The Chinese forestry authority has hired over 1.1 million poverty-stricken people as forest rangers in its central and western regions, lifting over 3 million people out of poverty since 2016, officials said.

The statement was announced at a briefing on Monday by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA), the department in charge of protecting the country's forests, wetlands, grasslands, deserts, as well as wildlife. 

For years, remote areas with poor transportation have been a key in the nationwide campaign against poverty, as the country aims to end absolute poverty by the end of 2020. These areas with harsh natural conditions for people are also rich in wildlife, which falls within the domain of NFGA.

For the last five years, the Administration has been incorporating impoverished people living in remote areas into its ecology protection drive, hoping to help them financially as well as to implement the country's policy on preserving nature.

"This policy achieves employment on mountains, and jobs at door steps," said Yan Zhen, director of NFGA's Poverty-Alleviation Office referring to the fact that a large amount of forest rangers are hired to patrol the mountains where they live, enabling them to work near home without being relocated.

At the same time, NFGA has been building cooperatives in the central and western regions, organizations that employ poor people to plant trees and grass as part of the country's ecological restoration efforts.

"We have built over 23,000 such professional cooperatives in 22 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in central and western China, taking in over 1.6 million people registered on the country's poverty archive and putting an extra 3,000 yuan annually in each one's pocket by letting them participate in ecological construction," said Li Chunliang, deputy director of NFGA.