Improving livelihoods

Relocation of residents from the core protected areas of most national parks is speeding up.

Nearly 2,900 residents have been moved from the core protected area in Qilian Mountain National Park in Gansu province, Wang said.

They include herdsman Kang Yongsheng and his family, who were relocated in November 2017 along with other residents of Nangou village.

Wang said the government gave one herdsman from each family a job as a forest or grassland ranger in the national park. The job, together with government subsidies, pays 100,000 yuan ($14,240) a year, equal to the amount they could earn from raising livestock.

Kang's son and daughter-in-law now work as taxi drivers in Zhangye, Gansu, and the family's living conditions have improved significantly thanks to its relocation.

Building on his decades in the company of wildlife, the mountains, grasslands and rivers, Kang said he loved working as a forest ranger.

"Now every time I see the soft clouds floating in the air, and deer and blue sheep drinking water quietly on the river bank, a strong feeling of peace and pride overwhelms me," he said. "I guess it's because of the love of the mountains, which I've taken as my home."