"Three trees" represented by walnut trees, prickly ash trees and Armand pines have contributed to the ecological poverty alleviation in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province.
With green prickly ash regarded as one of the best kinds of prickly ash, Jinyang County of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, is known as "the first county of green prickly ash in China.” Due to inconvenient transportation, high-quality green prickly ash did not lift local people out of poverty for a long time in the past.
Nowadays in Dawanzi Village of Jinyang County, villagers have greatly benefited from planting green prickly ash. For instance, Gui's family receives an average annual income of more than 100,000 yuan ($15,250) in more than 30 mu of prickly ash land.
Over the past few years, under the guidance of the government, the family interplanted white konjac under the prickly ash trees, nearly doubling their income.
Armand pines have become a "cash cow" in Huidong County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. Armand pines in Huidong grow in the alpine area with an altitude of 1,800-3,000 meters above sea level.
Due to the favourable growth environment, unique climate and soil conditions, the pine nuts are nutritious and can be eaten raw or fried, with high economic value and are welcomed by consumers.
Over the past few years, Huidong has made great efforts to develop armand pine planting. In 2020, the county's planting area of armand pine is 830,000 mu, with more than 4 million kilograms of pine nut output, and more than 160 million yuan of the output value.
Until now, the reserved area of woodland in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture has reached 60 million mu, and the forest coverage rate has reached 49 percent, benefiting 124,000 poor households and involving 486,000 poor people, said Yang Hongbin, director of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Liangshan.
"According to statistics, from 2019 the per capita income of forest farmers in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture is 2,239 yuan. It can be said that every village owns an industry that can make money; every household has a way to get rich, and farmers' income has steadily increased, laying a solid foundation for the development of Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture's poverty alleviation and key industries," Yang Hongbin noted.
* This article was published in partnership with People’s Daily Online SA