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Cover photo: Hualong District ©Javelinor

Poplars and willows, sustaining livelihoods in urban and peri-urban forests in China

Dongmei He, Xin Wan, Baosong Wang, Xianchong Wan and Meng-Zhu Lu

Chinese Poplar Commission of the International Poplar Commission

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Rome, 2018

Poplars and willows in the global context

Poplars and willows cover more than 100 million hectares globally, of which about 9 million hectares are planted in China. They are among the fastest-growing trees in temperate regions and have become significant resources in agriculture and forestry, ideally suited for supporting rural livelihoods, enhancing food security, alleviating poverty and contributing to sustainable development. They provide raw materials for industrial processing, including pulp, paper, engineered wood products, plywood, veneer and other boards, sawn timber, packing crates, pallets and furniture. They are also increasingly used in production of bioenergy and valuable non-wood forest products such as livestock fodder, medicinal extracts and food products. In addition, poplars and willows are highly valued for the provision of social and environmental services including shelter, shade and protection of soil, water, crops, livestock and dwellings, which makes them suitable for planting in agroforestry systems and in urban and peri-urban settings.

The purpose of the present work is to demonstrate, especially to decision-makers in government, municipalities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the many production and protection services of poplars and willows and their important role in improving people’s livelihoods in urban and peri-urban areas and neighbouring agricultural lands, in a country as densely populated as China.

With almost 1.5 billion inhabitants, China is the most populated country in the world, and it is also the country with the fastest urbanization rate worldwide. In 2016, 57 percent of its population already lived in cities; the urban population is expected to add 292 million more inhabitants by 2050. Although the country has been enjoying remarkable benefits from urban development, air pollution, heat island effects and other environmental problems are increasingly affecting Chinese cities, putting at serious risk the well-being of their inhabitants. Chinese cities are often located on plains along rivers, where industries, urban settlements, agriculture and forest plantations have replaced natural vegetation as a result of heavy population pressure and intensive land use.

Fortunately, in recent decades, more and more cities have been moving towards greener models of urban development, based on the evidence that forests and trees that are well integrated and managed in urban and peri-urban landscapes improve the liveability, safety and resilience of the urban environment through the provision of important ecosystem goods and services. The Chinese Government has been investing in urban forestry for several decades and has developed medium- and long-term plans for urban forestry to increase the liveability of its cities and improve the well-being of urban dwellers.

In China, the history of urban forestry stretches back over centuries and is closely linked to poplars and willows. Already in the thirteenth century, China’s green cities deeply impressed Marco Polo. Many Chinese cities are still protected by century-old trees. Cities such as in Province, Jinan in Shandong Province, Liuzhou in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Xining in Qinghai Province have a long history of growing willows, which for this reason are also called “city trees”. The techniques, or art, of growing poplar and willow seedlings are reported in the Book of songs, the earliest anthology of poetry in China (sixth century BCE). Songs such as “Willow catkin flying like snow along the Ba river” from Xi’an, Shanxi Province, “Orioles singing in the willows” from the West Lake of Hangzhou and “The pink peaches and green willows set each other off” from the Slender West Lake of Yangzhou illustrate how the landscape has been shaped by the presence of poplars and willows, and such landscapes, so well modelled by human intervention, still attract large numbers of visitors.

After the Second World War, urban and peri-urban forestry re-emerged as a priority. It was strongly implemented in the 1970s following heavy industrialization, as part of government efforts to make big cities more environmentally sustainable.

More recently, a number of initiatives have encouraged establishment of plantations in urban and peri- urban areas, starting with the launch in 2004 of the national forest city programme, intended to improve the

1 liveability of China’s cities through the protection, planting and sound management of urban trees and forests. The outcomes of that initiative were measured in terms of residents’ happiness index1, which increased in response to the increased availability of urban and peri-urban parks and improved overall living environment. The initiative also helped raise people’s awareness of the functions and roles of urban forests and brought positive outcomes in economic terms, thanks to the revenues generated by the multiple uses of poplars and willows.

Utility of poplars and willows as urban forestry species

In many parts of the country, especially in temperate and subtropical areas, Populus and Salix species have been among the main species used for urban and peri-urban forestry because of their adaptability, fast growth rates, ease of reproduction and planting and high economic value. Species and cultivars planted in China include Populus tomentosa, P. deltoides, P. x euramericana, Salix babylonica, S. matudana, S. matudana f. umbraculifera, S. integra, S. suchowensis, S. x aureo-pendula cv. ‘J1010’, S. jiangsuensis ‘J172’ and S. jiangsuensis ‘J795’.

Poplars and willows can be used in intensive plantations, in agroforestry and in urban and peri-urban forests, having different roles in different contexts. As all plants do, they capture carbon dioxide and release oxygen, but they do so particularly efficiently, as they grow fast and quickly transform carbon into wood. In towns and cities, they are planted in parks and along roads and help to reduce air temperatures by providing shade and increasing the humidity of the air. They act as filters for air pollutants and are frequently planted for bioremediation of polluted lands.

Poplars planted in forest belts around cities (Beijing, for example) provide protection from sandstorms. They are among the main tree species used for shelterbelts in farmland and on riverbanks and are also planted to establish urban forest corridors in northern China. In peri-urban agroforestry they are used to protect sandy soils from erosion and to reduce crop evapotranspiration when planted in windbreaks. Willows are mainly used to restore riparian, beach and wetland landscapes.

Poplars and willows also play an important role in forestry and agroforestry systems and in the production of wood products such as plywood, fibreboard, particleboard, paper, matches, wicker and other products that greatly contribute to the economy of the country. The manufacturing and processing of these products has ensured livelihoods and well-being for people living in and around cities. Indeed, the annual income generated by poplars and willows can be very high. For example, the overall value generated by the poplar wood processing industries of Jiangsu Province has been estimated at over USD 160 billion, and these industries provide employment to about 500 000 people.

All-around benefits of urban and peri-urban forestry

Sound management of trees and forests in urban and peri-urban areas – i.e. urban and peri-urban forestry – can help ensure and increase the availability of food and energy sources through food, fodder and woodfuel production. In arid areas, tree systems planted along city boundaries can prevent soil erosion and sandstorms. Along streets and squares, trees can ameliorate air quality and thermal comfort. Trees increase soil permeability and consequently decrease the impact of heavy rainfall. By protecting watersheds supplying cities, they ensure the availability of quality water to dwellers. When integrated in peri-urban agricultural lands, trees can sustainably enhance overall productivity and increase farmers’ income. Trees in and around urban areas also provide dwellers with quality open space, create job opportunities and income, contribute to energy savings as well as to maintaining the local cultural identity.

1 Measured through surveys of residents’ perceptions of richness, personal development and achievement, physical and mental health, confidence, and social and familial cohesion.

2 Exemplary cases

Siyang Jiangsu Province

Puyang City Henan Province

Changchun City Jilin Province

3 120° 135° 150° 165° 180° 165° 150° 135° Anchorage ECMC SC CMMSS 60° USS UE SES S HE PCC E E Ber i n g S e a MEC Sea of Okhotsk Moscow ds Astana Sakhalin Islan Aleutian HS Ulaanbaatar . Is l ri km 2008 Jun 12 04:45:24 OMC - Martin Weinelt u E Caspian K 45 45 ° ° Sea Almaty Vladivostok Black Sea U EJ E Hokkaido Istanbul T'bilisi S Tashkent Sapporo Baku Bishkek S Yerevan UME Ankara S JS Honshu Ashgabat UE M Dushanbe E - Jammu JP Tehran S and N O R TH PACI F I C O CEAN Mediterranean - ashmir u SMC EPUC H Kabul nd Sea a - d u a m h b EP h p P - t a a im 30° e h 30° r S m K s - T HU i la an Is G P New Delhi H ulf Karachi awa Gu iian R lf of Is e Oman ESH Dhaka la d nd S s e orthern a MM Mariana Mumbai Hyderabad Naypyitaw slands Saipan 15 15 ° 18 UNITED NATIONS August 2014 3974 Rev. Map No. of Field Support Cartographic Section Department ° Bay of Bangkok Hagåtña ESCAP HQ uam Arabian Sea Bengal 4 MSH nh Pe SS Colombo m Koror Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte Phno Palikir S PU Majuro MES Northern Line Male Celebes EEE SES Kuala Lumpur MS Islands S Sea MCES u Tarawa m Gilbert Is. Equator 0° Members: a SPE 0° te Sulawesi UU Afghanistan r Yaren Nauru a PPU Phoenix Is. Southern Line Armenia E S Nepal EW UE SM Islands Australia Netherlands Jakarta SS UU Surabaya rench Marquesas Azerbaijan New Zealand Bogor Dili Port Moresby Funafuti Tokelau Is. Java M- Honiara Polynesia Is. Bangladesh Pakistan Arafura Sea merican ESE SM Bhutan Samoa T Palau Apia uamo Brunei Darussalam Papua New Guinea C oral Sea Pago Pago tu A 15 rch 15 ° Cambodia Philippines ip ° J Papeete el Port-Vila ag China Republic of Korea UU iue o Suva Alofi So Democratic People's Republic of Korea Russian Federation ci ew Avarua ety Federated States of Micronesia Samoa Nuku'alofa Is. Caledonia Tu Fiji Singapore Nouméa C bu oo ai I France US s. Pitcairn Solomon Islands sla Georgia Sri Lanka nds India 30° Tajikistan 30° Indonesia Thailand Perth Islamic Republic of Iran Timor-Leste Sydney S OUTH PACI F I C O CEAN Japan Tonga Canberra Auckland Kazakhstan Turkey Melbourne T a sman Sea Kiribati Turkmenistan North Island Kyrgyzstan Tuvalu EW E Lao People's Democratic Republic United Kingdom Tasmania Wellington Malaysia United States of America ESCAP Headquarters, Regional or sub-regional offices 45° Maldives Uzbekistan 45° Marshall Islands Vanuatu South Island Mongolia Viet Nam Myanmar The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance Associate members: by the United Nations. American Samoa Guam 0 1000 2000 3000 km Commonwealth of the Hong Kong, China Dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. Northern Mariana Islands Macao, China The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been Cook Islands New Caledonia agreed upon by the parties. 0 1000 2000 mi 60° French Polynesia Niue 60° 30° 45° 60° 75° 90° 105° 120° 135° 150° 165° 180° 165° 150° 135°

Map No. 3974 Rev. 18 UNITED NATIONS Department of Field Support August 2014 Cartographic Section Siyang Jiangsu Province

The city of Siyang is located on the Huaibei plain in eastern China. Siyang County covers an area of 1 418 km2 and has a total population of 1.3 million people, while the town covers an area of 45 km2 and has 302 000 inhabitants. The county has a warm temperate monsoon climate and sandy, mainly alluvial, soils. Winds can be strong, reaching 14 m per second. Before the establishment of plantations, the combination of heavy winds and sandy soils generated sandstorms which often covered both the agricultural crops and the city, causing serious problems for food production and the health of the local inhabitants.

The main poplar species and cultivars planted in Siyang are Populus deltoides and Populus x euramericana, which were introduced from Italy in 1975. Planted for different purposes and uses, they create a continuum of green cover that extends from the surrounding agricultural lands to the peri-urban and urban areas of the city. It is estimated that about 120 million poplars have been planted over 243 000 ha in and around the town since their first introduction. A further 430 000 ha of poplars have been planted in agroforestry systems and shelterbelts. Poplars have been planted in intensive plantations and in agroforestry systems for wood production, to protect the sandy banks of the Yellow River from erosion and to protect agricultural crops and livestock. The estimated standing volume for the county is 6.1 million cubic metres, and the forest cover has reached 40.8 percent. ©FAO/A. Del Lungo ©FAO/A.

Siyang Poplar Museum

5 The poplar plantations have had a significant impact on the environment (see Table). After the establishment of the plantations the number of windy days in Siyang has significantly decreased, the wind has weakened and sandstorms and soil erosion have almost disappeared. The average annual rainfall, temperature and relative humidity have increased, and hail and dry hot winds have become less frequent, with an evident reduction in weather-related disasters. The farmland microclimate has improved, and the protection of agricultural crops by forest plantations allows for better harvests. The number of species of wild animals living in the forest plantation areas is now almost three times higher than in 1975. At the same time, the quality of freshwater in , the Yellow River, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the Liutong River and the Huaishu River has improved.

The poplar plantations have also significantly improved people’s livelihoods. The value of the poplar stands, including both environmental and productive functions, has been estimated to be about USD 360 million. Furthermore, especially in the agroforestry lands and peri-urban areas, the wood-processing value chain has become a pillar for the development of the local economy, bringing huge economic and social benefits to the entire county. At present, poplar wood processing involves 720 small and medium-sized enterprises which provide employment to about 60 000 people, both rural and urban. The annual processing capacity of these enterprises exceeds 1.5 million cubic metres, and the total processing value is over USD 475 million. The products are exported to more than 30 countries, including New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and the United States of America.

In addition, the city of Siyang has taken advantage of the recreational benefits provided by poplar plantations established around the city to develop forest ecotourism, which has promoted the economic development of Siyang. Local sites that are widely acknowledged in the country and abroad include the wetland park of the old course of the Yellow River, the Hongze Lake wetland, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the “rich oxygen bar” located in the poplar forest. The Chinese Poplar Museum in Siyang, the only museum dedicated to poplars in the world, shows how poplars have improved people’s livelihoods in China for thousands of years.2

Meteorological factors in Siyang County before and after the large-scale plantation of poplars

Time period 1957–1975 1999–2003 Windy days (average No. of days/year) 24.0 15.0 Average wind speed (average (m/second) 3.4 1.7 Sandstorms (average No. of days/year) 1.0 0.0 Dry hot winds (average No. of days/year) 0.6 0.1 Hail (average No. of days/year) 0.7 0.2 Average humidity (%) 76.4 78.6 Average precipitation (mm) 894.0 1 056.0 Average temperature (°C) 14.1 15.4 Source: Zhu et al, The ecological impacts of poplar plantations in Siyang and further suggestions on the management of tree plantations, Journal of Jiangsu Forestry Science & Technology, 2006, 33:55-56

2 For further information please refer to the video Siyang – The hometown of poplars in China: documentary by the Government of Siyang County, available at: www.fao.org/forestry/70869

6 ©FAO/J. Carle ©FAO/J.

7 120° 135° 150° 165° 180° 165° 150° 135° Anchorage ECMC SC CMMSS 60° USS UE SES S HE PCC E E Ber i n g S e a MEC Sea of Okhotsk Moscow ds Astana Sakhalin Islan Aleutian HS Ulaanbaatar . Is il km 2008 Jun 12 04:45:24 OMC - Martin Weinelt ur E Caspian K 45 45 ° ° Sea Almaty Vladivostok Black Sea U EJ E Hokkaido Istanbul T'bilisi S Tashkent Sapporo Baku Bishkek S Yerevan UME Ankara S JS Honshu Ashgabat UE M Dushanbe E - Jammu JP Tehran S and N O R TH PACI F I C O CEAN Mediterranean - ashmir u SMC EPUC H Kabul nd Sea a - d u a m h b EP h p P - t a a im 30° e h 30° r S m K s - T HU i la an Is G P New Delhi H ulf Karachi awa Gu iian R lf of Is e Oman ESH Dhaka la d nd S s e orthern a MM Mariana Mumbai Hyderabad Naypyitaw slands Saipan 15° 18 UNITED NATIONS August 2014 3974 Rev. Map No. of Field Support Cartographic Section Department 15° Bay of Bangkok Hagåtña ESCAP HQ 8 uam Arabian Sea Bengal MSH nh Pe SS Colombo m Koror Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte Phno Palikir S PU Majuro MES Northern Line Male Celebes EEE SES Kuala Lumpur MS Islands S Sea MCES u Tarawa m Gilbert Is. Equator 0° Members: a SPE 0° te Sulawesi UU Afghanistan r Yaren Nauru a PPU Phoenix Is. Southern Line Armenia E S Nepal EW UE SM Islands Australia Netherlands Jakarta SS UU Surabaya rench Marquesas Azerbaijan New Zealand Bogor Dili Port Moresby Funafuti Tokelau Is. Java M- Honiara Polynesia Is. Bangladesh Pakistan Arafura Sea merican ESE SM Bhutan Samoa T Palau Apia uamo Brunei Darussalam Papua New Guinea C oral Sea Pago Pago tu A 15 rch 15 ° Cambodia Philippines ip ° J Papeete el Port-Vila ag China Republic of Korea UU iue o Suva Alofi So Democratic People's Republic of Korea Russian Federation ci ew Avarua ety Federated States of Micronesia Samoa Nuku'alofa Is. Caledonia Tu Fiji Singapore Nouméa C bu oo ai I France US s. Pitcairn Solomon Islands sla Georgia Sri Lanka nds India 30° Tajikistan 30° Indonesia Thailand Perth Islamic Republic of Iran Timor-Leste Sydney S OUTH PACI F I C O CEAN Japan Tonga Canberra Auckland Kazakhstan Turkey Melbourne T a sman Sea Kiribati Turkmenistan North Island Kyrgyzstan Tuvalu EW E Lao People's Democratic Republic United Kingdom Tasmania Wellington Malaysia United States of America ESCAP Headquarters, Regional or sub-regional offices 45° Maldives Uzbekistan 45° Marshall Islands Vanuatu South Island Mongolia Viet Nam Myanmar The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance Associate members: by the United Nations. American Samoa Guam 0 1000 2000 3000 km Commonwealth of the Hong Kong, China Dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. Northern Mariana Islands Macao, China The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been Cook Islands New Caledonia agreed upon by the parties. 0 1000 2000 mi 60° French Polynesia Niue 60° 30° 45° 60° 75° 90° 105° 120° 135° 150° 165° 180° 165° 150° 135°

Map No. 3974 Rev. 18 UNITED NATIONS Department of Field Support August 2014 Cartographic Section Puyang City Henan Province

Puyang is located on the Yellow River about 500 km northwest of Siyang, in northeastern Henan. Puyang City has an area of 4 188 km2 and a total population of about 3.9 million inhabitants. The city has a warm temperate semi-humid continental monsoon climate, with average annual rainfall ranging from 500 to 600 mm and average temperature of 13.3 °C, with peaks reaching 43.1 °C in the warm season and –21 °C in winter. The annual average wind speed is 2.7 m per second.

Poplar cultivation in Puyang started in early 2001 as part of an effort to strengthen afforestation practices to reduce soil erosion, improve sand control, establish ecological corridors, green farmlands and ensure high wood yields. In only five years, a series of key forestry projects allowed the expansion of planted area from the initial 13 000 ha established in 2002 to 93 000 ha in 2008. The standing volume of poplars has been estimated at 5 million cubic metres, accounting for 70 percent of the total planted area and 61.3 percent of the total standing volume. Forest cover in Puyang has increased 8 percent over the past decade, reaching 25.5 percent. The poplar forests have played an important role in wind protection, sand stabilization, carbon dioxide fixation and microclimate improvement (air quality, relative humidity). At the same time, the number of days with gale- force winds has strongly decreased, and the sandstorms and dry hot winds that previously caused serious damage to agricultural crops have almost disappeared.

The development of the poplar wood industry has brought great economic and social benefits to Puyang. The city has developed 1 244 small factories for production of paper and boards with 15 000 employees, 2 million cubic metres of timber consumption and nearly USD 160 million of income per year.

Puyang has also developed approximately 6 000 ha of farms under the poplar canopy, which produce livestock, poultry, vegetables, herbs and edible insects and provide an annual revenue of about USD 120 million for farmers.

In addition, poplar plantations established along the old course of the Yellow River provide resources for the development of ecotourism while fulfilling ecological, economic and social functions. ©FAO/A. Del Lungo ©FAO/A.

Peeling poplar stems for plywood in the Puyang suburbs

9 120° 135° 150° 165° 180° 165° 150° 135° Anchorage ECMC SC CMMSS 60° USS UE SES S HE PCC E E Ber i n g S e a MEC Sea of Okhotsk Moscow ds Astana Sakhalin Islan Aleutian HS Ulaanbaatar . Is l ri E Caspian u km K 45 2008 Jun 12 04:45:24 OMC - Martin Weinelt 45 ° ° Sea Almaty Vladivostok Black Sea U EJ E Hokkaido Istanbul T'bilisi S Tashkent Sapporo Baku Bishkek S Yerevan UME Ankara S JS Honshu Ashgabat UE M Dushanbe E - Jammu JP Tehran S and N O R TH PACI F I C O CEAN Mediterranean - ashmir u SMC EPUC H Kabul nd Sea a - d u a m h b EP h p P - t a a im 30° e h 30° r S m K s - T HU i la an Is G P New Delhi H ulf Karachi awa Gu iian R lf of Is e Oman ESH Dhaka la d nd S s e orthern a MM Mariana Mumbai Hyderabad Naypyitaw slands Saipan 15° 15° Bangkok Caldwell ©FAO/B. Bay of 18 UNITED NATIONS August 2014 3974 Rev. Map No. of Field Support Cartographic Section Department Hagåtña ESCAP HQ uam Arabian Sea Bengal MSH 10 nh Pe SS Colombo m Koror Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte Phno Palikir S PU Majuro MES Northern Line Male Celebes EEE SES Kuala Lumpur MS Islands S Sea MCES u Tarawa m Gilbert Is. Equator 0° Members: a SPE 0° te Sulawesi UU Afghanistan r Yaren Nauru a PPU Phoenix Is. Southern Line Armenia E S Nepal EW UE SM Islands Australia Netherlands Jakarta SS UU Surabaya rench Marquesas Azerbaijan New Zealand Bogor Dili Port Moresby Funafuti Tokelau Is. Java M- Honiara Polynesia Is. Bangladesh Pakistan Arafura Sea merican ESE SM Bhutan Samoa T Palau Apia uamo Brunei Darussalam Papua New Guinea C oral Sea Pago Pago tu A 15 rch 15 ° Cambodia Philippines ip ° J Papeete el Port-Vila ag China Republic of Korea UU iue o Suva Alofi So Democratic People's Republic of Korea Russian Federation ci ew Avarua ety Federated States of Micronesia Samoa Nuku'alofa Is. Caledonia Tu Fiji Singapore Nouméa C bu oo ai I France US s. Pitcairn Solomon Islands sla Georgia Sri Lanka nds India 30° Tajikistan 30° Indonesia Thailand Perth Islamic Republic of Iran Timor-Leste Sydney S OUTH PACI F I C O CEAN Japan Tonga Canberra Auckland Kazakhstan Turkey Melbourne T a sman Sea Kiribati Turkmenistan North Island Kyrgyzstan Tuvalu EW E Lao People's Democratic Republic United Kingdom Tasmania Wellington Malaysia United States of America ESCAP Headquarters, Regional or sub-regional offices 45° Maldives Uzbekistan 45° Marshall Islands Vanuatu South Island Mongolia Viet Nam Myanmar The boundaries and names shown and the designations used on this map do not imply official endorsement or acceptance Associate members: by the United Nations. American Samoa Guam 0 1000 2000 3000 km Commonwealth of the Hong Kong, China Dotted line represents approximately the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir agreed upon by India and Pakistan. Northern Mariana Islands Macao, China The final status of Jammu and Kashmir has not yet been Cook Islands New Caledonia agreed upon by the parties. 0 1000 2000 mi 60° French Polynesia Niue 60° 30° 45° 60° 75° 90° 105° 120° 135° 150° 165° 180° 165° 150° 135°

Map No. 3974 Rev. 18 UNITED NATIONS Department of Field Support August 2014 Cartographic Section Changchun City Jilin Province

Changchun, one of the main cities of northeastern China and an important industrial hub, covers an area of 20 600 km2 and has a population of almost 8 million inhabitants. In 2016, its gross domestic product (GDP) was estimated at USD 92.7 billion, with per capita income of about USD 12 000. The city has the continental monsoon climate typical of the northeastern region. The average annual temperature is 4.9 °C, with peaks of 40 °C in summer and –40 °C in winter. The climate is relatively dry, with average annual precipitation of 600 mm. Average wind speed is 4 m per second, with a peak of 17 m per second and an average of about 31 days of gale force winds per year.

Changchun is one of the most industrial cities of China, with highly polluting industries such as the manufacture of vehicles, chemical products and raw materials for heavy industries. The development of the economy has accelerated increases in population and urbanization, raising serious concerns about water pollution, air quality deterioration and haze.

The town has a tree canopy cover of 41.5 percent, making Changchun one of the main large “park cities” of China. Planted tree species include mainly poplars and willows, including Salix babylonica, Salix matsudana, Populus canadensis, Populus simonii, Populus alba x Populus berolinsis, Populus alba var. pyramidalis and other ©Chinese Poplar Commission

Poplars as part of urban forestry in Changchun

11 hybrids of poplars. The inventory of the urban trees reported a total of 172 617 poplars and willows planted along the streets and squares of Changchun, corresponding to a forest area of 550 ha and total biomass of 83 800 tonnes, accounting for 61 percent of total biomass available in the town. The annual accumulated biomass (dry matter) of poplars and willows is 4 630 tonnes; this corresponds to at least 6 790 tonnes of carbon dioxide absorbed. Furthermore, each year these trees absorb 5 800 tonnes of dust and about 44 tonnes of sulphur dioxide from the atmosphere. ©Chinese Poplar Commission

Willows in an urban area of Changchun

12 Conclusions

China is fostering the planting of poplars and willows in urban and peri-urban forestry and in agroforestry systems established around cities. Thanks to their adaptability, fast growth and multifunctionality, poplars and willows have become significant resources in both rural and urban settings, where they support livelihoods, enhance food security, alleviate poverty and contribute to sustainable development by providing a wide range of goods and services. China, the International Poplar Commission (IPC) and its member countries are committed to urban and peri-urban forestry as a means of reducing the risks of environmental catastrophes and improving people’s livelihoods. However, much still needs to be done to enhance the role of poplars and willows in addressing the challenges of climate change, increased population and increased population density in urban and peri-urban areas. In China, poplars and willows are often planted in monoclonal plantations, which are at risk of serious effects from breakout of diseases and insect pests. China, as well as IPC and its other member countries, is increasing efforts to strengthen genetic improvement and cultivation techniques to allow diversification of poplar and willow clones and to improve the genetic variability of the plantations through the introductions of new clones and varieties of trees

The International Poplar Commission and advances with poplars and willows in China

Over the past 70 years the International Poplar Commission (IPC) has facilitated the exchange of information and technology among its member countries. China, having benefited from the transfer of knowledge through the support of IPC and its member countries, has now become a major player in poplar and willow production, use and research and is among the reference countries for these species in the world. In 2008, the IPC recognized the Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing Forestry University, Forestry University and China’s State Forest Administration as international centres of excellence in forestry education, training and outreach, particularly with regards to the research, development and management of poplars and willows.

13 ©FAO/A. Del Lungo ©FAO/A.

14

Contacts The IPC Secretariat [email protected] IPC Web site www.fao.org/forestry/ipc/en/

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