Functions:
- Supervises and protects forests and grasslands, as well as general ecological conservation; proposes policies, plans and standards regarding forests, grasslands, and ecological conservation; drafts laws and regulations, sectoral rules and protocols; monitors and evaluates ecological conservation
- Conserves and rehabilitates forest and grassland ecosystems; implements key programs on forest and grassland conservation and rehabilitation; manages public parks and forests; supervises the national compulsory tree planting and urban/rural greening campaign
- Quarantines and controls organisms that are harmful to forest and grassland preservation; assists in the fight against climate change
- Supervises and manages forest, grassland and wetland resources; sets and supervises the national foreign timber collection quota; proposes and implements forest land protection policies
- Manages major state-owned forest regions; oversees grazing prohibitions, livestock and fodder restrictions, and grassland ecological restoration; supervises and manages grassland development and use
- Be responsible for ecological conservation and restoration; proposes wetlands conservation programs and related national standards; supervises and manages wetlands development and use
- Supervises and manages desertification control; conducts desertification surveys; drafts national standards; supervises and manages development and use of desertified land; forecasts sandstorms and organizes emergency responses
- Supervises and manages terrestrial wildlife; surveys wildlife populations; proposes and adjusts the national key protected wild fauna and flora lists; restores and maintains habitats; monitors wildlife epidemic diseases, supervises hunting or gathering, captive breeding, business use of terrestrial wildlife; supervises and administers the import and export of wildlife
- Supervises and manages protected areas; establishes, plans, and oversees national parks
- Manages natural resource assets, including central government directly owned protected areas such as national parks; reviews, proposes, and submits for approval new national-level protected areas; organizes and reviews World Natural Heritage and World Cultural Heritage applications; is responsible for biodiversity conservation
- Promotes forestry and grassland reform; manages the collectively-owned forest ownership system; issues policy for forest development in rural areas and to safeguard of the legal interest of forest proprietors; converts farmland to forest and grasslands
- Allocates forest and grassland resources; proposes policies on timber use; and policies for timber use; proposes and implements national standards for forest industry; guides and supervises ecosystem services for poverty alleviation
- Guides infrastructure construction and development of state-owned forest farms; oversees the general survey of germplasm resources for forest tree seeds and grass seeds; establishes the germplasm resource bank
- Produces and oversees sales of forest tree seedlings and grass seeds; conducts quality control of forest tree seedlings and grass seeds
- Supervises and manages germplasm resources and safety of genetically modified organisms and new plant varieties
- Guides the work of forest public security in the country, supervise and administer the forest police teams; directs the investigation and prosecution of major criminal cases in forestry in the country; be responsible for related administrative law enforcement and supervision; guides the governance of public security in forest regions.
- Be responsible for fulfillment of the requirements mandated by the program of comprehensive disaster prevention and mitigation, to organize the formulation of forest and grassland fire prevention and control plan, protection standards and guide the implementation.
- Guides the fire prevention patrol, fire source management, construction of fire facilities and other work. Organizes and guides the state-owned forest farms and areas, and grassland to carry out fire prevention activities such as publicity and education, monitoring and early warning, supervision and inspection. When necessary, the Ministry of Emergency Management may be called for to deploy relevant prevention and control work in the name of the National Emergency Command Agency
- Supervises and administers national funds and state-owned assets in the sector of forest and grassland; proposes investment opportunities; reviews and verifies national investment projects; proposes forest and grassland economic regulatory policies and pays for ecosystem services
- Oversees forest and grassland science and technology development, education and foreign affairs
- Guides the capacity building for the sector of forest and grassland in the country; organizes and implements international exchanges and cooperation on forest and grassland; undertakes the implementation of international conventions on wetlands, desertification combating and endangered wildlife
- Completes other tasks assigned by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council
- The National Forestry and Grassland Administration protects the macro-ecosystem, carries out important ecosystem protection and restoration projects, strengthens supervision and management of forest, grassland and wetlands, and safeguards national ecological security. The Administration aims to establish a system of protected lands, with a focus on building a national park network