Study On Forest Landscape Restoration

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is a process that aims to regain ecological integrity and enhance human well- being in deforested or degraded forest landscapes. It provides a complementary framework to sustainable forest management and the ecosystem approach in landscapes where forest loss has caused a decline in the quality of ecosystem services. It doesn't aim to re-establish pristine forest, even if this were possible; rather, it aims to strengthen the resilience of landscapes and thereby keep future management options open. It also aims to support communities as they strive to increase and sustain the benefits they derive from the management of their land. As a vehicle for delivering on internationally agreed commitments on forests, biodiversity, climate change and desertification, FLR has got broad attention internationally. Taking Lingshui Li Autonomous County and Dagan FLR demonstration area as a case, this paper constructed the system of contents and methods of FLR from the view of regional-level and community-level based on overview of study on FLR theory and techniques. Key techniques in pattern analysis of forest landscape, analysis on driving forces of forest landscape dynamics, degraded and secondary forest characteristics and site-level restoration strategies, and application of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) method were put forward to provide the basis for restoration and sustainable management of degraded and secondary forests.The system of contents and methods of FLR was constructed through field application of FLR in study area. Analyzing stakeholders, building support for FLR, understanding the landscape mosaic and its dynamics, analyzing driving forces, identifying site-level options and priority sites, developing site-level restoration strategies, making FLR plan, and Monitoring and evaluating are the contents and following steps to implement FLR. Stakeholder approach, balancing land-use trade-offs, joint decision-making and conflict management are the methods involved in the contents. The "double filter", public participation and adaptive management are the principles that must be followed in the whole process. These methods, principles and above steps constitute the system of contents and methods of FLR.Three RS data (in 1991, 1999 and 2008) are the source of baseline information in landscape pattern analysis of Lingshui Li Autonomous County. Based on RS information extraction, participatory subcompartment division and survey is the method to obtain the basic community-level data. In view of forest restoration and rehabilitation, system of forest landscape element types was set up, mainly including degraded primary forest, secondary forest, degraded forest land and plantation. In order to provide the basis for identification of priority sites and making FLR plan, landscape pattern and dynamics of study area were analyzed with landscape indices method and Markov model was established to forecast its development tendency.The dominant forces responsible for changes on forest landscape were identified using transition probability matrix and the participatory approach. The results show that forestry policies and key programs are the dominant factors which cause the increase of forest quantity and quality during the period of 1991 to 2008 in Lingshui Li Autonomous County. Reducing rural poverty through development, livelihood development, village greening and farm-shelter, sand excavation, pond culture and tourism development are important factors in the changes on forest landscape in different area of the county. Forest landscape dynamics during 1990 to 2009 in Dagan FLR demonstration area is the joint results caused by several driving forces, such as the basic living allowances, policies of poverty alleviation, prices of forest products and traditional practices.Based on the analysis of characteristics of degraded and secondary forests, the site-level restoration strategies were developed. Degraded primary forest has integrity community structure. Most of valuable trees in the sub-storey I in arbor storey have been used while there are many valuable native trees with better stem form such as Dalbergia odorifera, Hopea exalata,Vatica mangachapoi and Litchi chinensis because of the di-sturbances such as repeated selective cutting. Shrub storey and grass storey in forest stands have rich species and valuable tree saplings and seedlings.The basic rstoration strategy for Degraded primary forest can be persued protection and artifical measures promoting natural regeneration. Compared to degraded primary forest, secondary forest has simple community structure and low diversity, but with valuable native trees and timber species in arbor storey .Protection and enrichment planting are the management strategies for secondary forest. protective "decompression" is the main strategy for collective-owned secondary forest while enrichment planting combined with protection is the suitable strategy for individual-owned secondary forest. Species for enrichment planting should be valuable native trees, such as Dalbergia odorifera, Hopea exalata. The rehabilitation strategy for degraded forest land focuses primarily on tree-planting. Meanwhile, residual tree seedlings should be protected as much as possible. Planting live green fence is one of the effective measures for protection of degraded and secondary forests.The Results of study on the appilication of PRA at the community level show that the most improtant information related to FLR in Dagan village could be got by PRA method and PRA was the effective approch to help community residents and other stakeholders to participate in FLR activities. PRA provided a proactive and effective approach for implementation of FLR and could embodies the public participation of FLR theory.