Decades of restoration revive Changting’s eroded hills

Decades of restoration have helped Changting County in Fujian province reduce the area affected by soil erosion by 1.1749 million mu, about 78,300 hectares. The county’s soil erosion rate has fallen from 31.47% to 6.31%, while forest cover stood at 79.55% at the end of 2025. Once among the worst-affected red-soil counties in southern China, its landscape now includes layered woodland, orchards and wetlands along the Ting River.

Recovery came through a locally developed sequence that reverses the order of degradation: sow grass first to cool and hold bare ground, then establish shrubs and finally trees. Some hillsides were also closed to disturbance and allowed to regenerate naturally. The approach was selected as an ecological restoration case at the 2021 UN biodiversity conference.

The greener landscape is producing income as well as holding soil. In 2025, businesses operating beneath forest canopies, including fungi, medicinal plants and poultry, generated 4.1 billion yuan and helped 26,000 forestry households increase their earnings. Three transactions tied to soil and water conservation benefits that year were worth 42.9 million yuan. Officials say the next phase will target remaining erosion sites, diversify restored forests and extend coordinated work across the Ting River basin.