Project:
Qianbei Afforestation

The Qianbei project converts 47,061 ha of barren land into a forest. Prior to the project implementation, local people experienced low yield of the crops due to droughts, floods and soil erosion. The afforestation activities as part of the project have significantly alleviated the mudslides and improved the soil quality in only five years since the start of the project in 2015. The results are improved yields and the possibility to sell the extra production on the market, which is crucial as agriculture is the main income generating activity for the local population. 

Income opportunities and employment

The project provides equal employment opportunities to all villagers regardless of sex, social status or ethnicity. In total 16 339 local farmers were employed in the tree planting activities, out of which 70% were women. The project is jointly organized by the local forestry bureau which trains farmers on seed and seedling selection, nursery management, site preparation, planting models and integrated pest management.

In addition, 95 locals are employed as technicians for project management, out of which 53% are women. Locals earn about 1747 EUR on average a year and technicians receive 341 EUR per year, which provides a significant improvement in household income. In addition to providing employment opportunities, the project provides locals with carbon credit sale income.

Clear land ownership and guaranteed permanence

The project area has clear land ownership - local villages collectively own the lands which are entrusted to be managed by the project developer and the forestry department. The local government will ensure that no one will encroach the project area and change the land usage. 

The project goal is ecological afforestation and reversal of rocky desertification. Native tree species selected are China fir, Cypress and Pine which are favoured for their fast growth, shallow rooting and strong adaptability to soil. These tree species also have a long maturity age which guarantees the long-term project benefits even beyond the project lifetime. To ensure long permanence, commercial logging will be forbidden in the project area and the local government will take over the responsibility of managing the area after the end of the project period.

Transparent participatory approach

The lands in the project area belong to the villagers and are managed on their behalf by the village committees. Prior to the start of the project, the village committees conducted face-to-face meetings to gather the opinion and consent of the local communities on the project goal and implementation. Local villagers were the ones designing the project by expressing their preferences, wishes and concerns, so that the project would better meet their needs for livelihood development.

To facilitate access to information to all, project documents are available in the village committees and the local forestry bureaus. Locals are also regularly updated on all the major project milestones through the regular villager assembly. In addition, the summary of the project description as well as the monitoring reports are translated into the local language and disseminated to the village communities with the help of the local government.

Biodiversity enhancement

The project area has low biodiversity levels due to the degradation of the land as a result of long-term farming prior to the start of the project. Nevertheless, the surrounding area has high wildlife diversity and the project supports biodiversity by increasing the connectivity of forests and improving the quality and quantity of vegetation and soils. This mitigates the damage caused by rocky desertification and allows for ecological restoration.

There are 10 nationally protected species in the larger project zone. Guizhou province academy of social sciences biodiversity survey discovered two new species on the territory of the project - Macaque and  Reeves's pheasant.