Editor's note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world.

Balanced approach ensures healthy ecology, while boosting rural economy

More than 30 years of ecological restoration work has transformed Zhuofu's barren hills into grassland and boosted economic development in Weining Yi-Hui-Miao autonomous county, Bijie city, Guizhou province.

In the 1980s, after conducting a thorough investigation, Ren Jizhou, a grassland ecologist and academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, proposed improving both the ecology and productivity of the grassland.

In 1986, Zhuofu grassland was established as a testing, demonstration and promotion base for a grassland animal husbandry system project. The theory and practice developed from the experiment have since been widely applied in pastoral areas and resulted in huge economic benefits.

Ren, now in his late 90s, founded the "animal product unit" index for assessing grassland productivity, putting an end to the difficulty of comparing different animal by-products.

After aerial seeding of Zhuofu was undertaken, the sparse hills gradually became covered with grass shoots and the area eventually gained the appearance of a prairie.