[Objective] To explore the applicability of long-term, high-resolution land cover products in the karst areas of southern China, and to clarify the general characteristics of vegetation evolution in the karst rocky desertification areas of the Yunnan Plateau. [Methods] Taking Shilin County in the central part of Yunnan Plateau as an example, precision testing, Sen"s slope, transition matrix and other methods were used to evaluate the accuracy of CLCD_v1.0.2 land cover data with a resolution of 30m from 1985 to 2022. Based on this data, the spatiotemporal characteristics of vegetation expansion in karst rocky desertification areas of Yunnan Plateau were studied. [Results] ① The overall accuracy (OA) of the validation samples in the study area reached 87.85%, with a KAPPA coefficient of 0.83. The user accuracy (UA) of forest land was the highest, reaching 95.24%, while that of grassland was the lowest, reaching 73.76%. ② Arable land, forest land, and grassland are the main vegetation types in Shilin County, with an average annual area of 810.20 km2^{, 632.85 km}2^{, and 245.74 km}2^{, respectively. Shrubs and} non vegetation areas are relatively small, at 14.90 km2 ^{and 15.31 km}2^{, respectively} From 1985 to 2022, the cultivated land, forest land, and non vegetation area in Shilin County showed an increasing trend, with an increase of 34.17 km2^{, 112.24 km}2^{, and 10.79 km2}, respectively. The shrub and grassland areas showed a decreasing trend, with a decrease of 15.62 km2 ^{and 141.58 km}2^{, respectively. The forest and} non vegetation areas showed a significant increase trend, while the grassland area showed a significant decrease trend During the period from 1985 to 2022, the main types of cultivated land transferred out were forest land and grassland. Forest land was mainly converted into cultivated land, grassland was mainly converted into cultivated land and forest land, and shrubs were mainly converted into forest land The conversion of other vegetation types to forest land is concentrated in the core area and buffer zone of the Shilin World Natural Heritage Site, the Guishan National Forest Park area, and the edge of the Shilin Rift Basin. [Conclusion] CLCD data meets the requirements for vegetation evolution analysis in karst rocky desertification areas. The spatial transfer pattern of vegetation in karst rocky desertification areas compensates for the reduction in arable land area caused by the construction of protected areas, and reflects the spatial scope and effectiveness of the implementation of policies such as returning farmland to forests and closing mountains for afforestation.