 The famous Chinese Geographer Academician HUANG Bing wei published 2 articles on the role of the forest in 1981 and 1982．These 2 articles had not only promoted the discussion on the role of the forest，but also promoted the research work in this field．Until now they still have their effect of the ecological and environmental reconstruction in China，especially in the development of the western regions of China． In China and in the whole world new progress was witnessed in this field during the last 20 years．The progress was reflected in both experimental and theoretical research． The former has provided more accurate and more credible data， while the latter has made a deeper understanding on the role of the forest，especially on hydrology and climate． Nevertheless， there are still a series of problems awaiting to be tackled because of the complexity of the problems themselves and difficulties in carrying out experiments．