2016年-世界发展银行全球_Gender-Dimensions_of_Collective_Forest_Tenure_Reform_in_China_60页_1mb

Summary of the Gender-Dimensions of Collective Forest Tenure Reform in China

Core Content

The report "Gender-Dimensions of Collective Forest Tenure Reform in China" examines the impact of China's collective forest tenure reform, particularly its second stage, on rural women. The reform, initiated in 2008, has significantly affected the lives of 610 million people, with 2.76 billion mu (184 million hectares) of forest land contracted to rural households. This has led to increased employment, income, and access to resources and services for women, although challenges persist in terms of gender equality and women's participation in decision-making and policy processes.

Main Findings

Socioeconomic Benefits

• Job Opportunities: The reform has created employment in tree planting, forest farming, and cooperatives. Women, due to their perceived patience and care, are often employed in small and micro-forestry enterprises.
• Entrepreneurship: Women have more opportunities to start businesses, especially in forest farming, which requires careful management and is more suitable for them.
• Income Increase: Women's income has increased, though the share of forestry income in their total income is lower than that of male-headed households. This is mainly due to differences in labor availability and activity preferences.
• Technology Empowerment: Women have benefited from forestry science and technology services, with 35% of sample villages reporting better access to these services than before.
• Social and Family Status: Women's improved economic status has enhanced their role in household decision-making and their social standing.

Gender-Related Problems

• Decision-Making: Over 50% of decisions on family and forestry matters are made by male household heads, with only 5% made solely by women.
• Tenure Certificates: Only male names appear on tenure certificates in over 95% of sample households. Women are often unaware of the certificate's legal significance.
• Civil Status Changes: Women who move due to marriage, divorce, or widowhood risk losing their forest land rights, as their legal status is not clearly reflected in the reform process.
• Access to Financial Services: Only 2% of women-headed households have successfully obtained forestry mortgage loans, and access to insurance and subsidies is limited.
• Technical Services and Training: While awareness of technical services is high, access is low. Training is often not tailored for women and is conducted in Mandarin, which may hinder understanding in ethnic minority areas.

Key Recommendations

Policy and Legal Reforms

• Multi-signatory Certificates: Introduce multi-signatory tenure certificates and standard contracts to ensure equal rights for all household members, especially women.
• Allocation of Existing Land: Use secret ballots for land allocation decisions and avoid reclaiming land from married women by their original villages.
• Review Village Codes: Ensure village codes and reform plans are gender-sensitive, and link their approval to logging quotas and subsidies.

Financial Services and Support

• Mortgage Loans: Streamline loan policies, require written consent from all stakeholders, and set longer loan terms aligned with forestry cycles. Consider interest rate subsidies for women.
• Micro-Credit Programs: Increase budgets and extend credit terms to support women's participation in the forest sector and reduce poverty.

Insurance and Subsidies

• Forest Insurance: Expand coverage to include economic forests and forest farming activities, and increase government involvement in subsidized insurance.
• Subsidy Reform: Restructure subsidies from individual activities to public goods and services, and promote ecological compensation as a more inclusive and efficient approach.

Technical and Market Services

• Training and Services: Improve the gender sensitivity of technical training, use local dialects, and solicit women's opinions in service design.
• Market Information: Enhance access to market information and services for rural women, particularly in trading forest tenure certificates and products.

Women's Participation

• Cooperatives: Encourage women's participation in forestry cooperatives by improving information dissemination and accessibility.
• Grievance Mechanisms: Establish women-focused dispute-resolution groups and legal aid mechanisms to address violations of forestry rights.

Conclusion

The study highlights the importance of integrating gender considerations into the design, implementation, and monitoring of China's collective forest tenure reform. It emphasizes the need for policy reforms that ensure equal access to resources, decision-making, and financial services for women, and recommends enhancing gender sensitivity across all aspects of the reform process to achieve more equitable outcomes for rural women.