Climate Change: China’s tree breeders are coming up with a business model to make money while doing right by the environment
- At Fenglin in Jiangxi province, 70 per cent of revenue comes from selling various products harvested from pine trees
- The remainder of the income comes from carbon credits, Fenglin’s general manager says
Late last year, Chinese scientists published an article in the internationally renowned journal Cell, uncovering the genetic code and the molecular mechanisms regulating the evolution of Pinus tabulaeformis, a coniferous tree native to China.
The study, led by Beijing Forestry University’s researchers, was hailed as a scientific breakthrough in the cultivation of pine trees by thousands of breeders, including Wang Lianmau of Jiangxi Fenglin Investment.
“With this breakthrough, trees can grow faster and stronger, and be less susceptible to pests and diseases,” said Wang, general manager of the company with 350,000 mu (23,000 hectares) of plantation in southeastern China’s Jiangxi province. “The selection and breeding of new fast-growing varieties with high yield, high timber quality and strong [disease] resistance is an effective means of improving productivity and expanding forest resources.”
Fenglin is talking with the researchers to uncover the genetic codes for two species of trees on its plantation, mainly Pinus elliottii and Pinus kesiya, he said, using 21st century technology to augment the development of forestry as carbon sinks.