World Bank loan
Integrated Forestry Development Project
Environmental Impact Assessment Report
World Bank Loan Project Management Center
State Forestry Administration
May 2009
1
Table of contents
1 Introduction
1.1 Project background
1.2 Project origin
1.3 Lessons learnt from previous World Bank loan forestry projects in China
1.4 Project compliance with related policies and regulations
1.5 Environment management assessment and institutes
1.5.1 Assessment content
1.5.2 Assessment Institutes
2 Policy, Laws, and Regulations and Management Framework
2.1 Policy, laws and regulations at national and local levels
2.1.1 Policy, laws and regulations at national level
2.1.2 Policy, laws and regulations at local level
2.2 World Bank policy
2.3 Technical norms of environmental assessment
2.4 Construction project documents
3 Project Description
3.1 Project objective
3.2 Project components
3.2.1 Establishment of new multifunction forest plantations
3.2.2 Improving existing plantation forests
3.2.3 Institutional support, project management and M&E
3.3 Distribution of project areas
4 Natural Environment and Socio-economic Condition of Project Areas
4.1 Natural conditions
4.1.1 Topography
4.1.2 Soil
4.1.3 Climate
4.1.4 Hydrological conditions
4.2 Ecological condition
4.2.1 Vegetation types
4.2.2 Current condition of forest resources
4.2.3 Fauna and flora resources
4.3 Current socio-economic development condition
4.3.1 Socio-economic condition
4.3.2 Land ownership condition
4.3.3 Culture heritage and historical relics
4.3.4 Collectively owned forest contracting and forest land tenure reform
4.4 Current environmental quality related to project objectives
5 Environmental Impact Assessment and Mitigation Measures
5.1 Methods of assessment
5.1.1 Scope and time of assessment
5.1.2 Factors of assessment
5.1.3 Standards of assessment
5.1.4 Category of assessment
5.1.5 Priorities of assessment
5.2 Positive environmental impact analysis
5.2.1 Water retention, soil conservation and improvement
5.2.2 Wind-breaking, sand-fixing forests and land sandification combating
5.2.3 Increment of biodiversity
5.2.4 Carbon sequestration and regulation of climate
5.3 Negative impact and mitigation measures
5.4 Risk analysis and prevention measures
5.4.1 Risk analysis
5.4.2 Risk reduction measures
5.5 Socio-economic impact analysis
5.5.1 Social benefit
5.5.2 Social risks
5.5.3 Mitigation measures
6 Analysis of Alternatives
6.1 The "zero scheme" analysis
6.2 Comparison between IFDP afforestation and other afforestation schemes
6.2.1 Afforestation site selection
6.2.2 Species selection
6.2.3 Afforestation model selection
6.3 Comparison between IFDP existing plantation forest improvement scheme and the traditional scheme
7 Environmental Management Plan
7.1 Specific plans of implementing mitigation measures
7.1.1 Preparation and execution of “Environmental Protection Guidelines”
7.1.2 Preparation and execution of “Integrated Pest Management Plan”
7.2 Environmental monitoring plan
7.2.1 Topics and indicators of monitoring
7.2.2 Monitoring Site selection and distribution
7.2.3 Methods of monitoring
7.2.4 Organization of monitoring execution and reporting
7.3 Training plan
7.3.1 Purpose of training
7.3.2 Topics of training
7.4 Organization and supervision
7.4.1 Organization and implementation
7.4.2 Inspection and supervision
7.5 Fund source and budget
8 Public Consultation and Information Disclosure
8.1 Public survey method and topics
8.1.1 Public consultation survey method
8.1.2 Public consultation survey topics
8.2 Analysis and recommendations of public survey result
8.2.1 Analysis of survey result
8.2.2 Comments and recommendations from the public
8.2.3 Comments and suggestions from experts
8.3 Information disclosure
8.4 Public consultation
9 Conclusions
Annexes:
1. Environmental Protection Guidelines
2. Integrated Pest Management Plan
3. Public Survey Tables and Records
4. List of Organizations and Persons of EIA Report Contributors
1
1 Introduction
1.1 Projectbackground
Maintaining good environmental quality is critical to living conditions as well as economic and social development. Protection and improvement of ecological condition of the natural environment for sustainable development is a national policy of the Chinese government. The overall ecological condition of China is fragile especially with limited amount of forest resources, as indicated in wide-spread serious soil and water erosion, continuousdesertificationexpansions, ,low forest quality, etc.
In January 1999, the State Council of the Chinese Government issued“Nation Ecological Construction Program”dividing the whole country into eight zones based on their distinct ecological types, each with different goals, tasks and construction manners. According to this program, the IFDP has selected 5 provinces from three zones to carry out afforestation and forest improvementbased ecological construction.
As the first selected zone, ShanxiProvinceis locatedat the zone of upper and middle reaches of Yellow River. The main direction of ecological construction isto usebiological and engineered measures in sub-watershed treatment units for soil and water erosion control as well as to expand and restore bushes, trees and grasses for integrated vegetation communities.
As the second selected zone, LiaoningProvinceand HebeiProvinceare located at the project area of the "national three-north shelterbelt protection forest program" where comprehensive measures are being taken to resolve the dust storms and sandification harms. Under IFDP, the main objective of ecological construction is to increase forest and vegetation through establishing farmland protection forest shelterbelt and to control the tendency of desertification expansion at the desert fronts.
As the third selected zone, ZhejiangProvinceand AnhuiProvinceare located at the southern low hilly land areas ofChina, where the main objective of ecological construction is to establish water retention forest to reduce surface runoff and to prevent soil erosion. Meanwhile, the existing plantationwill be protected and improved by enriching the forest structure, improving forest function and maximizing forest comprehensive/integrated benefits.
1.2 Projectorigin
To further develop forest resources, improve forest ecosystem structure, enhance the quality of forest resources, make full use of efficency and multiple functions, and ensure territory ecological safety, State Forestry Administration (SFA) put forward project application in 2003 to NDRC for use of a World Bank loan for“China Forest Plantations Resources Cultivation Project" (SFA official document [2003] No. 91). Since then, a series of investigation and field studies have been carried out in accordance NDRC Provisional Management Methods for International Financial Organization and Foreign Government Loan Investment Projects (NDRC official document [2005] No.28). Based on the findings of these studies, SFA revised its project proposal and renamed the project as "Integrated Forestry Development Project (IFDP)". In 2006, IFDP was incorporated into the World Bank- China 2007-2009project pipeline. Through the series studies and consultation with relevant government agencies, SFA confirmed the IFDP scope to be withinLiaoning, Shanxi, Hebei, Anhui and Zhejiangprovinces.
1.3 Lessonslearnt from previous World Bank loan forestry projects in China
The World Bank has lent China a series loans in support of forestimprovement in China, including "NAP","FRDPP","FDPA" and "SFDP". All forest projects have paid a high attention to environmental management through identification andimplementation of mitigation measure to avoid or minimize potential negative impactsfrom project activities on nature reserves,forest land, natural habitats, and other ecosystems in the project areas. Measures have also been taken to conserve soil and water, reduce soil fertility decline, control pest and diseaseand promote plantation, forest ecosystem stability and sustainable development.
(1) Major environmental measures adopted in previous World Bank forest projects
·Development and execution of “Environmental Protection Guidelines”，which included explicit environmental protection measures regarding sites selection and layout, selection of planting species(varieties) and distribution, site slashing/preparation,young forest tending, pest and disease prevention and control, timber felling and forest regeneration, forest road construction, and other key field operational linkages. These measures have been carried out strictly in project field operation.
·Development and execution of “Pest and Disease ManagementPlan”（FDPA and SFDP）which includes specific stipulations for forest pest/disease prevention and control, monitoring as well as the chemical pesticide safety during project implementation. These management plans advocate physical and biological prevention and control methods, and the use of high-efficiency and low-toxicity for chemical pesticide for pest management.
·For major planting species of project timber forest plantation,cash tree crops, bamboo forest as well as multi-function protection forests, environmental monitoring were conducted on soil and water conservation, soil fertility, pest and disease. A total of 236 environmental monitoring stations were established and observed for five continuous years to reveal the incidence regulations of project afforestation activities related soil and water conservation,soil fertility and project plantation forest pest and disease.
·The projects carried out training of project management and technical staff at all levels as well as project entities and households to promote their environmental protection awareness，understand and learn the proposed technologies and measures stipulated in“Environmental Protection Guidelines” and “Pest and Disease Management Plan” for use in their implementation activities under the projects.
·Use compliance of the “Environmental Protection Guidelines” in field operations to judge the project implementation quality. The “environmental protection compliance rate” is adopted as afforestation sub-compartment acceptance checking indicator, to enhance environmental protection supervision and management.
（2）Environmental management performance of previous World Bank forestry projects
·The project implementation did not lead to negative impacts on local natural forest, nature reserves or wild animalhabitats.
·The improper traditions of sites without careful preparation and“mountain burning”site preparation methods are changed. Alternatively, the project plantation forests are made to coexist with the rationally retained natural arbors, bushes to form forest ecological structures to add plantation forest ecological stability and to maintain plantation forest soil fertility.
·Such environmental protection measures of partial site preparation along contour line and“triangle”form planting hole layout, partial forest tending method, retention of under-forest vegetations were applied in the project afforestation and plantation forest management to reduce soil and water conservation, maintain soil fertility and plantation forest biodiversity.
·To make project plantation forests into multiple-variety, small-scale continuous forests which are more reasonable structure,by altering the traditional practice of unitary superior variety plantation forest in large continuous scales, to have reduced the risks of land degradation and pest and disease incidence of the artificial forest ecosystems.
·The occurred pest and disease of project plantation forests were well managed,with limited pest and disease incidences on individual forest stands effectively controlled, prevented mainly with physical and biological measures, and used chemical pesticides minimized and if necessary, in accordance with applicable WHO requirements.
·The environment monitoring to different types of project plantation forests indicate the following conclusions. In the forest planting year and the followed year, most planting lands will have light soil and water conservation（erosion modulus <2500t/a·km2）as the result of site slashing, site preparation, intercropping, young forest tending; Only overall site preparation method or overall site forest tending method on slope lands are relevant with moderate rate or more serious soil and water erosion （erosion modulus >2500t/a·km2）; The planting lands soil nutrient loss happen simultaneously with soil and water erosion；The new planting lands pest and disease incidence is lowand there are nolarge areaswith pest and disease incidences.
·The project implementation management as well as the technical staff, beneficiaries （including local farmers）gained increased environmental awareness as well as awareness for afforestation and plantation forest management. They have better understanding of necessary environmental protection methods and measures. Taking“FDPA” as the example, 98 person-days of environmental protection training were conducted to different levels of the project provincial management and technical staff，2461person-days to county management and technical staff，12878.6person times to township level management and technical staff, 549800person-days to afforestation entities and households. The training and extension of the environmental protection measures have ensured environmental protection compliance of project implementation, and for forests established locally for managed plantation forests out of the project.
·For the first time the projects adopted for plantation afforestation and management in china the “environmental protection compliance rate”as a quality control indicator. For the past four World Bank loan forestry projects implementation, the “environmental protection compliance rate”reached on average 95.0%，indicating satisfactory execution of“Environmental Protection Guidelines”in project field operations.
（3）Comparison between “IFDP”and previous World Bank loan forestry projects in China
Category / IFDP / Former WB forestry projectsproject target / Establishment of multifunction forest plantations,for dual environmental protection and economic benefits. / Establishment of intensive managed plantation forest mainly for economic benefit, but meanwhile for ecological improvement
Forest type / Ecological economic tree crops ,ecological protection forest / Timber forest plantation,economic tree crops ,bamboo forest etc
Sites selection / ecologically fragile wastelands and degraded lands / Better site condition areas suitable for development of commercial forest
Afforestation model / Multiple planting species mixed forest, multi-layer forest / single species forest, single-layer forest
Existing plantation forests improvement model / To upgrade existing single species forest into multiple species mixed forest and multi-layer forest / To transfer low quality, single species forest into healthy, high production single species forest
The above comparison shows that "IFDP" pays higher attention to the ecological or environmental protection role of the new established forestplantations and improved existing plantation forests. Therefore, more strict and careful environmental management measures need to the taken in the project area layout, sites selection for forest planting or forest improvement as well as the specific field operations in order to guarantee the realization of project objectives.
( 4 )Need for improvement in environmental management in "IFDP"
By fully learning the environmental management lessons and practices of previous forestry projects,the following aspects will be strengthened for better performance of environmental management based on the characteristics of IFDP:
·Selection standards will be made clear to project area and planting sites. It is suggested that priority will be given to ecological fragile areas and areas of urgent needs of soil and water conservation, wind-breaking and sand-fixing as well as farmland protection.
·Clearification of project selection standards of the existing plantation forest improvement. The priority will be given to plantation forests with declined ecological function, and forest stands with inferior health conditions, low increment, and low biodiversity.
·Selection standards of slope lands will be strict. The project will not allow afforestation on slopes over 35 degrees. At the same time, sites selection of new established forest plantation or improvement existing plantation forest will be done with priority scheme by considering the ecological protection role and effectiveness.
·Clearification of mixed afforestation with more strict requirements on ecological benefit facilitation. For example, the maximum plot area of single planting species will be much lower than that in previous afforestation projects.
·More strict, more extensive application of partial site preparation method and partial forest tending method. The original vegetations are as far as possible retained on planting lands,and the removed weeds are be retained on site.
·Intercropping activities in new afforestation siteswill be controlled,by putting forward clearly the types of lands for intercropping crop to prevent irrational intercropping leading to soil and water erosion.
·More strict to selective cutting adopted and no clear cutting, to protect biodiversity and the protection function of the ecosystem of plantation forests.
Besides, IFDP will maintain the effective training program as done to personnel of different levels in previous World Bank projects, keep the practice of using environmental protection compliance rate for acceptance checking, environmental monitoring etc. to ensure the realization of the project environmental management targets.
1.4 Project compliance with related policies and regulations
The project has been designed to establish wind-breaking, sand-fixing forest at sand/wind-prone areas of Hebei,Liaoning; to establish soil and water conservation forest at soil and water erosion areas of Shanxi,Liaoning and Anhui; to establish farmland protection forest at plain cropping areas of Hebei,Shanxi; to establish ecological landscape forest at culture heritage surrounding areas of Anhui; and to improvethe low quality/benefitforests in Anhui,Zhejiang. The main purpose of the project is to improve forest function and enhance its ability to resist natural disasters,provide full forest multiple benefits especially the ecological benefit, protect and improve ecological condition, ensure regional territory ecological security, promote grain high steady production, and raise local people’sincome. These targets are in full compliance with “Decision by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council onQuickening Forestry Development”, “National Ecological Construction Program”, “Outline of the 11th 5-Year National Economy and Social Development Plan”, “Forestry Development and the 11th 5-Year Mid and Long Term Plan”, and are consistent with the national policies of ecological construction.
1.5 Environment management assessment and institutes
1.5.1 Assessment content
This environmental assessment includes identification and assessment of environmental benefit or positive impacts, adverse impacts, risk analysis, mitigation measures, analysis of alternative, environmental management plan, and public consultation.
1.5.2 Assessment Institutes
The following institutions were involved in preparation of subproject EIAs.
1. Liaoning: LiaoningInvestigation and Design Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower
Foreign Investment Project Office of Liaoning Provincial Forestry Department
2. Shanxi: EIACenter of Research Institute of Forest Ecology and Environment and Protection of ChineseAcademy of Forestry