Beijing, China’s capital located in the dry Northeast of the country, is a mega-city in the true sense: it has managed to draw millions of people and is still rapidly expanding. This puts the city and its surroundings in a unique position of challenges and opportunities. As one of the most water-scarce cities in the world (the per capita availability of water is only 1/30 of the world’s average), Beijing has to constantly strive to provide a reliable and clean water source. The project supported by APFNet and executed by Beijing Forestry Society (BFS), is located near Beijing Miyun Reservoir. As one of the most important drinking water sources in Beijing, Miyun Reservoir is responsible for more than 60% of the surface drinking water supply in Beijing. Taking into account the significance of the forest in playing the vital role on purifying water quality and conserving water resources, the project was carried out to protect water resources and water quality by applying sustainable integrated forest management activities to further enhance the multifunction of forests, and developing forest eco-tourism to improve the livelihood of local residents and reducing water pollution caused by fertilizer application in the orchards of upstream.

On 12-13 October 2018, after 3 years’ implementation of the project, the terminal evaluation of the project was carried on the ground by an independent evaluation team, which aimed to assess project performance, outcomes and impacts stemming from the project. The evaluation team visited the three project sites of Shichangyu, Maoshigou, and Shitanglu in Miyun Reservoir Watershed. 

Through site investigation, documents review, and interview with stakeholders, the consultants gave positive feedback on the project performance. Achievement on eco-tourism development was highly recognized by the evaluation team. With developing the nature education facilities and popularizing the eco-tourism practices, the project has effectively promoted poverty alleviation in rural areas and improved the livelihood of forest farmers. In addition, close-to-nature forest management was well applied in the project sites, which has greatly facilitated the forest restoration and forest ecological functions improvement, especially in strengthening the function of forests water conservation and soil conservation capacity. Consultants also advised that a long-term monitoring of the impact of forests on project site soil and water conservation should be continued in order to better summarize and share best practices.

The APFNet funded project Rehabilitation and Management of Degraded Forests in Miyun Reservoir Watershed, Beijing [2015P2-MY], was launched in 2015 with three-year project duration. The total fund of project is $719,000, among which $441,000 is supported by APFNet.