A Case Study of Enhancing Sustainable Intensification of Chinese Torreya Forest in Zhuji of China

Abstract

Chinese torreya (Torreya grandis cv. Merrillii) is an important cash tree in southeastern China and this species plays a major role in local economy. Establishing new plantations of Chinese torreya would be necessary in order to receive more economic benefit. However, expanding the area of torreya plantations would conflict with other land-use and also affect regional biodiversity. Under this context, local people and government made a paradigm shift from nuts productivity to sustainable practices. They explored the multi-functionalities of Chinese torreya forests, such as the social, cultural, environmental and health functionalities, and developed ecotourism as a breakthrough. The development of multi-functionalities of torreya plantations greatly improved the local economy and led a success in the local society. The strategy of this case completely followed the principles of sustainable intensification of agriculture and translational ecology, which involve scientists, stakeholders and policy makers to emphasize landscape multi-functionalities and minimize environmental impacts of operations. The knowledge from this study may be helpful to research in other regions.