Full Text: Integrated Reform Plan for Promoting Ecological Progress (8)

20. Establishing a system for protecting virgin forests

All virgin forests will be placed under protection. A national timber forest reserve system will be established. Government administration will be gradually separated from the management of state-owned forests, and the public benefit forest protection and management system will be improved for state-owned forestry farms drawing principally on service procurement. The collective forest tenure system will be improved. Tenure contracts for collective forests will be kept stable, the operations allowed under these contracts will be expanded, and the systems by which forest tenure rights are used as collateral for loans and tenure rights are transferred will be improved.

21. Establishing a system for protecting grassland

The system by which collective grassland is contracted out for operation to individual households will be kept stable and improved to ensure that the plot and area of every piece of grassland contracted out is measured accurately, contracts are signed, and contracting certificates are granted. Proper procedures will be introduced for the transfer of grassland under such contracts. A system for protecting basic grassland will be put into effect to ensure that the area of basic grassland does not diminish, its quality does not deteriorate, and it is not converted for any other use. The subsidy and award mechanisms for the ecological conservation of grassland will be improved. Grazing on certain areas of grassland will be banned or temporarily suspended, rotational paddock grazing will be introduced, and efforts will be made to strike a balance between grass and livestock. Oversight over there view and approval of grassland requisitions will be strengthened and the use of grassland for any purpose other than animal husbandry will be strictly controlled.

22. Establishing a system for protecting wetlands

All wetlands will be placed under protection, and the unauthorized requisition or occupancy of wetlands of international importance, and those of national importance,and wetland reserves will be banned. The services of wetlands will be determined, their protection and utilization will be standardized, and a mechanism for the ecological restoration of wetlands will be established.

23. Establishing a system for closing off desertified land for protection

Contiguous areas of desertified land for which conditions are not currently in place to carry out anti-desertification programs will be designated as closed-off protection zones. Systems for strict protection will be established, construction of infrastructure needed to close off and protect and manage such zones will be stepped up, desertified land governance will be strengthened, and vegetation will be increased. The appropriate development of the sand industry will be encouraged. The mechanisms for protection and management drawing principally on service procurement will be improved. New approaches that combine development with governance will be explored. (mo