Recently, during the opening ceremony of Zhejiang Week at the Osaka Expo’s China Pavilion, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, and the Zhejiang Provincial Government jointly released Zhejiang’s practice cases of the “Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains Are Invaluable Assets” concept. Among them, the story of Yunhe Terraced Fields’ “ecological transformation” was featured as one of the five key case studies.

With a history spanning over 1,000 years, Yunhe Terraced Fields cover a total area of 23.54 square kilometers, making them the largest terraced field cluster in East China. Centered around stepped paddy wetlands, they integrate subalpine marsh meadows, river wetlands, woodlands, and villages, forming a unique landscape that harmonizes “mountains, waters, forests, fields, and grasslands”. Known for their “thousand-layer terraces, thousand-meter elevation drop, and thousand-year history”, these fields are a natural masterpiece.

In recent years, leveraging the Ou River ecological restoration project, Yunhe County has actively promoted wetland rehabilitation in Yunhe Terraced Fields National Wetland Park. Today, the park boasts 20 wetland vegetation communities, 296 species of wetland vascular plants, two nationally protected Class I wild animal species, and 23 Class II protected species. This has created a virtuous ecological cycle: “lush forests → soil conservation → bountiful terraces → increased biodiversity, including bird species”.

To transform ecological beauty into economic prosperity, Yunhe has pursued two key strategies. First, it promotes integrated agricultural, cultural, and tourism development, introducing geographically indicated products like “Terraced Field Three Treasures” (terraced rice, artisanal liquor, and aged tea) to enhance agricultural value. Second, it expands symbiotic economies, investing in village revitalization around the terraces and developing 500+ acres of “rice+” industries, such as rice-fish, rice-loach, rice-snail, and rice-turtle co-cultivation. This forms an industrial pathway of “government guidance + enterprise participation + farmer benefits”.

The Yunhe Terraced Fields scenic area now attracts 1 million annual visitors, driving income growth across the southern mountainous region (nearly one-third of the county’s area) and benefiting over 40,000 residents. Tourism-related value-added output has grown by an average of 8.51% annually, allowing more villagers to enjoy the ecological dividends of the terraces right at their doorsteps.