Chinese Government Adopts GEI Recommended Forestry Conservation Mechanism

BEIJING (Feb. 21, 2012) – China’s State Forestry Administration (SFA) officially released its Forest Management and Protection Practices for the Natural Forest Protection Program and the Forest Management and Protection Responsibility Agreement. It outlines the adoption of the Conservation Concession Agreements (CCA), by one of six major forestry programs in China – the Natural Forest Protection program (NFPP).

This builds on the success of the Chinese environmental NGO, the Global Environmental Institute (GEI), who from 2006 to 2009, proved the value of CCA in resolving the conflicts between biodiversity conservation and regional economic development in Sichuan Province, China, through research and demonstration of the mechanism.

In 2011, GEI and SFA signed a Memorandum of Understanding and successfully developed a government-run CCA model. GEI drafted and revised the Forest Management and Protection Practices for the Natural Forest Protection Program and the Forest Management and Protection Responsibility Agreement after continuous research and study, and submitted them to SFA on January 3, 2012. On February 21, 2012, SFA approved and released them officially nationwide, and required local forestry authorities to comply accordingly.

On February 12, 2012, GEI program officer, Aiming Wang, submitted the 2012 work plan for the Promoting CCA-PES in China project to SFA. The plan suggests the major tasks of this year include pilot sites selection, training of the Management and Protection Practices mentioned above and demonstration activities. SFA has approved the work plan, and the project will be executed as planned.