Print PageMuchuan county locates in the southeast of Leshan city, Sichuan province, China, population 259,000, covering 1,408 square kilometers. Warm, humid climate, abundant rainfall, and four distinct seasons, no hot summer and winter without freezing, richness in plant are the main features in Muchuan county.
Muchuan is one of the first 174 Experimental counties processing the project to reconvert farmland into forest and one of the first Experimental counties of project to protect the natural forests. As the two projects going well in recent years, the Socio-economic conditions in Muchuan were influenced greatly. As a kind of social activity, the two projects have their own operating mechanism and driving system. Ecological methods, statistical methods, questionnaire methods, and expert assessment methods were used in this study to research the driving system of the 2 projects of reconverting farmland into forest and of protecting the natural forests.
Results/Conclusions
The results showed that natural, economic, social, and cultural factors have driving effects on the 2 projects while the 2 projects have driving effects on the Socio-economic conditions in Muchuan county. The project to reconvert farmland into forest has more influence on special, Individual, small-scale ecological issues while the project to protect the natural forests has more influence on overall, wide ecological and social issues. The 2 driving forces combined into a complicated driving system which has important impacts on the local development. The conclusion of this study is the operating mechanism and driving system of the 2 projects are complicated and only suitable for one place in a particular period. Ecological construction should adapt to local conditions and utilize the local superior resources to drive socio-economic development comprehensively, coordinately, and sustainably.
