Proactive actions are taken to pursue synergistic progress in biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction.
China has taken major steps in implementing the fundamental strategies for targeted poverty alleviation and elimination, fostering competitive resources to develop eco-industries while actively facilitating pilot and demonstration projects of biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction.
With a synergistic model of biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction designed with advantageous local bio-resources taken into consideration, these bio-resources are effectively protected while the poverty-stricken households have seen significant increase in their annual income.
In poverty alleviation through biodiversity, China focuses on specific local conditions in innovating development models and empowering industries with distinctive local features.
In Wufeng Tujia Ethnic Autonomous County in Hubei Province, a national-level impoverished county which is located in a key area of biodiversity, through a poverty reduction model featuring beekeeping and nectariferous plant farming in synergy with biodiversity conservation, 3,500 households are expected to shake off poverty, with an average income increase of over 5,000 yuan per household.
This case was selected as one of the 110 Cases of Global Best Practice in Poverty Reduction initiated jointly by the World Bank and the FAO.
Since 2016, Baqing Village of Weichang County, Hebei Province has been actively engaged in industrial projects of biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction, capitalizing on local climate and soil advantages.
A thriving economy empowered by eco-industries has taken shape with musk melons, trollius chinensis, selenium-rich organic potatoes and jerusalem artichoke generating higher income for the villagers.
Thanks to the sustained and steady progress in the industrial projects, the entire village shook off poverty by the end of 2019 and the comprehensive incidence of poverty reduced to 0.34%.
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