Hainan's Baisha county preserves environment, improves livelihood with relocations (9)

Fu Wangqing (2nd L, front row) and his family, all residents of Gaofeng Village in Baisha Li Autonomous County in south China's Hainan Province, pose for photo in front of their old residence, Dec. 15, 2020. Gaofeng Village sits in central part of the Yinggeling National Nature Reserve, almost isolated from the outer world due to poor condition of mountainous trails. More than 100 families in the village had been living in deep poverty before 2015 as many of them had no access to electricity, mobile telecommunication, and Internet services. They nearly had no alternative source of income apart from rubber plantations. The first round of relocation was initiated in 2015 in Gaofeng Village both to preserve the ecological environment and to improve the residents' income, and 30 families moved to their new residence at foot of the hills in 2017. The second round of relocation followed in 2018 when authorities of Hainan Province decided to start a pilot rainforest national park there. The 100 families remaining in Gaofeng Village were relocated to their new residence merely 3 kilometers away from the prefecture seat of Baisha in December 2020. The local authorities offered 10 mu (or 0.67 hectares) of rubber plantation to each relocated villager, and provided employment and profit-sharing opportunities through edible fungi growing bases. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)