Visiting demonstration sites of close-to-nature plantation management of masson pines and firs

Visiting operation sites of cable logging

From 14 to 20 May, recipients of APFNet scholarship visited Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry for internship. They attended lectures on tropical forest management and field visits on technological operation.

Jia Hongyan, Deputy Director General, Guo Wenfu, Director of Forest Cultivation Research Office, Lu Lihua, Director of Forest Ecology Research Office, and Ming Angang, Division Director of Scientific Research of the Experimental Center made presentations titled Initial exploration of close-to-nature sub-tropical plantation management in southern China, Cultivation technologies of castanopsis hystrix with large DBH, Regeneration technologies and practices in karst regions, and Effective management modes of eucalyptus plantations respectively, in which they introduced close-to-nature sustainable forest management and theories and practices of regeneration in karst regions. After the lectures, the students visited pilot sites of close-to-nature masson pine and fir plantations, cultivation forests of castanopsis hystrix with large DBH, mixed-aged forests of betula alnoides and castanopsis hystrix, Shishan tree orchards, breeding base of precious tree species, pilot plantations of ecological reconstruction technologies and mixed-aged forests of eucalypsus and dalbergia odorifera of the Experimental Center. In addition, they also paid a visit to cable logging operation sites, Pingxiangqingshan Medium-density-fiberboard Co., Ltd., Guangxi Xiangsheng Wood Industry Co., Ltd., and Pingxiang Rosewood Center, etc. In this way, they got a better understanding of processing techniques, processes and products of timber. At the end, they discussed their progress and suggestions of the internship, and shared issues and possible solutions in forest management faced by their countries.

The students stated that they improved their understanding of theories of close-to-nature management of tropical forests and regeneration in karst regions, and mastered related skills and methods. They were also committed to using the close-to-nature management theories and technologies into forest management in their own countries, and contributing to sustainable forest management, climate change mitigation and promoting regional economic development in the Asia-Pacific regions. (Words by Chen Lin, and photos by Deng Shuokun and Zeng Ji, Experimental Center of Tropical Forestry)