Liming, China, January 2023
Summary of project goals
The Lisu and Naxi minorities in the small, isolated village of Liming need help to preserve their ancestral know-how of collecting and processing medicinal plants, in addition to planting fruit trees to provide environmental benefits for the soil, water, and biodiversity.
In 2019, A Tree for You launched a fundraising campaign among its donors to support the Liming project. This funded the planting of 2,980 trees in 2020. The goal is to have 2,600 long lasting trees by the end of 2022. The project is operated on the field by PUR Projet, A Tree for You‘s partner. Around 15 volunteer producers benefitting from the project. Most of them are women, since most of the men have left the village to find work in the city.
Overview of the different stages of the project
The initiative began in the field in January 2020, with a presentation of the project to the Liming producers and the selection of beneficiaries and species to be planted – in order to prepare the seedlings in the nurseries managed by the local cooperatives.
Between March and September 2020, the bulk of the project took place with the planting starting at the same time as the rainy season in the region. in the region. During this phase, species for economic and environmental purposes, as well as medicinal plants, were planted.
Numerous training sessions were held throughout the duration of the project:
- March 2020: training farmers in planting methods for economic trees
- July 2020: training farmers in planting methods environmental trees
- March 2021: training on agroforestry and tree ecology
- December 2021: training on tree maintenance
Following all these training sessions, the farmers significantly improved their ways of working. For instance, after the March 2020 training session, farmers collected branches and dead leaves and mixed them with farmyard manure to make compost, used to improve growth and reduce mortality rates of the economic trees.
Since October 2020, local technicians have been accompanying the beneficiaries in monitoring and maintaining the trees planted. One of their tasks is to monitor the survival rate of the trees.
Difficulties during the project
The project did experience several difficulties, which were overcome thanks to the determination, adaptability, and commitment of the local teams and beneficiaries.
COVID-19 took the world by surprise at the very beginning of the project. From January to mid-March 2020, the planting site in Liming village was held up, as was the case for other villages in China, due to the pandemic. Fortunately its slowdown in the province meant restrictions were relaxed in mid-March, so planning operations with our local partner could get going again. Health safety measures were quickly put in place so that the seedlings could be distributed to the Liming farmersahead of planting.
The region is also suffering from the impacts of climate change. Drought, in particular, is a major threat to the project since it affects the survival of saplings planted. Forest fires are a significant risk, too; in Yunnan they damaged more than 40 ha of land in April 2020. Since water scarcity is a ongoing challenge for the farmers in Liming village, during the project water pipes were laid to carry water from the natural spring on the top of the mountain (more than 3km from the village). The local community uses this source as drinking water for themselves, for their livestock and irrigation.
The project goals have been reached and the beneficiaries are delighted!
A total of 2,980 trees were planted by around 15 producers in the village of Liming.
The monitoring and good management of the difficulties encountered in the field led to a good survival rate for the trees. As a reminder, the goal was to plant 2,980 trees to obtain 2,600 long lasting trees. This objective was even slightly exceeded – a total of 2,686 trees were growing at the project end!
The project also planted 6,667 Paris Polyphylla, a valued Chinese medicinal plant.
The good survival rate is also down to good control of certain parameters, mainly the water supply. Thanks to the irrigation system installed in June 2020, the beneficiaries could irrigate the young fruit trees planted on their farmland at the same time as their crops. The environmental trees were planted during the rainy season, so the water supply was guaranteed.
Another success factor is the local partner – the Liming cooperative – which can provide better quality seedlings with support from cooperative or commercial nurseries.
Last but not least, during the project the local coordinators and beneficiaries gained further experience in agroforestry activities.
Feedback from a beneficiary:
Wenhua and his wife live with their three children. This family owns 7 mu (0.47 Ha) of farmland where they grow maize and potatoes, the main crops before this project. This family also has five pigs and 26 goats.
They were part of the Liming Afforestation Project in 2020 and planted 110 peach, 44 plum, 100 quince, 38 Sichuan pepper and 200 Yunnan Torreya trees, all in all totalling 492 economic and ecological trees. These trees are growing on the farmed land in an intra-plot pattern, as well as around the edges for greater planting density (often 2m x 2m).
“We are delighted to have taken part in the project since the fruit trees will provide extra income for the household and, in the future, deliver better yields with less manual work needed“.
And so, 3 years after the plantings, the project and its follow-up come to an end. A big THANK YOU for your support! Currently, a second phase of this project is being carried out in the field to continue supporting this initiative in the village of Liming in China.
