Factsheet

Model Forests Around the World: China

The Lin’an Model Forest in Zhejiang Province, China is rich in forest resources and promotes sustainable forest management through extensive collaboration amongst diverse stakeholders. Approximately 83% of the land in Lin’an County is forested, with this land covering 261,900 hectares; the total standing forest stock in the whole region is 18,217,000 m³.

In the late 1980s, Lin’an County’s timber-dependent economy was in decline due to forest loss and degradation. The situation was exacerbated by unsustainable tourism practices, a lack of information on the effects of forest loss for local stakeholders, outdated scientific and technical data, and few alternative economic opportunities for its mostly rural population. To reduce the local economy’s reliance on timber, the Lin’an Model Forest has transformed the local community’s perception and participation in forest utilization through the evaluation of forest ecosystem health in Lin’an, the study of forest ecosystem services, the sustainable management of NTFPs (non-timber forest products), and providing training and consultancy services to farmers and enterprise partners on NTFPs, forest certification, forest carbon, and more.