Tucked away in the hills and valleys of northwest Sichuan Province lies a village called Mouni in Songpan County. Just a couple of thousand of people live there, most of them of the Tibetan and Qiang ethnic groups. Almost all of them used to depend on profits from selling firewood, taken from the vast forests of their region, and government subsidies.

The Zhuojin Festival, an important part of local tourism project in Muni Township, Songpan County, Sichuan Province. [File photo]

Then the great flood of 1998, which caused tremendous economic damage and many deaths, alerted people's attention to the detrimental effects of over-logging in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The government banned commercial logging and established the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP) to rehabilitate and develop natural forests in 17 provinces and autonomous regions.

Today, Mouni villagers are taking advantage of their unique natural landscape in a different way. Taking advantage of their great natural landscape and strong cultural traditions, villagers now participate in developing the area's ecotourism industry. Since 2006, they have helped to develop activities like hikes and rides in the forests, educational programs that teach tourists how to farm and identify regional flora and fauna, and art exhibits to showcase their crafts.

Mouni is one of 58 villages in Hunan, Sichuan and Hainan provinces that have been developing and testing "alternative livelihood" programs that focus on sustainable management of natural forests. As part of the NFPP, the EU-China Natural Forest Management Project (NFMP) since 2003 has introduced new ways for people to live off their land and diversify their livelihood base while maintaining and preserving the quality of the environment.

"It's not enough that the government just made a policy to ban the cutting," said Peter Hess, the German expert of the NFMP, saying the key is to balance between the environment and social interests.

Besides ecotourism, the EU and China have invested 225 million yuan in the NFMP to develop sustainable local economies focusing on beekeeping, bamboo resources, renewable rural energy technologies, agricultural development and forest pastures.

"All of the projects focus on the sustainable use and development of forests, and they have improved local people's livings," said Zhang Junzuo, NFMP's community development coordinator. "All the experiences will be used in large-scale area and contribute to China's natural forest management."

The program will end this June, and the government hopes to continue to implement more projects.

"One of the biggest achievements during the years is that we have changed people's understanding about protecting forests," said Liu Xinjun, from Yanling Forest Bureau of Hunan.

"Many farmers thought we were going to cut into their livings when we started the program," he said. "We worked to change their mind through education and communication. The initiative is essential for the project to keep going in the following years."

Sun Yagen, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, said from 2011 China will continue to implement new natural forest protection projects to make greater contributions in the fight against climate change.

"We may not see obvious changes right now," Hess said. "But it's a gradual progress, and we can't stop working on that. After 10 years, people will know that everything we are doing today is worthwhile."

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