent f loods and relevant disasters. It is vital to address rural poverty as povertystricken areas are ecologically fragile and infrastructure is week. Under these conditions, developing forestry initiatives is signif icant to improve the environment, raise incomes of low-income people and address poverty alleviation. Confronted with various site conditions and species during forestry development, it is critical to adapt to local conditions and combine diff erent forestry initiatives to address economic development and poverty reduction.