Ecosystem protection benefits 1.4 mln poor people in NW China province

Aerial photo taken on June 5, 2019 shows a car driving on the mountain road at Jinfoping area of Wuqi County in Yan'an City, northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Wuqi County has carried out a development policy since 1998 that returned farmland to forest for ecological protection and sustainable development purposes. Poverty alleviation policies related to ecosystem protection benefited more than 1.4 million people in northwest China's Shaanxi Province last year, with their average income increased by 1,750 yuan (253 U.S. dollars) per person, local authorities said Monday. The provincial forestry department said poverty alleviation policies related to ecosystem protection covers a wide range of fields, including hiring forest rangers, returning cultivated land to forests, distributing subsidies, organizing forestry training, and offering public welfare jobs. (Xinhua/Tao Ming)

Poverty alleviation policies related to ecosystem protection benefited more than 1.4 million people in northwest China's Shaanxi Province last year, with their average income increased by 1,750 yuan (253 U.S. dollars) per person, local authorities said Monday.

The provincial forestry department said poverty alleviation policies related to ecosystem protection covers a wide range of fields, including hiring forest rangers, returning cultivated land to forests, distributing subsidies, organizing forestry training, and offering public welfare jobs.

The province had employed more than 30,000 forest rangers by the end of 2018, paying them around 280 million yuan in subsidies.

Last year, nearly 2.5 billion yuan was distributed to 227,000 households after they converted 108,000 hectares of cultivated land into forests in poverty-stricken counties in Shaanxi.

More than 100,000 impoverished residents also benefited from major forest projects.

With a total output value of 121.3 billion yuan, Shaanxi has vigorously developed the forestry industry in recent years, which has helped 730,000 poor people from 240,000 households shake off poverty and increase incomes.

Meanwhile, forest parks, state-owned forest farms, forestry management and protection stations, and ecological education bases in the province have provided jobs for nearly 2,500 impoverished people, who have each seen an increase of over 6,800 yuan in their income.