Forest rangers find a 'new lease of life'

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The number 670 has been deeply engraved in Yin Minggui's mind, for that was how many days his wife was bed-ridden in a hospital due to an accident. He had to be with her and help her attend to her needs.

For years, he was the sole breadwinner of a family of four, though that has changed since he became a forest ranger two and a half years ago. It's been a life-changing job for him.

He now gets a stable income of 10,000 yuan a year from patrolling and managing nearby forests, preventing fires and natural disasters, all which help increase the ecological environment.

“Previously, I was relying on various small jobs. There could be days on end where I would have no work and no income,” Yin, an eco-ranger from Baiquan, a town in southwest China's Guizhou Province, told CGTN.

“Now, after my [forest] patrol work, I can go home to my wife. She had an accident years ago… but her condition is improving. My mother helps take care of her. Life is much better now.”

Yin Minggui helps his wife do daily exercises, who is slowly recovering from injuries in an accident. (CGTN/ photo)

Across China, 500,000 impoverished people have found employment as forest rangers, with 300,000 more hires in the pipeline.

It has given many of these ex-farmers an alternative, or “way out” of poverty.

According to the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, the program applies a targeted concept where one forest ranger is hired from a family and is able to lift his or her entire household out of poverty.

Statistics show that there are 60,000 ecological forest rangers in Guizhou Province - and this has increased the per capita income of 250,000 poverty-stricken families by 2,400 yuan a year.

“It's a ‘win-win' solution,” Qu Jia from the Finance Department of China's State Forestry and Grassland Administration said.

By offering jobs to these rangers to manage forests, they get income while at the same time the quality of forests is improving, he explained.

“This program has helped solve problems of rangers not being able to leave home, as they have to take care of the elderly, sick and home-bound,” Qu added.

Qu said that these forest rangers are free to find other jobs and means of income, as long as they complete their main responsibilities.

Meanwhile, the damage rate of forest fires in Guizhou Province has fallen by 93.4 percent – compared with that before the implementation of this program.

Cen Yisheng finds meaning in guarding his own backyard (CGTN/ photo)

Cen Yisheng, a 46-year old ethnic minority, feels strongly about taking care of his backyard.

“This is my home town, by protecting the environment and mountains, only then the water and air can be clean. Then we can promote tourism and attract future investments,” Cen said earnestly.

It is worth noting that many of these forest rangers also derive income from being shareholders in rural cooperatives. They also receive rural subsidies or allowances.

(Video filmed by Luo Caiwen)