Circular of the State Council on Protecting Forest Resources and Stopping Deforestation, Reclamation and Indiscriminate Occupation of Forest Land

Circular of the State Council on Protecting Forest Resources and Stopping Deforestation, Reclamation and Indiscriminate Occupation of Forest Land

(August 5, 1998, Guo Fang Fa Dian [1998] No.8)

The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and all ministries and commissions of the State Council, and all agencies directly under the State Council:

There is a serious shortage of forest resources on the mainland. Strengthening the protection and management of forest resources and speeding up the cultivation of reserve forest resources is an important and urgent task for governments at all levels, and it is also a long-term strategic task. However, in recent years, some localities have destroyed forests for reclamation or indiscriminately occupied and abused forest land for development zones, real estate, and other engineering construction projects in various names, and have broken up forest land into parts, occupied more with less approval, and occupied without approval, and occupied without making up for it, resulting in a large loss of forest land and serious damage to forest resources. If this momentum is not curbed, some localities will fall into a vicious circle of becoming poorer and poorer, and some will fundamentally lose the possibility of regenerating forest resources, and some will even lose their basic living conditions due to the destruction of forest vegetation and the deterioration of the ecological environment. Stern measures must be taken to resolutely stop deforestation and reclamation and indiscriminate occupation of forest land, and to rescue and protect forest resources. To this end, the following is hereby notified:

First, it is necessary to grasp the protection and cultivation of forest resources as an important task for improving the ecological environment, and governments at all levels must fully understand that the protection and development of forest resources has a bearing on the sustainable development of the economy and society, on the improvement of the people's living standards, and on the survival and reproduction of future generations. In the process of developing the economy, all localities must correctly handle the relationship between the protection and development and utilization of forest resources, and the relationship between short-term and long-term benefits; they must not exchange short-term economic growth for the cost of destroying forest resources and sacrificing the ecological environment, and they must not do things that are eager for quick success and quick profits that damage the overall situation and delay the future. It is necessary to regard vigorously afforestation, protection of forest resources, speeding up the greening of the national territory, and improvement of the ecological environment as a major matter that has a bearing on the overall situation that we have always adhered to in the initial stage of socialism, attach great importance to it, unswervingly adhere to it, persist in it for a long time, and do a good job in earnest.

2. Immediately stop all deforestation and reclamation activities carried out on arbor forest land, shrub forest land, sparse forest land, bamboo forest land, uncultivated afforestation land, felling land, burned land, nursery land, and other suitable forest land planned by the state, regardless of the name or method, and regardless of the level of approval of the local government or department, must be immediately stopped from the date of issuance of this circular. Where it has already been approved but has not yet been implemented, it is not allowed to be implemented. Anyone who continues to deforestation and reclamation despite orders and prohibitions must be strictly investigated and dealt with according to law as soon as they are discovered, and the leaders and personnel concerned should be held accountable.

3. Local governments at all levels and relevant departments should conscientiously implement the "Forest Law of the People's Republic of China" (hereinafter referred to as the "Forest Law") in accordance with the spirit of this Circular, and in accordance with the spirit of this Circular, the Circular of the General Office of the State Council on Strengthening the Protection and Management of Forest Resources (Guo Ban Fa [1994] No. 64) issued by the General Office of the State Council in 1994 Since its issuance, the documents issued by various localities that are contrary to the prohibition of deforestation and reclamation have been thoroughly cleaned up, and those that should be abolished should be abolished immediately, and those that should be revised should be seriously revised, and some units and individuals will never be allowed to carry out deforestation and reclamation under the banner of "legality."

Local governments at all levels should organize special forces to carry out a thorough inventory of the deforestation and reclamation that has taken place. It is necessary to find out the time and area of deforestation and reclamation, the losses caused by it, and the units that approved it, and so on, and the focus should be on identifying the responsible persons and dealing with them accordingly. The competent forestry departments at higher levels should conduct spot checks on the inventory work in various localities, and have the right to directly investigate and deal with those who are not effective, and are absolutely not allowed to go through the motions. The inventory situation and the results of the treatment should be summarized step by step, and reported to the State Forestry Administration by the forestry administrative departments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government before the end of 1998, and shall not be concealed, omitted or delayed.

Fourth, to do a good job in the work of returning farmland to forests, all localities should, on the basis of an inventory and in accordance with the principle that whoever approves the land is responsible and whoever destroys it is responsible for restoration, and all the forest land that has been deforested and reclaimed should be returned to forest within a time limit. It is necessary to draw up a plan for returning forests to counties, implement afforestation funds, limit the time for returning forests, and ensure the quality of reforestation. For those who refuse to return forests or do not comply with the relevant provisions of the state, the competent forestry departments at the county level shall organize the restoration of forests on their behalf, and the required expenses shall be borne by the deforestation and reclamation personnel.

The work of returning farmland to forests should be completed by the end of 2000. The competent departments of forestry of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall report the plan for returning local farmland to forests to the State Forestry Administration for the record before the end of this year.

5. Severely crack down on the illegal and criminal acts of deforestation and reclamation in accordance with the law, and governments at all levels should intensify law enforcement in connection with the work of taking stock of forests, and resolutely put a stop to the unhealthy trend of deforestation and reclamation and indiscriminate occupation of forest land. Local forestry authorities shall, in conjunction with public security, administrative supervision and other departments, carry out special crackdown activities. If the amount of deforestation and reclamation is huge and the circumstances are serious, and the circumstances constitute a crime, the criminal responsibility of the personnel concerned should be investigated according to law; the staff members of the forestry departments and the relevant personnel of other state organs engaged in the protection of forest resources and forestry supervision and management should be severely dealt with in this regard for abusing their powers, dereliction of duty, and twisting the law for personal gain, and they must not be tolerated or accommodated. All localities should select a number of typical major and important cases and expose them publicly, so as to deter crime and educate the masses.

6. Strictly Implement Control over the Use of Forest LandIn order to curb deforestation, reclamation, and other illegal changes in the use of forest land, all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government should implement a total control system for existing forest land, and forest land can only be increased, not reduced. From the date of issuance of this notice, the forest land requisitioned for each construction project shall be frozen for one year. If it is really necessary to requisition forest land, it must be reported to the State Council for approval. Those who occupy forest land without approval, or use it without approval, should be held accountable for the responsibility of those directly responsible and those who bear leadership responsibility, and they should be seriously investigated and dealt with.

In order to maintain the legal status of forest tenure certificates, the state-owned forest land occupied by collectives or individuals must be returned to the state in accordance with the law. Where there is a dispute over the ownership of trees or forest land, neither party shall cut down the forest or occupy the forest land until the dispute is resolved. The State Forestry Administration shall, on the basis of full investigation and study, formulate specific measures for further strengthening the protection and management of forest land, and report them to the State Council for approval before implementation.

7. Strengthen the organization and leadership of forest land protection work, local governments at all levels should put forest land in the same important position as cultivated land, attach great importance to forest land protection work, and put the prevention of deforestation and reclamation and the protection of forest land on the important agenda of the government. It is necessary to take the protection of forest land as an important part of the responsibility system for the protection and cultivation of forest resources, and include it in the performance appraisal of leading cadres, strictly reward and punish, and ensure that responsibilities are in place. Local governments at all levels should take a resolute attitude toward stopping the work of deforestation and reclamation, meticulously organize, dissect typical examples, analyze the causes, conscientiously study policy issues in the work of returning farmland to forests, strengthen supervision and inspection, and do a good job in organizing and coordinating the work. A small number of local governments that violate regulations and cause deforestation and reclamation should take the lead in returning farmland to forests.

All localities should intensify the propaganda and education of the "Forest Law," strengthen the management of forests according to law, ensure that cadres and the masses at all levels know and abide by the law, further enhance the awareness of the ecological environment of the whole people and the whole society, and enhance their consciousness of protecting forest resources. It is necessary to strengthen the forestry administration and law enforcement system and the construction of the team, and strictly enforce the law.

The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government should report to the State Council before the end of this year on the implementation of this circular. The State Forestry Administration, in conjunction with relevant departments, shall organize forces to supervise and inspect the implementation of this circular.