National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone …
661
2 National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones: Fujian,
Hainan and Guizhou
In addition to east-west geographical balance, an important reason for
choosing Fujian, Jiangxi, Guizhou and Hainan among the first batch of national
ecological civilization pilot zones is their advantageous natural endowments: they
are all located in the south of the Yangtze River, and boast abundant rainfall, high
forest coverage, and a large environmental capacity. As a whole, they all adopt the
“green development” path or model as I have outlined, although they might vary in
the choice of where to start.
1. Fujian
Fujian Province is known to have a superior ecological environment, with “80%
covered by mountains, 10% by rivers and 10% by farmland,” and is an early starter in
ecological conservation. In 2000, Fujian put forward the strategic vision of building
an “ecological province.” At the end of 2004, the Outline of the Master Plan for
Building Fujian into an Ecological Province was approved by the then State Environmental Protection Administration. In April 2006, the Fujian Provincial Government issued the Implementation Opinions on the Outline of the Master Plan for
Building Fujian into an Ecological Province to advance the building of an ecological province in all respects. In January 2010, the Fujian Ecological Function Zoning
was implemented. In September 2011, the Fujian Provincial Government issued
the Plan for Building Fujian into an Ecological Province in the Twelfth Five-Year
Period. In January 2013, the Function Zoning Plan of Fujian Province was promulgated and implemented. For the first time, the province’s land territory was clearly
divided into four types: areas for optimization, priority areas, restricted areas, and
prohibited areas for development. Among them, two-fifths of the province’s counties (cities) and 197 areas were listed as restricted and prohibited areas for development. On this basis, in March 2014, the State Council issued the Several Opinions
on Supporting Fujian Province in Deepening the Implementation of the Ecological
Province Strategy and Accelerating the Construction of Ecological Civilization Pilot
Demonstration Zone, entering Fujian into the first batch of province-wide ecological
civilization pilot demonstration zones directly designated by the State Council, and
pushing its Ecological Province drive into a new stage. In August 2016, along with
the issuance of the Implementation Plan for National Ecological Civilization Pilot
Zone (Fujian) by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General
Office of the State Council, Fujian officially became the country’s first National
Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone. Therefore, it’s safe to say that Fujian has always
been at the forefront of the country in promoting ecological progress.
In a nutshell, since the establishment of the pilot demonstration zone and the
national pilot zone in 2014, Fujian has vigorously promoted the system building
and institutional innovation for promoting ecological progress, including promoting
forestry development, reforming the ways of ecological protection, improving the
ecological compensation mechanism for key river basins, promoting the river chief
661
2 National Ecological Civilization Pilot Zones: Fujian,
Hainan and Guizhou
In addition to east-west geographical balance, an important reason for
choosing Fujian, Jiangxi, Guizhou and Hainan among the first batch of national
ecological civilization pilot zones is their advantageous natural endowments: they
are all located in the south of the Yangtze River, and boast abundant rainfall, high
forest coverage, and a large environmental capacity. As a whole, they all adopt the
“green development” path or model as I have outlined, although they might vary in
the choice of where to start.
1. Fujian
Fujian Province is known to have a superior ecological environment, with “80%
covered by mountains, 10% by rivers and 10% by farmland,” and is an early starter in
ecological conservation. In 2000, Fujian put forward the strategic vision of building
an “ecological province.” At the end of 2004, the Outline of the Master Plan for
Building Fujian into an Ecological Province was approved by the then State Environmental Protection Administration. In April 2006, the Fujian Provincial Government issued the Implementation Opinions on the Outline of the Master Plan for
Building Fujian into an Ecological Province to advance the building of an ecological province in all respects. In January 2010, the Fujian Ecological Function Zoning
was implemented. In September 2011, the Fujian Provincial Government issued
the Plan for Building Fujian into an Ecological Province in the Twelfth Five-Year
Period. In January 2013, the Function Zoning Plan of Fujian Province was promulgated and implemented. For the first time, the province’s land territory was clearly
divided into four types: areas for optimization, priority areas, restricted areas, and
prohibited areas for development. Among them, two-fifths of the province’s counties (cities) and 197 areas were listed as restricted and prohibited areas for development. On this basis, in March 2014, the State Council issued the Several Opinions
on Supporting Fujian Province in Deepening the Implementation of the Ecological
Province Strategy and Accelerating the Construction of Ecological Civilization Pilot
Demonstration Zone, entering Fujian into the first batch of province-wide ecological
civilization pilot demonstration zones directly designated by the State Council, and
pushing its Ecological Province drive into a new stage. In August 2016, along with
the issuance of the Implementation Plan for National Ecological Civilization Pilot
Zone (Fujian) by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General
Office of the State Council, Fujian officially became the country’s first National
Ecological Civilization Pilot Zone. Therefore, it’s safe to say that Fujian has always
been at the forefront of the country in promoting ecological progress.
In a nutshell, since the establishment of the pilot demonstration zone and the
national pilot zone in 2014, Fujian has vigorously promoted the system building
and institutional innovation for promoting ecological progress, including promoting
forestry development, reforming the ways of ecological protection, improving the
ecological compensation mechanism for key river basins, promoting the river chief