The Prospect Of Follow-up Industry In The Project Of Returning Farmland To Forest In Hilly Area Of Fushun County, Sichuan Province

The project of conceding the land to forestry is a key ecological engineering in China, which is potential to use the land resources rationally, to increase the vegetation coverage, to rebuild a beautiful country, to safegard the nation’s ecological security, and to achieve the harmonious development of human and nature. This engineering, after a pilot exploration and comprehensive implementation, has now entered an important stage of consolidating achievement. How to consolidate and develop the hard-won achievement on the ecological construction is of great importance to construct the ecological barrier of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and promote the sustainable economic and social development in Sichuan Province. The practice has shown that the development of follow-up industry is the key element to consolidate the achievement obtained in the project of conceding the land to forestry.The present paper was based on a typical investigation and comprehensive analysis on the structure of the follow-up industry of the project of conceding the land to forestry in Fushun County, which is located in the southern hilly area of Sichuan. And by referring to the data on forest resources, water conservancy, agriculture and territorial resources of Fushun County, the climate, terrain, soil, water resources and vegetation were stated in detail, additionally, the type, scale and benefit of the follow-up industry in this county were analysed as well. Furthermore, some suggestions and comments were put forward with a focus on the further development of the follow-up industry of the project of conceding the land to forestry in this county. Main conclusions were as follows:(1) The follow-up industry of the project of conceding the land to forestry in Fushun County includes bamboo industry, short-term industrial forest industry, pepper (Zanthoxylum bungeanum) industry, orange(Citrus sinensis) industry and understory livestock breeding industry.(2) The short-term industrial forest industry led by flooded gum (Eucalyptus grandis) and poplar (Populus spp.) expanded to111hm2in the development of the follow-up industry in Fushun. At the same time, about2092hm2of the featured economic fruit bearing forest led by pepper and orange was developed,1966hm2of shoddy economic fruit bearing forest was improved,4124hm2of bamboo grove was loosened, fertilised and irrigated, and8.8hm2of livestock breeding industry was developed by farmers that has conceded their land to forestry.(3) Harmonious development of economic, ecological and social benefits has been achieved during the development of the follow-up industry in Fushun. By implementing this project, farmers’forestry income per capita increased by1.78times, and an increase of56%was surveyed in the total income per capita. The increase of the income of the farmers who has conceded their land to forestry reached approximate0.127billion yuan, resulting in a more positive emotion of farmers in participating in the ecological construction. On the other hand, forest coverage increased by10%, indicating a marked progress in the ecological construction.(4) In combination with the trend of economic and social development, some problems that remain to be dissolved were pointed out in present study based on the analysis on the status of the follow-up industry in Fushun, and some strategies aimming to dissolve these problems were put forward as follows.First of all, the structure of the follow-up industry of the project of conceding the land to forestry should be optimized, and the type of managed forest products should be enriched. Second, professional talents or cooperative associations were recommended to provide technical directions and counseling. Additionally, the construction of road and traffic, as well as the facility of irrigation, water storage and drainage, should be perfected. Also, it’s better to develop and expand featured economic forest with an emphasis on pepper and orange in suitable regions, and the quality should be paid more attention. The added value is likely to increase, and it is good for the establishment of a brand by carrying out this measure. Finally, Fushun County possesses rich tourism resources, which should be utilized fully. Hot ecotourism spots will form by building a brand of forest ecotourism, and a big tourism market will be explored and a good tourism environment will be constructed by paying more attention to propaganda and promotion.