Baihualing Village is located at the foot of Gaoligong Mountains. On December 8, 1995, the Farmers Biodiversity Conservation Association of Gaoligong Mountains was founded in the village. In its 32-year-old history, the association has witnessed the protection and development of the Gaoligong Mountain Nature Reserve. 

“Since the establishment of the association, there has been great changes. The staff members from the nature reserve administration bureau visited villages and households to promote the importance and benefits of protecting the mountain, water and forest. They conducted trainings and lead us to grow coffee and orange. In the past two decades, membership of the association has increased from 65 to 151 with the youngest member being only 18 years old. The association led the 28 surrounding villages in establishing a forest co-management committee,” said Zhang Fuyou, deputy director of the Gaoligong Mountains Nature Reserve Baoshan Bureau. According to him, multiple international cooperation projects and national bio-forest subsidiary projects have been implemented in Baihualing to help local communities to create new income sources and find a way of protecting resources through community development.

In 2016, there were 567 households of 2,467 people in Baihualing. They generated an average income of 10,860 yuan per capita by growing coffee, oranges, by raising silkworms, developing animal husbandry and of course organizing bird watching tours. 

(Tan Jingchun)