Sustainable livelihoods

A change in bee keeping brings more honey and saves forests.

New bee keeping method brings more honey and saves forests in panda habitat Left to Right: 1. Xia Baoyi, traditional beekeeper in the Baima tribal community. Wanglang Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province, China. 2. New way of bee breeding brings more benefit for local farmer as the output of honey is twice times than old way. It also preserves forests as the old system requires a new log every year.
© WWF-Canon / Claire DOOLE, WWF China

A pepper plantation in Xuebaoding Nature Reserve, Sichuan, China.

Carrefour helps communities living in the panda habitat promote their environmentally friendly products.

Since the logging ban in 1998, many people have turned to the harvest of medicinal plants, used in traditional Chinese medicines, and hunting of wildlife as alternative means of survival.

WWF, together with the Chinese government, is working to reduce the negative impact of medicinal plant harvesting and poaching, by developing innovative approaches to conservation, that provide local peoples with sustainable alternatives.

These activities are being limited as WWF and the Chinese government are providing sustainable alternatives.

Selling to a global market
WWF helped to broker a deal with Carrefour, Europe's largest retailer, which has helped people find a market for their locally grown goods, such as honey, pepper, walnuts and potatoes. Carrefour sell the produce in their stores in Chengdu.

Carrefour has been a member of WWF-China’s Corporate Partnership Programme since 2002.

Liu, the supervisor for the pepper growing industry in Baihe Nature Reserve in Sichuan province, talks about the positive impact that pepper has had on the local economy and the environment. Press play