Influence of Economic Development to Forest Change in Xijiang Downstream Area in Qing Dynasty

In Qing Dynasty, the population in Xijiang downstream area increased fast, and the reclaiming of farm land was moving into remote mountains. Local residents cut down natural trees, planted economic forest to meet their daily life. At the same time, fuel producing, papermaking and fungi producing in this area developed rapidly too. All these activities had great impacts on forest change in the district. This paper hold the points that the forest vegetation had been destroyed and reduced greatly in Xijiang Downstream Area in the early Qing Dynasty, and the destruction was the most serious during Yongzheng(雍正),Qianlong(乾隆),Jiaqing(嘉庆) and Daoguang(道光) periods. After Opium War, this phenomenon relieved a little but still continued. From the viewpoints of influencing factor, the main cause is the reclaiming of farm land in the early Qing Dynasty, and the wood production and sideline production in the middle and late days of Qing Dynasty.