The Forestry Regulations of Qingdao in Modern Times

Since being occupied by Germany in the late nineteenth century, Qingdao had established special government departments to manage forestry. The functions of the departments included mountain afforestation and urban greening. During the period of the Republic of China, Qingdao had a set of forestry regulations despite the disordered political situation. These regulations can be divided into two kinds: the rules which regulated the staff and system, and the rules which regulated the management of forestry affairs. Before the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War in 1937, the woodland area of Qingdao reached 239 thousand mu, the largest in modern times, because of the implementation of the regulations. Afterwards, the woodland area plummeted for the war damage. In 1949, it was less than 60 thousand mu.