The Liandgu project forests 23,720 ha of barren hill and degraded land with no sign of natural renewal in Liupanshui City in China. The goal of the project is not only to generate CO2 removals and improve the local environment through growing native forest, but also to contribute to the wellbeing of local communities. There are 2.9 million people in Liupanshui City, of which 31% are ethnic minorities, including 44 ethnic groups, such as Yi, Miao, Buyi, Bai, Hui, Gelao and Aquaiche. Main land use activities are agriculture and livestock.
Reforesting the barren and degraded land mitigates the damage caused by rocky desertification to the soil, enhances biodiversity conservation by increasing the connectivity of forests and creates better ecological conditions for ethnic minority people in the project area. Improving the soil quality mitigates the risks of desertification invasion to neighbouring villages and the planted trees reduce the risk of mudslides. The use of pesticides is prohibited unless there is a serious disease problem in the project area and in such cases will be handled by well-trained staff to minimize the potential adverse effects.
The project provides experience of forest planting and management in the Karst region and income and job opportunities for local communities. In addition, mobility of locals is increased by building roads and improving infrastructure.
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.
Income opportunities and employment
The project provides equal employment opportunities to all villagers regardless of sex, social status or ethnicity. For the planting activities at the beginning of the project, 15 220 villagers were trained and hired of whom 70 percent were women.
Thanks to direct cash payments of 7 euros per day farmers planting trees on their lands double their income from 230 euros/month to 440 euros/month.
90 local villagers, 45% of which are women, were trained as technicians every year to perform field measurements and community surveys during the 2016 - 2019 monitoring period.
The new job opportunities provide locals with the alternative not to leave their village and family in the search for a job as migrant workers.
Supporting biodiversity
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. There are 10 nationally protected species in the larger project zone, including Francois’ Leaf Monkey - a globally endangered species according to the IUCN, the Indian scops owl, Dwarf musk deer, Large Indian civet, and Rhesus macaque.
Thanks to direct cash payments of 7 euros per day farmers planting trees on their lands double their income from 230 euros/month to 440 euros/month. For the planting activities at the beginning of the project, 15 220 villagers were trained and hired of whom 70 percent were women.