Forest resources in China

Forest resources in China

1. Overall situation

According to the results of the ninth national inventory of forest resources, the national forest area is 220,446,200 hectares, accounting for 5.51% of the world's forest area, of which Inner Mongolia, Yunnan, Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Tibet, and Guangxi have a large forest area, and the total forest area of the six provinces is 114,718,800 hectares, accounting for 52.57% of the national forest area. The forest coverage rate is 22.96%, with more than 60% of the forest coverage rate of Fujian, Jiangxi, Taiwan and Guangxi 4 provinces, 60%~50% of Zhejiang, Hainan, Yunnan and Guangdong 4 provinces, 50%~30% of 11 provinces such as Hunan, 30%~10% of 13 provinces such as Anhui, and less than 10% of Qinghai and Xinjiang 2 provinces. The total standing timber stock in China is 19.007 billion cubic meters, mainly distributed in the southwest and northeast provinces, of which the total standing timber stock in Tibet, Yunnan, Heilongjiang, Sichuan, Inner Mongolia and Jilin is 11,126,057,500 cubic meters, accounting for 60.12% of the national standing timber stock. The forest stock is 17.560 billion cubic meters, of which Tibet, Yunnan, Sichuan, Heilongjiang, Inner Mongolia and Jilin have a large forest stock, and the total forest stock of the six provinces is 105032324000 cubic meters, accounting for 61.57% of the national forest stock. The total biomass of forest vegetation in China is 18.802 billion tons, and the total carbon storage is 9.186 billion tons. The area of natural forests in China is 140,415,200 hectares, with a volume of 14,108 million cubic meters of natural forests, 80,031,000 hectares of planted forests, 3,452 million cubic meters of planted forests, and 94.83 cubic meters of arbor forests per hectare.

2. Resource composition

According to the land type, the national forest land is divided into 179,888,500 hectares of arbor woodland, accounting for 82.43%, 6,411,600 hectares of bamboo woodland, accounting for 2.94%, 73,849,600 hectares of shrub woodland, 3,421,800 hectares of sparse forest land, 6,991,400 hectares of uncultivated afforestation land, 719,800 hectares of nursery land, 2,424,900 hectares of trace land, and 49,977,900 hectares of suitable forest land. The national standing tree stock is 18,505,098,000 cubic meters, of which 17,058,195,900 cubic meters are forested, accounting for 92.18%, 100,270,000 cubic meters, accounting for 0.54%, 878,034,100 cubic meters, accounting for 4.75%, and 468,598,000 cubic meters, accounting for 2.53%.

Natural forests and planted forests: Among the national forest area, the area of natural forests is 138,677,700 hectares, accounting for 63.55%, and the area of planted forests is 79,542,800 hectares, accounting for 36.45%. In the national forest stock, the natural forest stock is 13,670,596,300 cubic meters, accounting for 80.14%, and the artificial forest stock is 3,387,599,600 cubic meters, accounting for 19.86%. According to the age group, the area of young forest is 35,516,300 hectares, with an accumulation of 1,553,727,600 cubic meters, the area of middle-aged forest is 39,291,200 hectares, with a volume of 3,706,909,100 cubic meters, the area of near-mature forest is 20,527,200 hectares, with a volume of 2,791,596,300 cubic meters, the area of mature forest is 18,088,500 hectares, with an accumulation of 3,291,104,400 cubic meters, and the area of overmature forest is 9,338,600 hectares, with a volume of 2,327,258,900 cubic meters. Among the planted arbor forests in China, 23,259,100 hectares (40.72%) were young forests, 16,968,000 hectares (29.70%) were middle-aged forests, 8,086,100 hectares (14.15%) were near-mature forests, 6,588,100 hectares (11.53%) were mature forests, and 2,225,400 hectares (3.90%) were over-mature forests.

State-owned forests and collective forests: Among the national forest areas, the area of state-owned forests is 84,366,100 hectares, accounting for 38.66%, and the area of collective forests is 133,854,400 hectares, accounting for 61.34%. Among the national forest stocks, the state-owned forests were 10,122,980,000 cubic meters, accounting for 59.34%, and the collective forests were 6,935,215,900 cubic meters, accounting for 40.66%. Among the national forest stocks, 10,070,720,500 cubic meters are state-owned, accounting for 59.04%, 2,547,033,400 cubic meters are collectives, accounting for 14.93%, and 4,440,442,000 cubic meters, or 26.03%, are individuals. According to the age group, the area of state-owned arbor forests in China was 12,270,200 hectares (16.38%) of young forests, 22,901,800 hectares (30.57%) of middle-aged forests, and 39,745,000 hectares (53.05%) of nearly mature forests. Among the national collective arbor forests, 46,505,200 hectares (44.30%) were young forests, 33,357,400 hectares (31.78%) were middle-aged forests, and 25,108,900 hectares (23.92%) were near-mature forests.

Public welfare forests and commercial forests: The national forest area is 123,623,200 hectares, accounting for 57%. Among the public welfare forests, the area of natural forests is 97,132,200 hectares, with a volume of 10,139,815,100 cubic meters, the area of planted forests is 26,491,000 hectares, and the volume is 1,163,192,600 cubic meters, and the area of commercial forests is 94,597,300 hectares, accounting for 43%. Among the commercial forests, the area of natural forests is 41,545,500 hectares, with a volume of 3,530,781,200 cubic meters, and the area of planted forests is 53,051,800 hectares, with a volume of 2,090,915,200 cubic meters. According to the age group, 31,047,800 hectares (29.37%) were young forests, 32,096,100 hectares (30.36%) were middle-aged forests, and 42,578,400 hectares (40.27%) were near-mature forests. According to the age composition of arbor timber forests, the area of young forests was 24,935,100 hectares, with a volume of 883,195,500 cubic meters, the area of middle-aged forests was 22,263,800 hectares, with a volume of 1,870,858,800 cubic meters, the area of near-mature forests was 10,501,500 hectares, with a volume of 1,201,447,500 cubic meters, the area of mature forests was 7,997,200 hectares, with a volume of 1,087,962,600 cubic meters, and the area of over-mature forests was 233.60 10,000 hectares, with a volume of 371,861,000 cubic meters.

Mangrove and shrub forests: According to the results of the 2001 National Mangrove Resources Survey, the total area of mangrove resources is 82,800 hectares. Among them, the area of mangrove forest is 22,000 hectares, accounting for 26.6% of the total area, the area of mangrove undeveloped forest land is 1,900 hectares, accounting for 2.3%, and the area of suitable forest land is 58,900 hectares, accounting for 71.1%. Of the mangrove area, 93.0% were natural and 7.0% were artificial, 97.5% were state-owned and 2.5% were collective, 63.2% were nature reserves, 36.4% were bank protection forests, and 0.4% were other special forests. The area of shrub forest in China is 73,849,600 hectares, of which 55,153,000 hectares (74.68%) are special shrub forests and 18,696,600 hectares (25.32%) are general shrubs. Among the areas of special shrub forests in China, 16,026,700 hectares (29.06%) are economic special shrub forests, 21,745,900 hectares (39.43%) are distributed in areas with average annual precipitation below 400 mm, 10,139,600 hectares (18.38%) are above the arbor distribution (vertical distribution) line, and 7,240,800 hectares (13.13%) are special shrub forests in tropical and subtropical karst areas and dry and hot (arid) river valleys.

3. Per capita

The per capita forest area of the mainland is 0.16 hectares, less than one-third of the world's per capita forest area, and the per capita forest stock is 12.35 cubic meters, which is only one-sixth of the world's per capita forest stock. There are 14.125 billion moso bamboos in China, 10.25 bamboos per capita, 65.81 tons of bamboo forests per hectare, an average height of 10.1 meters, an average DBH of 9.3 cm, and 2429 trees per hectare, and 189.243 billion trees in the country, with a per capita number of arbor forests 137.35 trees, including 21.172 billion Chinese fir trees, 12.826 billion birch trees, 10.033 billion masson pine trees, 8.083 billion larch trees, 33.054 billion precious tree species, 1052 trees per hectare of arbor forest, 94.83 cubic meters per hectare, 86.22 tons of biomass per hectare of arbor forest, 4.73 cubic meters per hectare of average annual growth, 1052 trees per hectare.

Source: Beijing Key Laboratory of Precision Forestry