Development process of forest resources utilization and management system of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in China

The use forest resources in Xinjiang began in full scale in the 1950s. It was found that intensive or excessive felling beyond the regeneration ability of forests had been conducted because adequate means of transportation and legal regulations for forest management and conservation had not been established in those days. It was also found that an increasing extent of cutover land had changed to open forests or grassland because this land had been left untouched until recent years. This has led to an in crease in grazing cattle entering forests, causing considerable damage tb young trees in forestation areas. Also, it was verified by examining stumps that it would be impossible to secure succeeding trees by the current selective cutting method due to the poor natural regeneration in stands for cutting, and that the existing open forests were created by intensive felling in the past. The browsing rate caused by grazing cattle to subsidized afforestation trees reached 66%, but there was a tendency for this percentage to decrease remarkably for trees with heights of 100cm or more. At the same time, the number the grazing cattle in forested areas has increased dramatically since the 1960s. This number has been found to be more than twice the proper carrying capacity for grasslands, and forest resources have been seriously affected by this over-grazing. Based on the above results, it was thought that implementing group selective cutting would be appropriate as a future method of management, with the condition that subsidized afforestation be conducted to suit the stand structures and changes in forest types. It would also be necessary to develop a gove rnment-level land use plan taking into account the traditional land (grassland) use of nomads, examine the management system of district forestry offices from a long-term perspective and secure a financial base for the region