CIFOR-ICRAF has been officially registered in China since 2001 and has over 50 staff in the country. In partnership with the Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB) we jointly operate the Centre for Mountain Futures (CMF) in Kunming, Yunnan Province, and with the Institute of Animal Science (IAS) of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS) we have a joint laboratory on agroforestry and sustainable animal husbandry in Beijing. In 2017, CMF was awarded 200 hectares of land in Honghe County, Yunnan Province to build a field station to train locals from industry, educational institutions, and villages in best practices for agroecology and financial sustainability.
Major research areas include circular agriculture systems, mountain agroforestry demonstrations and rural revitalization, living germplasm resources, ecological restoration of arid and degraded landscapes, agroecological monitoring systems, fungal taxonomy (using cultivated mushrooms for improving soil health, rural income and nutrition), and long-term research on climate change, including the creation of ecological calendars based on future climate scenarios using local traditional knowledge.
COUNTRY FOCAL POINT
Key outcomes:
- Development of a comprehensive new system for evidence-based mushroom classification (2021).
- The Centre for Mountain Futures research team contributed to 44% of all new fungal species discoveries in Asia and 23% of new fungal species worldwide, making it a global leader in fungal taxonomy (2020).
- Categorization of 803 fungal species from the Greater Mekong Subregion to examine how fungal diversity will change under future climate change scenarios (2020).
- Restoration of dry-hot landscapes through large-scale agroforestry demonstrations across 200 ha in Honghe Valley, a remote impoverished region in China’s southwest.
- Empowerment of local communities in China, India, Nepal and Thailand, with a focus on training women and ethnic minorities in agroforestry techniques and edible and medicinal mushroom cultivation.
- Mountain Futures base in Honghe named an official Scientific Youth Exploration Site for the 15th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15).
- Ecological restoration of a large-scale open-pit phosphate mine near Kunming since 2016.
National partners
- China Agricultural Policy Research Centre
- China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Metals, Minerals and Chemicals
- China International Economic and Technical Exchange Centre
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
- Hong Kong Community Partners
- Honghe County Fengjunyuan Agricultural Development Co. Ltd.
- Honghe County Fengmaoyuan Edible Mushrooms Professional Cooperative
- Honghe County Government
- Mountain Futures Professional Cooperative
- Mountain Futures Technology Co. Ltd.
- Nabanhe National Nature Reserve
- National Climate Centre – China
- Shenzhen Huada Institute of Life Sciences
- Suzhou University
- Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanica Garden (XTBG)
- Yixing Zhongchang Yarn-dye Co. Ltd.
- Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences (YASS)
- Yunnan Agricultural University
- Yunnan Province Department of Environmental Conservation
- Yunnan Province Department of Science and Technology
- Yunnan University
- Yuntianhua Group Ltd.
International partners
- Aga Khan Foundation (AKF)
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- Chiang Mai University, Thailand
- Department for International Development of the United Kingdom
- German Technical Cooperation Corporation
- Global Land Forum (GLF)
- Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand
- Ministry of Forestry of Myanmar
- Ministry of Forests and Environment of Nepal
- Mountain Partnership (MP)
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
- United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC)
- University of Central Asia, Tajikistan
- Yezin Forestry University, Myanmar
Latest updates
Publications
Videos
Presentations
News
Projects
Contact us
Jianchu Xu
Regional Coordinator, East and Central Asia
Centre for Mountain Futures
c/o Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences
3/F North Research Building
Heilongtan, 650201 Kunming, Yunnan Province
The People’s Republic of China
Tel: +86 871 6522 3014
Email: cmes@mail.kib.ac.cn