Farmers become rangers to protect forests
Print Edition
In Dingxi, an arid city in northwestern Gansu Province, people once said “to plant a tree and make it survive is more difficult than raising a child.”
But the situation has changed thanks to a national campaign — “returning farming land to forestry.”
Trees have improved the environment, and brought extra income to Yang Wenrong, a farmer in Anding District.
High on the Loess Plateau, Yang’s hometown is among withered mountain ravines with sparse vegetation and little rainfall. He recalls that locals were always troubled by hunger and poverty.
“They lived at the mercy of the elements,” Yang said. “If there were natural disasters such as drought or hail, not a single grain would be reaped.”
Ecological degradation caused by humans has worsened the situation.
“In the past, we planted trees in spring and they died in autumn due to drought, or they were cut down by farmers for cooking or for heating,” he said. Failing to produce grain, people continued reclaiming arid land, causing more serious water and soil losses.
Thanks to the national campaign, the Anding District government has turned more than 1,500 farmers into part-time forest rangers since the early 2000s.
Yang joined them in 2014, taking care of a forest covering more than 200 hectares near his home. He always rides a motorbike to patrol the mountain.
In addition to being a herd of sheep and farmland that can provide extra income, the new job offers him an annual salary of 20,000 yuan (US$3,000).
Besides recruiting forest rangers, Dingxi City has taken other measures such as offering farmers free seedlings and paying them to plant trees.
The city has offered 1.2 million farmers seedlings free-of-charge every year since 2015, encouraging them to plant trees near their homes. It also sends technicians to teach farmers how to look after trees and help rural cooperatives develop the fruit industry.
“Trees very likely die when they lack water. We have to take water up the mountains using vehicles. For places where vehicles cannot reach, we carry buckets of water ourselves,” said Cai Pengxiang, a forestry bureau technician.
Last year, local villager Gou Huijun got 40 free seedlings of lilac, walnut, jujube and pear from the government, which he planted in his courtyard. “They are strong enough to survive and bloom,” he said, pointing to the meter-high lilacs.
Inspired by Yang, Gou and his wife plant trees on the mountain every April. Over about 20 days, the couple plants 40 trees and more than 70 flower shrubs every day, earning themselves around 90 yuan per day.
The bare hills that were shrouded in dust 10 years ago are now covered by trees. Vegetable plots with cucumbers and tomatoes sit around the village.
China has made afforestation one of its most important environmental projects. To combat climate change and soil erosion, it aims to expand its forest coverage ratio to more than 23 percent by 2020, up from 21.7 percent in 2015.
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