The major Forest Protection in Yunnan Agricultural University established in response to the call of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China for the construction of ecological civilization and the green development concept that clear water and green mountains are treasures. It aims to cultivate professional personnel in forest protection and resource utilization for the country by relying on the rich forest resources in Southwest China and the theory and technology of biodiversity control of our university.

The Forest Protection specialty in Yunnan Agricultural University is the third specialty after the Plant Protection, and Animal and Plant Quarantine in the College of Plant Protection. Although enrollment has only begun since 2013, it has obvious school running advantages and characteristics, since the discipline established base on the highest discipline , plant Protection. The Plant Protection is the first-level discipline in Yunnan Agricultural University approved to grant PhD degree (in 2005) and to establish Post-doc mobile station (in 2007). It hosts to teaching and research platforms and teams, such as the National Engineering Research Center for Applied Technology of Agricultural Biodiversity, the State Key Laboratory for biological resources conservation and utilization in Yunnan Province, the Key Laboratory of the Ministry of Education for Agricultural Biodiversity and Disease Control, the Key Laboratory of Plant Pathology in Yunnan Province, the Research and Training Center for Potato Crops in Southeast Asia, Yunnan Crop Resistance Identification Station, the Provincial-ministerial Joint-cultivation Base and the State Key Laboratory for Applied Technology of Agricultural Biodiversity, Yunnan Biodiversity and Biotechnology Innovation Personnel Training Base, Academician Workstation in the Field of Plant Protection, national and provincial Outstanding Teaching Studios, Yunnan Key Discipline Group, Yunnan Class-A Peak Discipline (First-class Disciplines), and national and provincial Innovation Team. In 2019, the College of Plant Protection was selected as the Benchmark College of Party Construction and the Model Party Branch of Party Construction of national colleges and universities, highlighting the first-class level of the faculty in the College of Plant Protection.

The Forest Protection specialty of Yunnan Agricultural University is to expand the characteristic specialty focusing on forest protection and resource utilization in the field of agriculture and forestry ecology based on the world-leading theory of biodiversity control and pest control created by academician Zhu Youyong's team in the College of Plant Protection, to cultivate students as modern professional forest protection technician who can adapt to green ecological development, forest ecological protection, and forestry economy development and utilization, and to provide technical and talent support for the construction of ecological barrier and the development of forestry ecological economy in Southwest China.

The Forest Protection specialty of Yunnan Agricultural University shares resources with the Plant Protection, and Animal and Plant Quarantine specialty in the College of Plant Protection. There are 23 faculty members, of which 4.5% under the age of 40, 63.6% between the ages of 40 and 50, and 31.8% at the age of 50; 27.3% professors, 45.5% associate professors and 54.5% with PhD degrees. This major implements small class enrollment and small class teaching. The student-teacher ratio is about 5:1, with training resources the same as those of Plant Protection, but with small class enables students to obtain better teaching resources and training effect, and better for students' learning.

Adhering to the college spirit of "morality, erudition, dedication and innovation", based on the advantages of biodiversity resources in China and forest resources in Southwest China, this major has formed the professional characteristics of biodiversity protection and forest resources utilization, and formed a number of technical achievements in controlling pests by using understory habitats and biodiversity characteristics, It has laid a foundation for building the forest protection specialty into an influential characteristic specialty in China. With the promotion of ecological civilization construction and the continuous demand for forest protection professionals, the major practices the concept of green development and reaches the international leading level in developing the theory and technological innovation and talent training of Chinese herbal medicine industry under the forest by using the advantages of rich forest resources, with distinctive professional characteristics.

The Forest Protection specialty in Yunnan Agricultural University is enrolled as the second tier major and enjoys the conditions of the first tier major of Plant Protection. The core courses of the major include General Plant Pathology, General Entomology, Forest Pathology, Forest Entomology, and Plant Chemical Protection. The most distinctive courses include Biodiversity and Plant Pests Management, taught by Academician Zhu's team. The school system is 4 years with the length of study is 3 ~ 7 years, and the minimum credits for graduation are 157. Students who meet the degree granting conditions are awarded a bachelor's degree in agronomy. After graduation, they can continue to take postgraduate entrance exams in the fields of Agronomy and forestry, or engage in teaching, scientific research, technology promotion, operation and management in forestry, horticulture, ecological protection and other fields.