Study site description: Yan River Basin, China

Table of Contents

1. Responsible partner
2. General information
3. Bio-physical description
   1. Major natural resources available in the study site area
   2. Use of land resources
   3. Use of water resources
   4. Uses of forest resources
   5. Strengths of existing land use practices
   6. Weaknesses of existing land use practices
   7. Major degradation issues due to the use of natural resources
4. Socio-economic description
5. Institutional and political setting
6. Relevant end-users / stakeholder groups

Uses of forest resources

Most of the forest resources are ecological use in the Yanhe River Basin. Forests occupy 66,242 ha, accounting for 8.63% of the area. The areas of planted arbour forest, shrub and cash trees are 119,864, 90,874 and 40,915 ha respectively, accounting for 15.61%, 11.84% and 5.33% of the area respectively.

The forest is found in the southern part of the basin with thin topsoil. The species of secondary forest are Sophora and Chinese pine. Locally, the forest is located in valleys, with more soil moisture. After the "Grain for Green Policy", more and more forest were planted on steep slopes.

Some other policies to protect forests, such as the Natural Forest Protection Project, have also played a great role in the sustainable forest development.