Ecological Compensation-assisted Relocation in Extreme Poverty-stricken Counties in China's Ecologically Vulnerable Areas: Taking Dongchuan District of Yunnan Province as an Example

Ecology-oriented poverty alleviation is not only a livelihood project that affects the vast majority of rural people but also a major project to win the fight against poverty. It is also an indispensable income component for the relocation of poor farmers. Dongchuan District, located at the intersection of Jinsha River and Xiaojiang River, is one of the key counties for poverty alleviation and development in China with a wide range of poverty and extreme poverty. The incidence of poverty reached 24.36%. The ecology is fragile, and earthquake outbreaks frequently. Dongchuan District is a national key monitoring and defense area for earthquakes. A large number of goafs, subsidence areas and geological hazard areas have been formed in the mining area. The number of dangerous houses is large, and “it has no way of supporting its own inhabitants” is the key point, difficulty and focus of the county’s poverty alleviation. Relocation is a must-have measure to move away from poverty. It is also complex system engineering, which is policy-oriented and difficult. Since 2017, Dongchuan District has regarded relocation has the top priority for poverty alleviation. It has strictly implemented national, provincial and municipal policies, focused on the overall goal of “moving, securing and getting rich”, and strongly promoted the relocation work for poverty alleviation. Obvious social, economic and ecological benefits have been achieved. Successful relocation, combined with ecology-oriented poverty alleviation and other targeted poverty alleviation measures, Dongchuan District’s fight against poverty has achieved a decisive victory. At the end of December 2018, the incidence of poverty in the region fell to 1.09%, and 129 poor villages (including 86 extremely poor villages) had been successfully lifted out of poverty. This paper analyzes and condenses the specific practices, main achievements, benefits, successful experiences and implications of the region’s relocation combined with ecology-oriented poverty alleviation model, so as to provide necessary reference for the innovation of relocation in poverty-stricken counties of Yunnan Province and similar provinces (cities, districts).