A group of blue-crowned noisy grebes inhabit the Moon Bay Blue-crowned Noisy Grebe Natural Conservation Area in Wuyuan County, Jiangxi Province. Photo by Qi Mingpeng
Overlooking the Yutan Nature Reserve in Qiukou Town, Wuyuan County. Yu Jian
Overlooking Moon Bay. Image China
introduction
"Ancient trees high and low houses, slanting sun far and near the mountains." The forest is like a belt of smoke, and the water outside the village is like a ring. "An ancient poem is still a portrayal of the rural scenery of Wuyuan, Jiangxi. There are 14,116 ancient and famous trees listed for protection in Wuyuan County with an age of more than 100 years, accounting for more than 10% of the total number of ancient trees in Jiangxi Province. Most of these ancient trees grow in front of and behind the villagers' houses, covering 172 administrative villages and 1351 natural villages in the county.
"Wuyuan has so many ancient and famous trees that can be effectively protected, and the nature conservation community has played a role in promoting." Wu Yinghao, a first-level researcher at the Jiangxi Wildlife Conservation Center, said.
Afforestation around the village is a tradition of the Wuyuan people. These village ecological forests, known as "Shuikou Forests" by the locals, are spontaneously protected by the villagers. However, a few decades ago, the phenomenon of indiscriminate logging was once more prominent, and spread to some "water mouth forests".
How to protect these scattered but valuable woodlands? Since 1992, Wuyuan has taken the lead in exploring the establishment of a number of nature conservation communities to protect these patchy natural forests and achieve good results. In September 2017, the list of the first batch of national ecological civilization construction demonstration cities and counties was announced, and Wuyuan was on the list.
In May 2016, the 13th Five-Year Plan for Forestry Development issued by the former State Forestry Administration proposed to "build a nature conservation system with nature reserves and national parks as the main body, other protected areas and nature conservation communities as supplements, and improve the biodiversity conservation network". In August of that year, the "Forestry Terms (Second Edition)" was published by the National Committee for the Approval of Scientific and Technological Terms, and "nature conservation communities" were included in it, defined as "small protected areas set up for the protection of rare and endangered wild animal and plant populations and typical plant communities".
So far, Wuyuan has built a total of 193 nature reserves, with a total area of 109,800 hectares. Recently, the reporter walked into Wuyuan to explore the way for nature protection communities to protect nature.
Try first
Explore the protection of scattered small areas of natural forests according to local conditions, and 193 nature conservation communities cover all administrative villages in the county
Wuyuan in winter is still full of greenery. Following the footsteps of Cheng Guanhong, a villager in Yutan Village, Qiukou Town, Wuyuan County, this reporter climbed up Houlong Mountain along a winding path, and the dead leaves under his feet clicked. Hugging the thick canopy of ancient camphor trees, the canopy of ancient camphor trees is as verdant as a cover, pulling out a cluster of branches stretching out to the mountain road, a stone stele in the grass comes into view, "Yutan Nature Conservation Community" several large characters are vigorous and powerful, and the words "1992" at the end of the money are still faintly recognizable, here is the first nature protection community established by the Wuyuan County Government.
Why did Yutan become the first nature reserve in Wuyuan? Cheng Guanhong raised his hand and pointed, "Look, that's an egret." "A white figure loomed in the bush, sometimes jumping on the stone, sometimes spreading its wings on the branches. The construction of a nature reserve in Yutan is related to the egret.
Cheng Guanhong introduced that There are 138 listed and protected ancient trees with an age of more than 100 years in Yutan Village, which are concentrated in the natural forest area around Houlongshan.
In the middle of summer 1992, birds chirped on Houlong Mountain, attracting the attention of nearby villagers. Zheng Panji, then director of the Science and Technology Promotion Station of the Wuyuan County Forestry Bureau, rushed to Yutan Village to carry out field investigations and found that there were nearly 50 species of birds in the natural forest of Houlongshan, and there were more than 200 egrets alone.
How to protect the rare birds on your doorstep? Some villagers proposed the establishment of a nature reserve.
"It's hard to work." Zheng Panji explained that according to the "Measures for the Management of Forest and Wildlife Type Nature Reserves" approved by the State Council in June 1985, the establishment of national nature reserves must be reported to the State Council for approval; the establishment of local nature reserves must be reported to the provincial government for approval. The declaration requirements are also high, and it must be "the area of typical forest ecosystem in different natural areas" or "the main survival and reproduction area of rare or special conservation value of animal and plant species". Houlongshan, which has an area of only 8.3 hectares, is difficult to be included in the management system of nature reserves.
The ecological protection problems encountered by Yutan are not alone. Wuyuan is known as "eight and a half mountains and one field, half a waterway and a manor", and is a typical southern hilly terrain. Decades ago, with the increase of economic and social activities, the area of natural forests that were once concentrated and contiguous gradually decreased and appeared in a patchy distribution. In these scattered natural forests, there are many ancient trees and famous trees.
How to guard this little bit of green? Zheng Panji flipped through a large number of academic literature and found that experts such as soil scientist Li Qingkui had suggested that in low hilly areas with dense populations, convenient transportation and frequent economic activities, miniature forest nature reserves with an area of tens to hundreds of mu should be scattered as a supplement to key nature reserves.
In July 1992, he submitted the "Discussion on the Establishment of Township and Village-level Nature Conservation Communities in Wuyuan" to the Wuyuan County Government, which was valued by relevant parties.
In August 1992, the Wuyuan County Government issued the "Notice on Carrying Out the Investigation and Planning of The Nature Conservation Community in Our County", requiring the township forestry management departments to conduct a census and thorough investigation and planning of the mountain farms suitable for the construction of natural protection communities, and after the approval of the county government, the townships, towns, farms and villages can build the nature protection communities on their own, and initially formed a set of operating procedures applied for by the forest rights unit, planned by the forestry department, and approved by the county-level government.
"Combined with the survey of class II forest resources in Wuyuan County at that time, the 'four to' scope of each nature conservation community was determined, and the 'one map' of the forest land in the province was entered." Zheng Panji said.
Armed with a positioning rod and a rangefinder on his shoulder, Zheng Panji and the villagers walked through the corners and corners of Houlong Mountain, drawing a 1:25,000 plan of the Yutan Nature Conservation Community with one stroke and one drawing. The application materials were quickly approved, and the Yutan Nature Conservation Community went from blueprint to reality. In September 1992, the first batch of 11 nature reserves were built in Akiguchi Town, with a total area of 1208 hectares. By the end of 1993, Wuyuan County had built 13 township (town, farm) level nature reserves and 168 village (group) level nature protection communities.
"Small size, big effect." Zheng Panji showed a set of data to reporters: in the first year of the pilot construction, the number of egrets gathered and bred in the county's nature conservation area increased from nearly 1,000 in previous years to more than 30,000 in 1993. In December 1996, the former Forestry Department of Jiangxi Province established the Wuyuan "Main Plants and Bird Species in Nature Conservation Area" Survey Project Research Group, and in the investigation for three consecutive years, the natural distribution of rare species such as yew tree, which is protected by the national first-level protected wild plant and the national second-level protected wild plant fragrant fruit tree, has been discovered.
In May 2015, the "Wuyuan County Nature Conservation Community (Scenic Forest) Management Measures" was promulgated, which further clarified the meaning, function and value positioning of the nature protection community, that is, "the nature protection community refers to the landscape forest and ancient trees and famous trees around the village or behind the house that has the functions of maintaining water and soil, conserving water sources, preventing wind and fixing sand, purifying the air, regulating the climate, viewing recreation and beautifying the countryside, and the tree age is long, the greening effect is good, and the forest and ancient trees and famous trees have a certain rural cultural heritage".
The practical exploration of Wuyuan to establish a nature reserve community has been widely recognized. The "National Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Construction Project Master Plan" organized by the former State Forestry Administration and implemented since 2001 points out that "the establishment of nature conservation communities is an effective method and measure for the protection of biodiversity and rare animal and plant habitats in densely populated areas in the southern part of the mainland." It can further improve the natural ecological environment and the people's living environment within the scope of the whole society, protect natural resources from the side, and raise the awareness of the whole people to protect the ecological environment." The "Statistical Communiqué of the Six Key Forestry Projects in 2004" issued by the former State Forestry Administration in July 2005 shows that there are 49,109 nature conservation communities in the country.
At present, Wuyuan has built 193 nature conservation communities with a total area of 109,800 hectares, covering all administrative villages in the county.
Effort
Establish a system of rules and regulations to guide the masses to "self-build, self-manage, and benefit from themselves", and all 109,800 hectares of natural protected communities are included in the scope of ecological compensation for public welfare forests
The sky is slightly bright, the morning fog is sandwiched by a cool wind, Yutan Village ranger Cheng Mingshi shoulder tin pot, pedal rubber shoes, carry a rubber fire mop, on time to go out to patrol. Approaching the ancient camphor tree at the mouth of the village, Cheng Guanhong had been waiting for a long time, and the two of them walked side by side in the direction of Houlong Mountain.
After more than 20 years of watching the mountain ranger, Cheng Guanhong is one of the earliest rangers in the Yutan Nature Reserve Community, and is familiar with the patrol road under his feet. After handing over the baton to the young man in 2015, he still couldn't stay idle, and went to the nature reserve every three to five to take a look.
"Only by guarding the green waters and green mountains can we keep a good day." Cheng Guanhong talked with reporters all the way and talked about the experience of being a production captain when he was young.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the village was severely deforested, and a large number of termites appeared in some villagers' homes, and wooden doors, windows, tables and chairs were eaten and destroyed. In the winter of 1974, Yutan Village established a village rule and people's covenant: it is strictly forbidden to occupy the forest and open up the land, it is not allowed to carry fire into the mountains, and it is necessary to cut down trees and burn the mountains to compensate.
A series of protection measures have brought back the green color to Yutan Village, and the awareness of ecological protection has gradually taken root in the hearts of the villagers. In 1992, once the idea of a pilot nature reserve was proposed, it was generally supported by the people of Yutan Village. But some villagers muttered: "After the establishment of the nature reserve community, will this forest no longer belong to us?" ”
"The ownership of mountain forest land remains unchanged, and in the future, we will have to rely on everyone to build a nature conservation community together." Zheng Panji went door to door to preach the policy and dispel the concerns of the villagers. The "Overall Work Plan for the Unified Confirmation of Rights Registration of Natural Resources in Jiangxi Province" issued in December 2019 proposes that villagers have a more solid mind about the registration of rights confirmation of various types of natural protected areas, including nature protection communities.
"The mountain is still this mountain, the forest is still this forest, and the protection of the mountain is even greater." Cheng Guanhong said that after the establishment of the nature protection community, the six villager groups in Yutan Village each selected a ranger to form a patrol team, which was jointly managed by the Qiukou Town Forestry Workstation and the two committees of Yutan Village, and implemented a normalized patrol twice a day.
"With the backing of forestry stations, the patrol is more confident." Cheng Guanhong recalled that when the loggers were found in the past, the other party often defended itself by saying that sealing the mountains and cultivating forests was the "soil policy" of the village. After the establishment of the nature protection community, the town forestry workstation and the two village committees formed a "village station co-management" coordination mechanism, the ranger's clue reporting channel is more smooth, once the illegal behavior is found, the town forestry workstation law enforcement personnel can be the first time to deal with the scene.
The mountain road winds and birds chirp, and when he reaches a leafy camphor tree, Cheng Mingshi stops and pulls the reporter forward to check a chopping mark on the trunk. A year ago, there were pirates who tried to cut down this camphor tree, but they were bumped head-on by Cheng Mingshi when he was patrolling the mountains, and he immediately stepped forward to stop it and immediately called the police. Law enforcement personnel of the Forestry Workstation in Qiukou Town immediately rushed to the scene and imposed administrative penalties on the pirates according to law.
Fingertips touch the mobile phone screen, Cheng Mingshi's patrol mileage and route at a glance. Nowadays, the level of intelligent patrol of natural protection communities continues to improve, and the forestry department can supervise and inspect the nature protection communities through telephone contact, positioning tracking, trajectory playback, etc., and keep abreast of the arrival of rangers at any time.
"Although the size of the community is small, there are many protection measures." Cheng Mingshi is familiar with the relevant requirements of the "Wuyuan County Nature Conservation Community (Scenic Forest) Management Measures": logging and hunting are prohibited and grease mining are prohibited within the scope of the nature reserve; sand digging, quarrying, soil extraction, cooking, fishing and hunting, grazing and other related activities are strictly prohibited; infrastructure construction and large-scale production and operation activities are prohibited within 10 meters of the natural protection community and its boundaries... On the patrol road, Cheng Mingshi carefully checked whether there was a fire hazard in the grass, walked along the valley without a road, and climbed on the ground with his hands and feet when he encountered a steep slope.
In March 2017, Wuyuan County officially launched the natural forest protection project; in January 2018, the "ten-year ban on logging in natural broad-leaved forests" stipulated nine years ago was upgraded to a long-term ban on logging; in July 2018, the forest chief system was fully implemented and a full-time forest ranger team was established..." These policy initiatives have jointly promoted the management and protection of natural protection communities and village rules and regulations. Zheng Panji said.
"Guarding the forest of the village and receiving the money of the state, we must fulfill our responsibilities." Cheng Mingshi was identified as a full-time ranger 4 years ago and has a salary income of 20,000 yuan per year. In recent years, Wuyuan County has successively included all 109,800 hectares of natural protected areas into the ecological compensation scope of local public welfare forests at the county level, and issued ecological compensation funds to forest rights owners according to the standard of 315 yuan per hectare per year. In 2020, Wuyuan County arranged a special fund of more than 9 million yuan for forest rangers, strengthened the "village station co-management" coordination mechanism to build a nature protection community, and further guided the masses to "self-construction, self-management, and self-benefit".
Co-build and share
Encourage the participation of social forces, improve the level of protection and management, and complement the ecological benefits and the livelihood of villagers
The morning light is faint, the bamboo row boats are pulling out the thin waves, and Yu Zhihua, a villager in Wangcun Village, Qiukou Town, skillfully controls the handle and sails towards the Moon Bay Blue-crowned Noisy Partridge Nature Conservation Area in Jiangxinzhou. Instead of the deafening sound of motors, Yu Zhihua praised the electric engine of the bamboo row boat. Since 2020, Wangcun Village has invested more than 500,000 yuan to modify electric engines for more than 60 diesel bamboo row boats in the village. "The village is willing to invest, and the original intention is to create a peaceful habitat for the birds." Yu Zhihua said.
Looking in the direction of the bamboo row boat, a crescent-shaped alluvial sandbar on the Xingjiang River comes into view, and the vegetation on the island is dense, and the shadows of the trees in the water are in the water. "At this time, the birds have flown away, so you have a chance to see the continent up close." Yu Zhihua told reporters that from April to July every year, dozens of blue-crowned noisy grebes will come to the island to build nests and lay eggs, feed young birds, and breed.
The Blue-crowned Greybird is a national first-class protected animal. "Birds choose good trees to roost." Zheng Panji said that Wangcun Village set up the Shimen Nature Conservation Community in Moon Bay in 1993, and the ecological environment continued to improve.
One day in May 2000, when Zheng Panji was conducting a field survey, birdsong suddenly came from the forest. He picked up the telescope and looked for it, and a group of blue-crowned, yellow-throated, black-faced, brown-waisted, and blue-and-white tail feathers stood on the branches, fluttering their wings from time to time, and their cries were crisp and pleasant. "Click, click..." Zheng Panji hurriedly held up his camera to take pictures and recorded, and used up the film he carried with him. Experts from provincial and municipal forestry departments have repeatedly confirmed that this is the blue-crowned noisy stork that has not been found for a long time.
"The presence of the Blue-crowned Grebe in Wuyuan highlights the unique value of nature reserves in the conservation of very small populations." Zheng Panji immediately suggested to the relevant departments to improve the professional management level of the nature conservation community and formulate a targeted plan for the protection of extremely small populations. In 2001, the Shimen Nature Reserve was renamed the Blue Crown (Yellow-throated) Noisy Partridge Nature Reserve. In March 2015, the Wuyuan County Government issued the "Wuyuan County Blue CrownEd Crane Nature Conservation Community Protection and Management Measures", which proposes to provide special protection and management of the blue-crowned noisy partridge and its habitat natural protection community in accordance with the requirements of the core area of the national nature reserve. In August 2016, Wuyuan Raoheyuan National Wetland Park passed the acceptance of the former State Forestry Administration, and the Blue Crown Noisy Stork Nature Conservation Area was included.
Taking the opportunity to protect the very small populations such as the blue-crowned noisy stork, Wuyuan continues to improve the animal and plant resource archives in the nature reserve community, normalize the monitoring of the changing trend of wild animals and plants, and adjust the management plan of the nature reserve according to local conditions. At present, it has formed 6 types of natural protection communities, including natural ecology, rare animals, precious plants, natural landscapes, water conservation and resource conservation.
"Ecology is good or not, birds tell you." Zheng Panji said that the blue-crowned noisy stork has high requirements for the living environment, generally nesting on trees above 10 meters, breeding only once a year, the survival rate of chicks is low, and the overall fertility of the population is poor. Under the careful care of the villagers, the number of blue-crowned noisy grebes that come to Moon Bay to inhabit and breed has increased year by year, and has continued to stabilize at more than 60 in recent years. Every year, after the blue-crowned noisy stork enters the breeding period, the nature reserve arranges full-time bird guards to land on the island, strictly prohibits personnel from approaching, and drives away natural enemies for the blue-crowned noisy stork in daily patrols. In June 2017, Wuyuan was hit by a massive flood, and the trees in the habitat of the blue-crowned noisy stork were once seriously damaged. Under the guidance of the Wuyuan County Forestry Bureau, the villagers spontaneously cleaned up and replanted the seedlings, and the following year the blue-crowned noisy stork returned as promised.
In 2015, Wangcun Village established a bamboo row management cooperative to manage the bamboo rows entering the Blue-crowned Noisy Stork Nature Conservation Area in Moon Bay, and all boats are not allowed to enter the core area of the Natural Protected Area during the breeding period of the Blue-crowned Noisy Stork. In order to avoid diesel engine noise affecting the habitat of blue-crowned noisy grebes, the cooperative guides villagers to replace electric engines. In addition to the blue-crowned noisy stork, more than 40 species of birds such as Mandarin duck, yellow oriole and collared owl have been found in the Moon Bay Blue-crowned Noisy Stork Nature Reserve.
"Neighboring with birds and meeting friends with birds, the villagers are both bird guards and therefore eat 'tourist meals'." Yu Zhihua's bamboo row charges 60 yuan per time, and his small courtyard is transformed into a 16-bed bird watching homestay with an annual income of about 80,000 yuan. In 2020, the provincial-level 3A-level rural tourism site settled in Wangcun, receiving 100,000 tourists and an annual tourism income of more than 3.5 million yuan.
Wuyuan also explored the introduction of scientific research teams to participate in the construction of nature conservation communities to further enhance conservation forces. In 2013, the Wuyuan County Forestry Bureau signed an agreement with the scientific research team of Jiangxi Agricultural University to monitor bird activities and populations in the Moon Bay Blue-crowned Noisy Partridge Nature Reserve from April to July every year, and the monitoring data was shared with the city and county forestry departments.
In November 2016, the National Development and Reform Commission and the former State Forestry Administration issued the Guiding Opinions on Using the Public-Private Partnership Model to Promote Forestry Construction, which proposed to "encourage social capital to participate in the protection of forest germplasm resources and the protection of wild animal and plant wild resources, explore the introduction of professional non-governmental organizations to build or host nature conservation communities, and develop private nature conservation communities (land) under government supervision".
Top-level design boosts grassroots exploration. In 2017, the Wuyuan County Forestry Bureau and Yang Haiming, director of the Natural Heritage and Ecological Protection Research Office of the Tongheng Planning and Design Institute of Tsinghua University in Beijing, reached an agreement to train a professional bird protection team of 20 people for the Moon Bay Blue-crowned Noisy Stork Nature Conservation Community. During the "National Bird Love Week" in April 2019, Tsinghua Tongheng Planning and Design Research Institute and Wuyuan County Forestry Bureau jointly held the "Centenary of scientific discovery of the Blue-crowned Noisy Stork" in Nanchang to jointly tell the story of Wuyuan in the nature conservation community.
"Nature conservation communities play an indispensable role in protecting nature." Xu Shubin, secretary of the Wuyuan County Party Committee, said that in the past 30 years since the construction of the nature protection community, the forest coverage rate of Wuyuan has increased from 73.7% to 82.64%, tourism has become a leading industry, and ancient trees, ancient villages and ancient houses have become bright business cards.
Author: Zhu Lei, Wang Dan, reporter of this newspaper
Source: People's Daily