Resource information
This case study is one of six
evaluations of the implementation of the World Bank's
1991 Forest Strategy. This and the other cases (Brazil,
Cameroon, Costa Rica, India, and Indonesia) complement a
review of the entire set of lending and nonlending
activities of the World Bank Group and the Global
Environment Facility. This OED study finds that while
China's forest program was highly successful, much
remains to be done. Too little is known, for example, about
the distribution of benefits between households and
production and marketing units. The implications of the
recent logging ban require careful analysis. Policy reforms,
particularly for state-owned enterprises, must still be
completed. Data on what is happening in China's forests
is inadequate to support a firm judgment, particularly
regarding the country's natural forests. There is
almost a complete absence of systematic knowledge about the
nation's current stock and future trends of the supply,
demand, marketing, and trade for timber and some key
non-timber products. Finally China has graduated from IDA
funding to IBRD lending, a prospect believed to have serious
consequences for the most innovative aspect of China's
program, a "responsibility system," that ensures a
high level of ownership for the protection of the
country's forests. In addition, recent controversies
regarding the treatment of indigenous peoples in Xizang are
already increasing risks for the Bank's new style
forest sector investments, which have tended to focus on the
poorest mountain populations, many of which include ethnic minorities.
