Southwest Forestry University is one of the "double non-"universities in China. It is a national excellent agricultural and forestry talent education and training plan, an excellent engineer education and training plan, a supporting institution for basic capacity building projects in universities in the central and western regions, and a first-class discipline construction university in Yunnan Province.

The total number of school staff is 1027. Among them, there are 755 full-time teachers, with doctoral degree 189, accounting for 25.03%, and 595 with master's degree or above, accounting for 78.81%; Professor 1 18, associate professor 309; National first-class expert of 100 million talents engineering 1 person, outstanding talents of the Ministry of Education in the new century 1 person, 2 trans-century academic and technical leaders of the State Forestry Administration, 4 outstanding contribution experts of the State Forestry Administration, 2 outstanding contribution experts of Yunnan Province, 2 experts enjoying special allowances from the State Council, 6 experts enjoying special allowances from the State Forestry Administration and the Yunnan Provincial Government, and young academic and technical leaders of Yunnan Province 16 people, Yunnan Province.