Farmers Paid to Restore Ecosystem

The nine-year-long campaign to restore farmland to forest has transformed approximately 27 million hectares, with the help of more than 100 million Chinese farmers. In 2007 the State Council allocated an additional RMB 210 billion to the compensation fund for farmers who have forfeited farmland to the project, increasing the total budget to RMB 430 billion. The farmland-to-forest policy was initiated in 1999 and implemented on a full scale in 2002. It encourages farmers to plant trees on farmland of a 25°or more gradient and on barren mountains. Participants receive government cash and grain subsidies.