Muling’s forests after the logging era

On 1 April 2014, the Muling forest region stopped commercial logging of natural forests. Work shifted toward guarding, tending, thinning and planting. By 2022, the protection network included five stations, 17 patrol teams, 42 wildlife-feeding sites and more than 540 infrared cameras. In January 2016, ranger Wang Daohui used camera footage to record a wild tiger in Muling. Across the bureau's management history, forest restoration covered 90,800 hectares and tending covered 160,100 hectares. Certification also became part of the change: Muling began sustainable-forest-management certification in 2008, received Chinese Forest Certification in 2013, and in 2018 renewed its forest-management certificate while bringing six categories of non-timber products into the system. By 2023, certified management covered 240,000 hectares, including 74,600 hectares designated high-conservation-value forest.

A newer economy has grown around forest foods while the forest itself remains the basis of production. By 2025, Muling's forest-food portfolio included ginseng, black fungus, honey, pine nuts and fresh corn. Ginseng grows in forest soil, black fungus is cultivated on broadleaf sawdust, and beekeeping takes place near protected areas. That year, 2,338.8 mu were planted with ginseng, black fungus cultivation reached 15.859 million bags and the region supported 28,000 bee colonies. Forest foods make the managed landscape productive in a new way, with certification and ecological duties shaping the supply chain.