Reporters learned from the Anhui Provincial Forestry Bureau that Anhui Province has been vigorously developing the under‑forest (forest‑understory) economy. Currently, the province's under‑forest economic activities cover more than 14 million mu (Over 930,000 hectares) of forest land, forming distinct industry clusters such as forest wellness and eco‑tourism in southern Anhui, riverbank forest fungi and vegetable production in the Jianghuai region, and authentic under‑forest medicinal herbs in western Anhui.

The province has been scientifically planning industrial layouts and actively developing specialty under‑forest industries, aiming to build a multi‑dimensional development model of "harvesting above the canopy, planting beneath the canopy, breeding within the woods, and recreation among the trees." Efforts include strengthening diversified spatial operations, piloting the transfer and registration of under‑forest land‑use rights, and tapping more and higher‑quality revenue‑generating under‑forest opportunities. State‑owned forests and national reserve forests have been positioned as new frontiers for under‑forest development to promote appropriately scaled operations and break the constraints of fragmented, small‑scale development. Local resource endowments guide differential strategies, deepening the integration of "various industries + culture and tourism" and actively cultivating new business formats and scenarios.

An integrated "government‑industry‑academia‑research‑finance‑service‑use" collaboration platform has been actively built, promoting technology services under the model of "farmers place orders, experts deliver solutions." The province has appointed 1,121 forestry science and technology envoys and carried out 18,125 technology service events to provide strong technical support for under‑forest economic development. Capitalizing on digitalization and intelligence trends, Anhui is driving AI‑enabled forestry applications and piloting artificial intelligence in key links such as tree planting, resource management, and product processing, while accelerating forestry mechanization. To strengthen operating entities, the province is cultivating leaders through measures like transplanting leading enterprises, nurturing local players, and integrating digital nomads. So far, 176 provincial‑level or higher leading enterprises have been established, along with 41 national under‑forest economy demonstration bases, 4 national forest wellness bases, and over 2,000 under‑forest agricultural cooperatives, collectively empowering nearly 2 million forest farmers to participate in the under‑forest economy.

Source: Anhui Daily