Yuan Changxuan, deputy head of the forest industry development center in Tianzhu County of southwest China's Guizhou Province, has worked in the forest industry for three decades. A grass-roots deputy to the National People's Congress, he plans to recommend improvements to the social welfare benefits of forest rangers at the Two Sessions in Beijing next month. 

"By improving their corresponding social welfare, we can build a stable team of forest rangers so that they can make greater contributions to protecting the lucid waters and lush mountains of our country," Yuan said. 

China has employed more than 1.1 million forest rangers in its vast central and western regions since 2016, increasing their incomes and lifting their families out of poverty. 

These forest rangers work in the wild, carry out patrols and raise awareness of forest protection. According to the Guizhou Forestry Bureau, in 2021 alone, forest-related cases, such as illegal logging and hunting, dropped by 61 percent, said Yuan.

After the Spring Festival holiday, Yuan visited villages to learn about forest rangers' difficulties in their work and lives generally. He wants more rangers recruited and their salaries raised to enhance nature conservation.

In Tianzhu County, where the forest coverage is nearly 68 percent, raising chickens, keeping bees and planting herbs in the forest are the leading industries. 

(Cover image via screenshot.)

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