Trees felled at forest farm to plant fruit

Central government report uncovers illegal logging and misuse of funds

A probe conducted by the central government has shown that trees were cut down at a forest farm in order to plant fruit in Dunhuang, Gansu province, and the local government is being required to rectify the problem.

In January, Economic Information Daily newspaper conducted on-the-spot interviews and reported that the forest in Dunhuang city’s Yangguan Forest Farm had shrunk by more than half as it expanded its pillar industry of vineyards. Dunhuang is famous for its Mogao Grottoes and collections of Buddhist art.

The forest, on the edge of the Kumtag Desert, played a significant role in preventing sandstorms, conserving water and soil, and safeguarding agriculture.

However, an initial probe conducted by the local government later drew the conclusion that there had been no sharp decrease in the forest area.

That triggered further media reports and public attention, prompting the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration to launch a joint probe.

On Friday, the joint investigation team released a report, saying various problems do exist in the farm’s forest management, such as a drop in forest area, illegal logging and misuse of funds. Rectification plans have been made by the Gansu provincial government, the report said.

The Yangguan Forest Farm was established in 1963. Since the 1970s, the farm has explored new management models to support the afforestation work by introducing grapes that make higher profits, said the report.

In the past 30 years, the forest area of the farm has dropped by 256 hectares, while the area of vineyards and other fruit trees has increased by 236 hectares, according to the report.

Of those, however, only 26.6 hectares of vineyards and 11.1 hectares of Chinese dates were illegally planted by a local alcohol company between 2013 and 2014, it said.

The investigation confirmed that the farm has actually been planting trees in the past few decades beside its northeast region — an area that does not actually belong to the farm.

Surveys show that the farm had planted 242 hectares of shrubs in that region between 2009 and 2018, which supports the previous local government claim that there is no obvious decrease in the forests in that overall area.

Moreover, there has been illegal use of forest land covering 6.65 hectares for the construction of roads, and an on-site investigation identified seven places along the road on the farm where trees that had been planted to fend off desertification had been illegally logged.

In addition, the forest in several parts of the farm were severely threatened by drought, which resulted from the construction of dams and pools nearby, according to the report.

It revealed that a lack of water has led to the death of 13.3 hectares of trees, and another 60 hectares of poplars are in danger due to the drought.

Several other problems were also found in the investigation, including embezzlement of government subsidies, and illegal use of forest land through contracting with local companies for profit, said the report.

An inspection team has been organized to investigate any possible negligence or dereliction of duty, said the report.