FORESTRY

closed

The Forestry Project will accelerate afforestation and improve management and exploitation of existing forests on 92 state forest farms in Guangdong, Heilongjiang and Sichuan Provinces. The project will establish about 82,000 ha of forest plantations, introduce forest improvement measures on existing young plantations and natural forests, construct and upgrade about 1,900 km of forest roads and tracks, and expand equipment and vehicle fleets. It will provide for the construction of about l57,000 sq m of buildings and 1,100 km of utility lines and the establishment of wood processing facilities. The project will strengthen forest research facilities in four provinces and establish extension centers in ten provinces. A technical assistance component will provide overseas training opportunities (533 man-months) in logging, forest road construction and forest production, research and extension; and consulting services (34 man-months) in forestry research and extension, and soil science. At full development the project will produce annually about 546,000 cubic meters of roundwood, and 10,000 cubic meters of plywood and other miscellaneous wood products to meet strong internal demand.