China's Jilin province has said it will stop commercial logging on its natural forests, on April 1, which follows close on the heels of a recent State Council policy concerning State-owned forest areas which will have a major impact on loggers and their lives.

Jilin has an abundance of forest resources, particularly in the Changbai Mountain region, where the Baijiazi forest bureau has logged on about 10 million cubic meters of natural forests, with forest coverage in the mountain area having increased by 4,800 hectares, since 1948.

Loggers taking a break at the Zhongxiang forest farm, on March 19. [Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua]

The government policy calls for commercial logging nationwide to be stopped by 2020, and it is being gradually applied in major forest zones, including Jilin province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, because, as Zhang Mingxiang, a Beijing Forestry University professor, told the Global Times, "Northern China now faces a shortage of mature, usable forests. This plan brings a new phase where China protects natural forests instead of developing forestry resources."

Loggers operating a crane for loading a pile of logs. [Photo by Wang Wei/Xinhua]

Halting the logging of natural forests will of course affect timber workers, who will need to find new types of work, so some State-owned forest farms around the Changbai forest zone have shifted from logging forests to cultivating edible fungi as one possible way to re-employ them.

When asked to comment on this, Zhang seemed positive, saying, "The plan will help solve some long-standing problems in State-owned forest farms, such as weak resource management and low pay."

Farmers counting bags of edible fungus at Guangming forest farm where all logging has been stopped, on March 20. [Photo/Xinhua]