New Strategy for Managing China's Community Forests: Share Holding Integrated Forestry Tenures (SHIFT) System

Abstract

"The establishment of the Share Holding Integrated Forestry Tenures (or SHIFT) System in Sanming prefecture of Fujian province, People's Republic of China is a social forestry adoption and experiment as well as a strategy for managing community forestry in which villagers adjacent to a forest patch become forestry share holders and key players in management of the forestry resource under different tenureship. The SHIFT system has improved sustainability, productivity, equity, and flexibility in the changes caused by biophysical and human intervention, and encouraged a more democratic rural life, and more power of villagers' independent decision-making. It has also given a greater role to professional foresters and led to more diversified management. This study discusses the initial success of SHIFT and suggests the need to expand SHIFT and to compare it with the community forestry practices in other countries."