"It has been 17 years since Chongqing first implemented the project of returning cultivated land into forests," said Wu Ya, head of the Chongqing Municipality Forestry Bureau, on July 17.

As one of the largest projects of ecological construction and industrial development in Chongqing, the Grain for Green Project has improved the environment and helped local foresters and farmers shake off poverty.

As a result, the total forest coverage in Chongqing reached up to 45.4 percent at the end of 2016, seeing an increase of 22.4 percent more than in 1999.

Liao Xiuyun, director of the Chongqing Management Center of the Grain for Green Project, introduced that the project covered a total area of 19.26 million mu (1.28 million hectares) in Chongqing during the year of 2000 to 2008, including returning 6.61 mu of farmland to forests.

Farmers harvest honeysuckles in the Xiushan production base. [Photo/Xinhua]

According to the Monitoring Report on the Eco-efficiency of the Grain for Green Project in 2016, the project realized an eco-efficiency service value of 114.2 billion yuan ($16.87 billion), with the annual total water conservation amount reaching 4.6 billion cubic meters and soil conservation reaching 150 million tons in 2016.

Wu Ya said, "The industrial forests developed as a result of the project lay the foundation for foresters to get rid of poverty and increase incomes."

Local farmers harvest oranges in the Zhong county production base. [Photo/Xinhua]

Statistics revealed that Chongqing has built a batch of ecological production bases thanks to the project at a total area of 7.5 million mu. Special production bases, including Xiushan's honeysuckle base, Wanzhou's lemon base, and Zhong county's orange base, have sprung up in the city.

By the end of 2016, the total income for forest industrial bases reached 5.29 billion yuan. Special countryside tourism has also brought locals more than 1.31 biliion yuan in revenue.

The Wanzhou lemon production base in Chongqing. [Photo/Xinhua]

Edited by Zachary Dye