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The Sustainable Forest - China [2011]

33 images Created 6 Aug 2013

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Approximately 75 percent of commercially harvested traditional Chinese medicine comes from the mountainous forests of the upper Yangtze region. It's a vast harvest that generates over $10 billion in revenue each year and accounts for nearly 25 percent of China's medical industry. As a result, over-harvesting to meet China rising demand for TCM, has damaged forest ecosystems in Sichuan.
This industry, however, plays a significant role in local people's incomes, presenting the challenge of protecting forest ecosystems, promoting sustainable management and conservation of medicinal plants, while at the same time helping local people secure their livelihoods.
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  • A young girl in a town in Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-011.JPG
  • A construction site in Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-014.JPG
  • A highway under construction in the mountains near Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-007.JPG
  • A man holds a jar of traditional Chinese medicine in a store in Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China. Unregulated harvesting of plants for use in TCM have been blamed for damaging the forests in the region.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-017.JPG
  • A local farmer brings tree bark, used for traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), into the EU-China Biodiversity Program-sponsored center that aims to control and monitor the amount of TCM harvested from the local forests. Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-027.JPG
  • Chinese medicine brought into the collection center in Pingwu County, Sichuan. It is estimated that 75 percent of commercially harvested traditional Chinese medicine comes from the mountainous forests of the upper Yangtze region.  Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-020.JPG
  • Local men toast one another during a lunch. The red alcohol which they consume is a home-brewed 'moonshine' made from a traditional Chinese medicinal plant called wuweizi that is harvested from local forests. These men claim that consumption of alcohol is good for the stomach and liver. Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-030.JPG
  • Chinese medicine brought into the collection center in Pingwu County, Sichuan. It is estimated that 75 percent of commercially harvested traditional Chinese medicine comes from the mountainous forests of the upper Yangtze region.  Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-019.JPG
  • A man walks through the mountainous forests in Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-039.JPG
  • Felled tree in a forest in northern Sichuan Province. Although a logging ban has been in effect since 1998, deforestation still takes place on a local level in the mountains of northern Sichuan. Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-038.JPG
  • Crops grow on a crumbling hillside in the mountains of Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-041.JPG
  • A man carries a satellite dish through  forest in Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-040.JPG
  • A view of the mountainous forests of Pingwu County in northern Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-043.JPG
  • A woman walks along a mountain track. Many of the forested slopes in northern Sichuan have been converted into either maize fields (foreground) or to commercially grow traditional Chinese medicine (center left). Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-045.JPG
  • Local men smoke in their home in a small village in Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-050.JPG
  • A young girl plays in a stream in the forested mountains of Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-047.JPG
  • A man in his home in a remote village in the mountains of Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-052.JPG
  • Piles of wood lie next to a small stream running through the forests of northern Sichuan. Many locals from mountainous rural communities still rely on harvesting wood from the forests for heating and cooking.  Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-048.JPG
  • A woman digs up weeds from her field of maize nestled in the forested mountains. Many local farmers have cleared forested areas in order to plant maize. These fields are a common site on the mountainsides, creating a patchwork of vegetation cover between these agricultural lands and the remaining forests. Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-057.JPG
  • A local man carries a felled tree back to his village in the mountains of northern Sichuan. Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-062.JPG
  • Recently cut trees in a forest in Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-060.JPG
  • A woman and child in the forests of Pingwu County in northern Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-063.JPG
  • A woman and child in the forests of Pingwu County in northern Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-068.JPG
  • A man in the forests of Pingwu County in northern Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-067.JPG
  • The southwest forests of China are classified as one of the world's biodiversity hotspots. The relationship is fragile between people who call this land home and the local flora and fauna. Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-074.JPG
  • Traditional Chinese medicine is collected from the forests by locals, often unregulated and unchecked. Unsustainable harvesting is still a problem throughout Sichuan as demand for the medicine increases each year.  Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-084.JPG
  • A man stands amongst a collection of bee hives in the forests of Pingwu County in northern Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-089.JPG
  • A man stands amongst a collection of bee hives in the forests of Pingwu County in northern Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-092.JPG
  • As China's rapid economic development continues, modernization through roads and infrastructure spreads to some of the country's most remote regions, increasing the ability to access the resources which these regions contain. Pingwu County, Sichuan Province. China
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-099.JPG
  • A man drinks tea in a small village in Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-100.JPG
  • Children collect tea leaves from a plantation nestled in the remote mountain valleys of northern Sichuan. Tea plantations are some of the projects being targeted by the EU-China Biodiversity Program to promote sustainable harvesting in the region.  Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-115.JPG
  • A woman holds tea leaves collected from a plantation nestled in the remote mountain valleys of northern Sichuan. Tea plantations are some of the projects being targeted by the EU-China Biodiversity Program to promote sustainable harvesting in the region.  Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-110.JPG
  • A woman holds tea leaves collected from a plantation nestled in the remote mountain valleys of northern Sichuan. Tea plantations are some of the projects being targeted by the EU-China Biodiversity Program to promote sustainable harvesting in the region.  Pingwu County in Sichuan Province, south-west China.
    China-Forests-Pingwu-11-15-125.JPG
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