Liming, China, December 2020
In 2020, A Tree For You, in partnership with PUR Projet, planted 2,900 trees with the farming community of Liming, a village in the Chinese province of Yunnan. The project involved a total of 22 households (about 120 people in total) in restoring an area of 4.3 hectares. After a first wave of planting in April and May, during which economic species (fruit trees) were planted, the summer was devoted to planting environmental species, in the middle of the rainy season.
Planting environmental species, irrigating seedlings and training
In the spring, the Pinus Armandii – a pine tree endemic to northwestern Yunnan – seedlings were handed over to the local nursery, managed by the cooperative, to acclimatise them to local conditions. They thus joined the seedlings of Yunnan Torreya, a species protected nationwide.
In June, introductory training sessions on agroforestry and environmental issues were also organised to motivate farmers to participate in the project, and so discuss with them about the guiding principles of the project. About 30 people took part in this training.
In July, once the rainy season arrived, planting started on the slopes of Mount Liming, which had been deforested in the 1980s due to uncontrolled growth of the Chinese economy. The environmental trees are planted on collective forestland belonging to the village, whose right of use is jointly owned by all the farmers in the hamlet. Summer planting is therefore a group activity involving all the villagers; 18 households participated in July.
Around the same time, an irrigation system was set up to combat drought at the beginning of the rainy season. Using this system, recently planted fruit trees and environmental saplings were irrigated once when planted then whenever necessary (over one month without rain was recorded in Liming in 2020).
Example of income diversification: Mr. Que’s story
Mr Que, a Liming villager, has taken part in the planting programme launched by PUR Projet for several years and in 2020 benefited from the support from A Tree for You donors. He shares his experience…
On six plots of land (totalling 36 mu, or 2.4 ha), Mr Que has planted six species of fruit trees, medicinal plants, and rears livestock. Branching out activities and tree species boosts the economic resilience of the farm and diversifies biodiversity on his plots. In 2021, Mr Que estimates that selling Auclandia costus, a medicinal plant, for the first time could increase his annual income by about 7%. In three years he will also be able to sell Gentiana macrophylla and Aconitum carmichaelii (other medicinal plants), Sichuan pepper as well as green pepper, and finally wild peaches.
Income diversification is vital for the project sustainability. The community is motivated to maintain the trees and plant new ones thanks to this income. Moreover, the revenue generated by the trees (mainly fruit and nuts) is significantly higher than that from other traditional crops – yet another motivating factor.
Highest survival rate since the project began
In November 2020, the local team launched the survival rate monitoring campaign. Each tree on each plot is observed and counted, the causes of mortality per species identified, and GPS tracking conducted for the plots planted in 2020.
A total of 25 plots have been planted, with an average survival rate of 98%, the highest survival rate at this time of year since the project began in 2013!
The high survival rate results from good control of certain parameters, mainly the water supply. Although the usual dry season in the village of Liming lasted until mid-July, farmers were still able to irrigate the fruit tree saplings planted on their farmland at the same time as their crops. Since the environmental trees were planted during the wet season, the water supply was guaranteed. Another success factor is that the local partner – the Liming cooperative – has gained a wealth of experience during its eight-year partnership with PUR Projet and can supply high quality seedlings supported by cooperative or commercial nurseries. Finally, the local coordinators and farmers have greater experience in agroforestry activities.
Monitoring will be needed next year to check this trend and obtain more information on performance of the trees, since the saplings must indeed face plenty more challenges, as winter and its cold weather fast approaches.
