Changing lives
After years of guiding visitors through the park, Wang has come to see Potatso's story not only as one of forests and wildlife, but of people learning to live alongside nature.
For generations, local Tibetan, Yi, Naxi and Lisu communities depended on the surrounding forests for timber and grazing. Today, many residents have become partners in conservation.
The park provides about 17 million yuan annually in direct compensation to 30 surrounding villages, benefiting more than 4,500 villagers from over 1,000 households. It has also created more than 340 permanent positions, 99 percent of which are held by local residents, as well as more than 500 seasonal jobs during peak tourism periods.
Some former loggers now work as rangers, protecting the same forests they once harvested. Others perform traditional Tibetan songs and dances for visitors, preserving local culture while earning income.
In Langrong village, residents share dividends from a jointly operated guesthouse, with each household receiving about 25,000 yuan a year.
"People ask me how we measure success," Wei says, walking past a poplar tree scarred by lightning and fire but still alive.
"It is not just the data. It is things like this."
He touches the trunk gently. "This tree was hit by lightning. Most of it died. But one strip of bark kept it alive. It reminds us that resilience can come from a single thread."
The park has also supported education in surrounding communities, providing scholarships totaling 2.67 million yuan for 1,189 students from high school to university.
For many families, this support has been life-changing. One local ranger described the shift simply: before, he cut wood to sell. Now he walks the same forest and gets paid to protect it — and his children can go to school because of it.
