From logger to forest ranger

Throughout his life, Zhou Yizhe, 57, has worked with trees in a number of ways, using different tools.

For 35 years, he worked as a logger, cutting down trees with an ax and a saw. He then picked up a shovel and planted trees. Now, as a national lawmaker, he uses his pen and laptop to draft suggestions, calling for greater efforts in protecting trees.

At the annual session of China's national legislature, President Xi Jinping praised Zhou for his transition.

"Your identity shift from a logger to a forest ranger epitomizes our country's transformation in industrial structures," Xi told Zhou during deliberations with fellow lawmakers from North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region on March 5.

Zhou works on a forest farm in the Greater Hinggan Mountains of Inner Mongolia.

In 2012, as the country raised the vision of building a "beautiful China", with ecological progress included in its integrated plan for development, some 16,000 loggers in the region shifted their roles to forest rangers in the Greater Hinggan Mountains.

Inner Mongolia has more than 100,000 square kilometers of State-owned forestry zones, roughly the same land area as Iceland. It was a major timber-production base, fueling the country's construction of infrastructure and other sectors for decades.

Amid the increasing awareness of environmental protection and sustainable development, China started capping timber production in the late 1990s and natural forest logging in the Greater Hinggan Mountains was fully banned in 2015.

Tree fellers like Zhou turned into rangers. As part of the country's green transformation, China has created tens of thousands of State-funded posts focused on protecting grasslands, forests and wetlands.

Unlike in the past, when farmworkers only got six months' pay for logging in autumn and winter, these people now have work all year long. Their income of up to 60,000 yuan ($9,270) a year is three times the amount they earned in 2015.

Zhou takes a two-hour ride by shuttle bus to get to the forest and walks five to six hours a day. His job includes planting trees, patrolling, spotting fire risks and protecting trees through pest-and disease-prevention measures.

"With our afforestation efforts, we have built a green 'Great Wall'," Zhou says, adding that more wild animals, including roe deer and bears, are found roaming in the woods.

Zhou was elected as a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress, the country's top legislature, in 2018. Before he headed to Beijing for the annual session of the NPC, he visited the Inner Mongolia Agricultural University to consult on questions about building fire barriers in natural forests.

Bai Yu'e, a forestry professor at the university, says: "We discussed planting fire-resistant trees, and I advised him on cultivating new breeds with biotechnology and genetic-engineering methods."

At this year's two sessions, Zhou offered suggestions about road construction for fire control, as well as improve telecommunication networks in forests. He says natural forests are often hit by lightning, and it is necessary to ensure that fire trucks can access forests using paved roads.

Zhou's busy schedule doesn't allow him to spend much time with his family. His grandson is a first-grader in Hohhot. Zhou will retire soon, but he is glad to see more young graduates being recruited to the forest farm.

"With the younger generation taking over the job of forest ranger, I'll have more time to spend with my little one after retirement," he says.

Xinhua