Guizhou develops forest-derived economy relying on natural environment

Farmers pick bamboo fungus in Hongwei village, Chishui. [Photo/ddcpc website]

In Southwest China's Guizhou province, forests are helping boost economic development. Statistics show that by the end of 2020, Guizhou's forest coverage rate was 61.51 percent, and there is twice as much forest area as cultivated land.

The total area developing a forest-derived economy in Guizhou increased from 18.14 million mu (1.21 million hectares) in 2018 to 22.03 million mu in 2020.

Guizhou's output value of forest-derived economy increased from 16.1 billion yuan ($2.53 billion) in 2018 to 40 billion yuan in 2020, helping 2.85 million farmers increase their income.

During the first half of 2021, Guizhou established 321 forest planting bases, each with an area of more than 1,000 mu, and utilized 24.6 million mu of forest land to develop a forest-derived economy, achieving 29.57 billion yuan in output value.

In Guizhou's Chishui – also known as one of China's 10 hometowns of bamboos – bamboo forests cover a total area of 1.33 million mu, 560,000 mu of which are planted for bamboo shoots.

Chishui's bamboo is currently being sold at offline supermarkets and online e-commerce platforms.