Forestry Law of the People's Republic of China

Forestry Law of the People's Republic of China - 1985

Order of president [1984] No.17

September 20, 1984

(Adopted at the Seventh Session of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on September 20, 1984 and promulgated by the Order of the President of the People's Republic of China [1984] No.17 with effect as of January 1, 1985)

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 For the purposes of protecting, cultivating and rationally utilizing forest resources, speeding up afforestation of the country's land, bringing the forests' role into play in conserving water and soil, reconditioning the climate, improving the environment and providing forest products, and meeting the needs of socialist construction and the people's life, this Law is hereby enacted.

Article 2 Any activity in the felling and utilization, cultivation and planting as well as management and administration of forests in the territory of the People's Republic of China must be in conformity to this Law.

Article 3 Forest resources shall be owned by the whole people with the exception of those owned by collectives according to law.
Local people's governments at or above the county level shall put into official lists the forests, trees and forest land owned by the whole people and by collectives as well as the trees owned and forest land used by individuals, and shall issue certificates to confirm the ownership or right of use thereof.
The legitimate rights and interests of the owners and users of forests, trees and forest land shall be protected by the law, and may not be infringed upon by any unit or person.

Article 4 Forests are classified into the following five categories:
1. Protective forests: forests, trees and bushes that mainly serve the purpose of protection, including those for water sources conservation, for the control of soil erosion, for windbreaks and sand-fixation, for farmland and pasture land protection, and for embankment protection and road protection.
2. Timber forests: forests and trees that are mainly used for producing timber, including bamboo forests that are mainly used for producing bamboo products.
3. Economic forests: forest trees that are mainly used for producing fruits, edible oils, beverages, condiments, industrial raw materials and medicinal materials.
4. Firewood forests: forest trees that are mainly used for producing fire woods.
5. Forests of special uses: forests and trees that are mainly used for such purposes as national defense, environmental protection and scientific experiments, including forests for national defense, forests for the purpose of experiments, seed forests, environmental protection forests, scenery forests, and forest trees at scenic spots, sites of historical value and places with historic significance in the Chinese revolution and forests in nature reserves.

Article 5 The guiding principles of forestry development shall be: a comprehensive protection of forests, a vigorous afforestation, a co-ordination between felling and cultivation and a sustained utilization of forest resources on the basis of forest management.
The State shall encourage scientific research and raise the level of science and technology in the sphere of forestry.

Article 6 The State shall put into effect the following protective measures for forest resources:
1. imposing quota control on tree felling, and encouraging tree-planting and closure of mountains and hills to facilitate afforestation in order to enlarge the area of forest acreage.
2. providing financial assistance or long-term loans to collectives and individuals engaging in tree planting and forest cultivation under the relevant regulations of the State and local people's governments.
3. collecting forest culture fees and using them exclusively for tree planting and forest cultivation.
4. collecting a certain amount of funds from such departments as coal and paper manufacturing industries according to the output of coal, wood pulp and paper for the exclusive use of cultivating timber forests that will be used for pit wood and paper-making.
5. setting up a forestry funding system.

Article 7 Pursuant to the regulations of the State on the power of autonomy for national autonomous areas, the State and people's governments of provinces and autonomous regions shall grant autonomous areas of minority nationalities a greater decision-making power and more economic benefits than other ordinary areas in terms of the forestry development, timber distribution and use of the forest fund for their production and construction in the sphere of forestry.

Article 8 The competent department of the State Council for forestry shall be in charge of the work in connection with forestry throughout the country. The competent departments for forestry of the people's governments at or above the county level shall be responsible for the work in connection with forestry in their respective areas. The people's governments at the township level shall have full-time or part-time persons for the forestry work.

Article 9 Planting trees and protecting forests are the bounded duty of citizens.
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