Q&A with Xu Bin, Project Director, Chinese Academy of Forestry

For more than two decades, the Rainforest Alliance has been calling attention to the negative impacts of illegal logging and irresponsible forest management. Our efforts have not been in vain. Recently, a number of national and international policy changes (e.g. the United States' Lacey Act amendment) advocating legal timber sourcing and legality verification have begun to alter the landscape of the forestry sector. In light of these developments, the Rainforest Alliance, the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) China organized* a conference -- Forests, Markets, Policy and Practices -- to examine trends in legal and certified forests and markets in China, the world's largest furniture exporter and plywood producer, and the largest market for hardwood lumber. We spoke with Xu Bin, project director of the Chinese Academy of Forestry, to get his thoughts on China's booming forestry sector -- and efforts to green it.

How important is China's forestry industry in a global context

In the past decade, China has experienced an incredible economic boom. Today, it's one of the world's largest importers and exporters of wood and wood products, in part due to increasing global demand for low-cost wood products. Unfortunately, much of this imported wood comes from challenging locations (where it's difficult to determine legality) such as Indonesia, Russia, the Congo and Papua New Guinea.

Determining the environmental and economic impacts of China's giant footprint on wood resources is complex. Demand for wood and wood pulp puts a great deal of pressure on vulnerable forest resources in the Asia-Pacific region and elsewhere, but it also offers enormous opportunities for large-scale sustainability endeavors. For example, China is now the world's largest importer and recycler of wastepaper, and in four years' time it prevented some 65 million metric tons of used paper from being dumped in western landfills.

What do you hope comes out of the collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Forestry, WWF China and the Rainforest Alliance?

I hope that together we're able to raise awareness of forest certification as a tool to conserve China's forests and increase the FSC's credibility in China. We'd also like to influence government policy and build capacity in responsible forest management.

How has poor forest management adversely affected communities in China?

China has a history of poor forest management and over-harvesting, and today communities are struggling to earn sufficient income from their degraded forests. In Northeast China, many people have lost their forest-based jobs -- and they're having a very tough time finding new employment in the region.

Recently, however, the Chinese government has invested a great deal of money in the conservation of forest resources. Slowly, the situation is improving.

How does training foresters in responsible management benefit these communities?

It helps communities to improve the way that they work their land; helps them earn sustainable incomes from the forest; connects forest managers with markets for responsibly harvested wood; ensures that indigenous and community rights are respected; and protects worker health and safety.

Is there a push for local legislation prohibiting the harvesting of -- or trade in -- illegal wood?

In China, the government has strict domestic legislation and governance regarding wood harvesting and transportation. At this point, however, there is no real evidence that such legislation will be issued related to the illegal wood trade or wood from challenging origins.

The State Forestry Administration has developed some voluntary standards and guidelines to help Chinese companies manage their forests abroad in a responsible way. And, in collaboration with other countries, the Chinese government is working to establish a system for verifying the legality of wood and wood products.

What changes do you hope to see, in the local and global forestry sector, in the next ten years?

I'd like to see an end to illegal logging and trade, and the strict protection of high conservation value forests. In addition, I hope that local communities and forest managers will be benefiting from the responsible management of their forests, and that forest conservation will have played an important role in curbing climate change.

*The conference was sponsored by the International Forestry Cooperation Center of Chinese State Forestry Administration and the Nature Conservancy, co-sponsored by the US Agency for International Development and the Responsible Asia Forestry and Trade Program, and co-organized by the Research Institute of Forestry Policy and Information of CAF, China Wood International INC.