Dulongjiang Township: Poverty Alleviation Combined with Eco-Environmental Conservation

Dulongjiang Township: Poverty Alleviation Combined with Eco-Environmental Conservation

The Dulongjiang Township in Gongshan Derung and Nu Autonomous County of Yunnan Province is located in the border region near Myanmar. It is the only place in China with a compact community of the Derung ethnic group. Of the 4,272 local residents, 99 percent are ethnic Derung.

The township has a unique geography and abundant wildlife. Its forest coverage is as high as 93 percent. More than 1,000 higher plant species and 1,151 wild animal species have been discovered, making the Dulong River Basin a museum of natural landforms, a gene pool of biological species, and the last primitive land in Yunnan.

Restricted by natural conditions and social development, the Derung people had long lived in a primitive state of slash-and-burn farming. Their primitive lifestyle left more and more mountains barren, and the people had to struggle for a living. The yearly per capita net income was only 1,255 yuan in 2011.

Thanks to China's natural forest protection initiative and policies on turning marginal farmland to forests, the mountains have once more become green, and the waters turned clear. But there remained imbalance between eco-environmental conservation and the daily needs of the people. This presented a real challenge to the local authorities.

The question was how to escape poverty while still protecting the eco-environment. The answer lay in how to develop in parallel with protection and escape poverty through development. Based on local conditions, the local authorities decided to take protection as the guideline, and develop special businesses and border tourism, with support from the state eco-compensation policy and external assistance.

Thanks to the eco-compensation policy, the poor people with the capacity to work can earn a stable income by serving as forest rangers or doing other environment-related work. They have also changed their traditional lifestyle, and begun to use electricity instead of firewood. Their participation in local eco-environmental restoration projects and eco-businesses also earns them service payments. By the end of 2018, the Derung people had escaped poverty as a whole ethnic group.

云南贡山县独龙江生态扶贫

云南省贡山独龙族怒族自治县独龙江乡地处中缅和滇藏结合部，是全国唯一的独龙族聚居地，国境线长达97.30千米，全乡总人口4272人，99%为“直过民族”独龙族。独龙江乡具有独特的自然地理环境和丰富的动植物资源。目前，森林覆盖率高达93.10%，独龙江流域已发现高等植物1000多种、野生动物1151种，是名副其实的自然地貌博物馆、生物物种基因库、“云南旅游的最后一片原始秘境”。

受特殊的自然条件和社会发育程度制约，过去，云南独龙江乡独龙族群众靠“轮歇烧荒、刀耕火种、广种薄收”等生产生活方式艰难度日。传统的生产生活方式导致独龙江乡的“树越砍越少，山越烧越秃”，群众却一直在“贫困线”上挣扎，到2011年独龙族群众人均纯收入仅为1255元。国家实施天然林保护、退耕还林政策后，山绿了、水清了，而生态保护和独龙族群众生存的矛盾依然突出。正确处理好生态环境保护与群众脱贫致富之间的关系，是当地党委、政府历来高度重视的工作。

破解独龙江乡生态保护与群众脱贫致富矛盾的基本思路，是在保护中发展，在发展中脱贫。当地党委、政府立足乡情、广泛论证，提出“生态立乡、产业富乡、科教兴乡、边境民族文化旅游活乡”的发展思路，在保护优先的前提下发展林下特色产业和实施生态补偿政策，并通过外部力量的帮助，激发当地群众的内生动力，实现就地脱贫一批。实施生态补偿政策，让有劳动能力的贫困人口就地转成护林员或生态保护人员，实现工资性的稳定收入；实施“以电代柴”项目，改变传统的生产生活方式；成立生态产业合作社，让群众通过参与生态修复工程和生态产业项目，就地实现劳务收入。2018年年底，独龙江乡独龙族实现整族脱贫，这是习近平生态文明思想的生动实践。