In Wang Hua's impression, the black-necked crane is an animal that is "a little afraid of people", "when people are working, it does not dare to fall." "During the day, they hover over the ridges, and at night, they return to the waters.
Wang Hua is 58 years old this year, and he met the black-necked crane when he was a child. He said that in the early years, some villagers used gunpowder guns to shoot birds, but now, through years of government propaganda, he understands that if you harm protected birds, you will be educated at least and "jailed" at worst.
Wang Hua lives in the Huize Black-necked Crane National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province and is one of more than 20,000 indigenous residents in the area. According to figures provided by the Protected Area Conservation Authority, the number of black-necked cranes in protected areas has been increasing year by year in recent years, with 1,360 birds in the last winter, accounting for 8.5% of the world's total.
In the Huize Black-necked Crane Nature Reserve, the black-necked cranes are returning one after another (Photo courtesy of the Management and Conservation Bureau)
This reserve is an important wintering and stopover on the flyway from East Asia to Australia and Central Asia to India, where black-necked cranes are returning in the middle of winter. Recently, Red Star News reporters visited the reserve, and from Wang Hua and other local villagers, most of the stories they heard were "harmonious coexistence of humans and cranes".
But in fact, since 2016, the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve has been criticized many times by the central environmental protection inspectorate for its "inadequate protection and supervision". It was last criticized in October this year, and it was reported that in August 2023, the second round of inspectors of the third batch of the second batch of ecological and environmental protection inspectors in Yunnan Province found that the protection and supervision of the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve was not in place, and the problem of violations of laws and regulations was prominent, and there were ecological safety risks.
The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Nature Reserves stipulate that "no one is allowed to enter the core area of nature reserves", and the construction of tourism facilities and tourism activities is prohibited in the core area and buffer zone.
For the Aizawa Black-necked Crane Sanctuary, more than 1,000 Black-necked Cranes need to be protected, and more than 20,000 people will also live here. Under the current regulatory system, it is in a different predicament.
Notification:
There are KTVs in the core area and buffer zone of the national nature reserve
In winter, the Aizawa Black-necked Crane Nature Reserve leaps into the shore of the reservoir lake, and some farmers have not yet finished harvesting their crops. Wang Hua and his wife wielded a sickle and struggled to harvest before the weather turned cold. As they straightened up to rest, they heard a few hoarse "quacks", and then they knew that the black-necked cranes that breed on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau had flown back here for the winter.
Wang Hua, an indigenous resident of the area, said that black-necked cranes have been regarded as mascots, and that in recent years, there have been "almost no stories of injuries to black-necked cranes" in the area. But what he doesn't know is that over the years, the protected area where he lives has actually been criticized by the relevant authorities many times because of "poor protection supervision".
According to the official website of the People's Government of Yunnan Province
On October 17, the official website of the Yunnan Provincial People's Government notified an ecological and environmental protection inspection involving the reserve. According to the report, in August 2023, the inspectors of the second round of the third batch of the second ecological and environmental protection inspection team of Yunnan Province found that the protection and supervision of the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve was not in place, the problems of violations of laws and regulations were prominent, and there were ecological safety risks.
There are three main problems in the Aizawa Black-necked Crane Reserve.
The first problem is that "rectification is discounted, and the problem of illegal housing construction is prominent". In 2016, the Central Environmental Protection Inspectorate reported that "the supervision of the Huize Black-necked Crane National Nature Reserve is not effective, and there are problems such as tourist homestay hotels in the core area", which should have been rectified by the end of December 2017, but the Huize County People's Government did not suspend the homestay hotel until July 2019.
In 2022, the National Yangtze River Economic Belt once again disclosed that there were 19 business establishments such as restaurants and KTVs in the core area and buffer zone of the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve. Huize County's long-term supervision is not in place, the rectification measures are not benchmarked, not strict and unrealistic, avoid the important and light, and greatly discount, and the problem of illegal tourism development has intensified and intensified.
The Management and Protection Bureau of the Reserve provides the newly built self-built houses in Group 4 of Yangmeishan Village, the core area, in 2021, according to the official website of the Yunnan Provincial People's Government
In addition, the expansion of villages in the Aizawa Black-necked Crane Reserve to seize ecological space is prominent. According to the information and on-site inspectors, from 2020 to 2022, there will be 254 new construction sites in the core area and buffer zone, of which 155 have not been approved by relevant departments, especially in 2022, 39 of the 51 new sites have no approval procedures.
The second major problem is that "tourism activities in the core area of the reserve and the buffer zone have been repeatedly banned". The inspection team found that some B&B inns were directly hung with "tall" names, and some B&Bs were quite "low-key", on the surface they had no name and no surname, but they were actually wearing invisible clothes, and each tourist could be eaten, lived and played for a day by charging more than 100 yuan. At the same time, tourists only need to sign the Crane Guardian Volunteer Application Exemption Form to obtain the "Crane Guardian Volunteer Certificate", and they can enter the core area and buffer zone of the reserve for sightseeing at will.
Inspector on-site drone shooting, located in the core area of the black-necked crane reserve, is in business and crane protection volunteer certificate According to the official website of the Yunnan Provincial People's Government
The third major problem is that "the protection of drinking water sources is not effective, and there are water quality safety risks". The Yuejin Reservoir, located in the core area of the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve, is the drinking water source of Huize County and the three market towns of Daqiao, Zhuche and Wuxing, but the People's Government of Huize County does not have a strong awareness of risk prevention in the standardized construction of drinking water sources, and the implementation of various protection and governance measures is not effective. The prohibition of fishing and fishing in the reservoir is in vain, and the phenomenon of fishing and casting nets in the reservoir area is very prominent.
Investigations:
The creation of the "Crane Guarding Expedition" was banned
Established in February 2006 with the approval of the State Council, the Huize Black-necked Crane Sanctuary is located in the Niulan River Basin, a tributary of the Jinsha River in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and is located in Huize County, Qujing City, Yunnan Province. The reserve consists of two areas, Daqiao and Changhaizi, with a total area of 12,910.64 hectares, including 3,930.79 hectares in the core area, 4,313.20 hectares in the buffer zone and 4,666.65 hectares in the experimental area.
Huize Black-necked Crane National Nature Reserve Photo according to Visual China
The circular pointed out that the reason for the above-mentioned problems is that Qujing City and relevant departments, Huize County Party Committee and county government have not paid enough attention to the management of the Black-necked Crane Reserve, and have made changes and discounts to the feedback from the central ecological and environmental protection inspectors and the disclosure of the national Yangtze River Economic Belt, and have been derelict in supervision, resulting in the problem of violations of laws and regulations has not been effectively resolved for a long time. The inspection team will further investigate and verify the relevant situation, and do a good job of follow-up inspection work as required.
According to the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Nature Reserves, "no one is allowed to enter the core area of nature reserves". According to the circular, previously, tourists only needed to sign the "Crane Guardian Scientific Expedition Volunteer Application Exemption Statement" and obtain the "Crane Guardian Scientific Expedition Volunteer Certificate" to enter the core area and buffer zone of the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve for sightseeing and tourism at will.
The "Crane Protection Expedition" was once regarded as a pioneering initiative by the Yunnan Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve Management and Conservation Bureau. In April this year, the Management and Conservation Bureau announced that over the years, the Management and Conservation Bureau has continuously innovated the management and protection model, set up the first mission center in the country, carried out black-necked crane science education for foreign visitors, guided visitors to register as crane protection volunteers, and innovatively implemented the "two changes" management and protection model of "transforming visitor identity into volunteer identity and ecological tourism behavior into crane protection scientific research behavior", which "greatly improved the organizational control of visitors".
Now that the black-necked crane is wintering, has the relevant management and protection measures of the reserve been rectified after being criticized this time? Recently, a reporter from Red Star News came to the reserve for an unannounced visit.
Warning signs inside the Aizawa Black-necked Crane Sanctuary
In the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve, Red Star News reporters saw a number of warning signs saying "No entry into the core area". In addition, some slogans also remind that the core area and buffer zone of the national nature reserve prohibit the construction of tourism facilities and tourism activities.
In two "persuasion stations for outsiders", Red Star News reporters tried to enter a certain area in the name of scientific research, but were stopped by the staff on duty, and the persuasion station posted a notice from the Management and Protection Bureau of the Aize Black-necked Crane Reserve to "stop the scientific expedition of crane protection".
"Outsider Persuasion Station" in the Reserve
According to the notice, the Management and Conservation Bureau has decided to completely stop the crane protection and scientific research activities in the Huize Black-necked Crane National Nature Reserve from November 1, 2023. No one other than the indigenous inhabitants is allowed to enter the core area of the nature reserve. Those who need to enter for scientific research, observation and investigation activities must apply for administrative permission from the state (municipal) forestry and grassland department before entering.
Conflict:
1,000 cranes and more than 20,000 people
Xiao Liangkai, director of the management and conservation bureau of the Huize Black-necked Crane National Reserve, said that the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve is one of the 21 national nature reserves in Yunnan Province and 474 in the country. There are more than 21,400 indigenous residents in the reserve, including more than 5,900 people from 1,774 households in the core area, more than 10,400 people from 2,984 households in the buffer zone, and more than 4,700 people from 1,293 households in the experimental area. "That's 237 indigenous people per square kilometre. ”
The sanctuary was established to protect 197 species of birds, the most important of which is the black-necked crane. The black-necked crane is one of the 15 species of cranes in the world, endemic to the mainland, mainly living on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, and is the only crane in the world that lives on the plateau.
As a first-class key protected wild animal in the mainland, the black-necked crane was once included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. It was not until July 2020 that the IUCN removed the crane from the list of threatened species and adjusted its endangerment status from "vulnerable" to "near threatened" due to the increase in the number of black-necked cranes due to effective conservation in various places in recent years.
Xiao Liangkai told the Red Star News reporter that the number of black-necked cranes in the world has increased from 6,000 in 1996 to 16,000 at present. The increase in the numbers reflects the effectiveness of conservation efforts in various places. The number of Black-necked Cranes from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has increased from 850 in 2019 to 1,300 in the last winter, accounting for 8.5% of the global Black-necked Cranes.
In the Huize Black-necked Crane Nature Reserve, the black-necked cranes are returning one after another (Photo courtesy of the Management and Conservation Bureau)
The black-necked crane is the latest and least understood species of crane, and its most obvious distinguishing feature is that one-third of its neck feathers are black. In 1876, the Russian naturalist and explorer Nikolai Przhevalsky collected a specimen of this crane in Qinghai Lake and found that it was different from the other 14 species of cranes that had been found in the world.
Zhou Chaoxiang, deputy director of the management and conservation bureau of the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve, said that there are descriptions of "cranes" in the oral tradition of local ancestors and in the local "Local Chronicles", "Because humans have a relatively late understanding of black-necked cranes, the local records of cranes do not indicate whether they are gray cranes or black-necked cranes, but we tend to record black-necked cranes." ”
Established in 1990 as a county-level reserve, the Aizawa Black-necked Crane Reserve was promoted to a provincial-level nature reserve in 1994 and a national-level nature reserve in 2006.
Zhou Chaoxiang said that after the construction of the Yuejin Reservoir, it has gradually become an ideal wintering ground for migratory birds, and some migratory birds have even become resident birds. In the 80s of the last century, an old gentleman surnamed Zhou from the former Urban and Rural Construction and Environmental Protection Bureau of Huize County visited the reservoir and found that there were a large number of black-necked cranes.
Local officials told the Red Star News reporter that the original delineation of the reserve was relatively rough, "only a few lines were roughly drawn along the Yuejin Reservoir", and the biggest problem left behind was that the market town area of Daqiao Township was included in the core area, and other areas also overlapped with the village. According to the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Nature Reserves, which was promulgated in 1994, the conflict between the high-level protection of black-necked cranes and the high-quality development of villagers in the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve has become increasingly intense.
Vision:
Built as an "international demonstration model"
Regarding the inspection report of the Yunnan Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, the director of the management and protection bureau of the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve told the Red Star News reporter that he summarized it as "3 big problems and 8 small problems".
In 2022, the National Yangtze River Economic Belt reported to the Management and Protection Bureau that there were three problems: the operation of gas stations in the core area, the illegal construction of the Daqiao Township Government Building, and the existence of restaurants and KTV operations in the core area and buffer zone. The Red Star News reporter visited a few days ago and saw the original office building of the Daqiao Township People's Government, and posted a number of "relocation notices." ”
The Daqiao Township People's Government Building, located in the protected area, is currently closed. The construction procedures for the building were incomplete, and it was previously notified that it was required to rectify.
In this briefing, the existence of restaurants in the core area and buffer zone and KTV matters were mentioned again. Xiao Liangkai explained that there are restaurants and KTVs in the core area and buffer zone mentioned in the circular, which is a thorny historical problem.
The nature reserve is protected by three lines, namely the core area, the buffer zone and the experimental area. Xiao Liangkai explained that affected by the previous three districts, some of the buildings where the market town of Daqiao Township is located are included in the core area and buffer zone, but the market town is planned and constructed in accordance with the "Urban and Rural Planning Law".
He said that the market town is located in the southeast corner of the Yuejin Reservoir, and the nocturnal habitat of the black-necked crane is in the Yangmei Mountain section in the northwest corner of the Yuejin Reservoir, so the production and life of the people in the market town will not affect the habitat of the black-necked crane.
A country house in the core area of the reserve, which has been repeatedly named and asked to close down, has repeatedly violated the rules and operated against the wind. After this briefing, Xiao Liang, director of the Bureau of Management and Conservation of the Reserve, opened the door and pasted a seal
The briefing also highlighted the issue of a rural hotel in the core area operating against the wind. The management and protection bureau explained that the hotel was invested and built by people from other provinces, and it was inspected by the central environmental protection in 2016, but the hotel still operated secretly and illegally. After the second round of the third batch of the second batch of ecological and environmental protection inspection groups in Yunnan Province, Xiao Liangkai, director of the Protection Bureau, also brought people to the door to paste seals.
Regarding the problem of village expansion and seizure of ecological space reported by the Yunnan Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment, Red Star News visited and found that some local farmers are indeed laying foundations to build new houses.
According to some villagers, even if there is a real need to improve their living conditions, they can only "tear down the old and build the new" and build on the original site. The Bureau explained that in recent years, some indigenous residents have built new houses during the poverty alleviation period, and since 2019, none of the houses in the reserve have been built by attracting investment.
In Daqiao Township, most hotels and restaurants like to name their business premises after the concept of "black-necked crane". "Nianhu Black-necked Crane Villa" staff introduced, winter is the best season for local business, because black-necked cranes are here to spend the winter, tourists are mostly from other places, usually there are no guests here, so the time to do business in the local area, it is just "two or three months", the rectification, most of the hotels and restaurants in the township are required to close, the specific opening date is still uncertain.
Black-necked cranes and other migratory birds wintering in the Nianhu wetland (data map) According to Xinhuanet
The Yuejin Reservoir, where the black-necked crane lives, "Nian Lake" is another poetic name given by netizens in recent years. Xiao Liangkai said that the goal of the conservation bureau is to build the reserve into a first-class model in Yunnan, a demonstration area in China, and an international demonstration model in about 10 years.
February 2 is the "World Wetlands Day", at this year's World Wetlands Day in China's main event, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration announced that Yunnan Huize Nianhu Wetland has been included in the list of "wetlands of international importance" of the Convention on Wetlands, and "Nianhu" has also become the only new wetland of international importance in Yunnan Province after 19 years.
Solving:
The Regulations on Nature Reserves (Revised Draft) have been released for public comment
The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Nature Reserves stipulate that well-preserved ecosystems in their natural state, as well as concentrated distribution areas of rare and endangered animals and plants, shall be designated as core areas, and no unit or individual shall be allowed to enter. A buffer zone of a certain area can be demarcated on the periphery of the core area, and only scientific research and observation activities are allowed to enter.
According to local officials, local estimates have made it possible to relocate the indigenous residents of the Black-necked Crane Conservation Area in Izawa with more than 4 billion yuan, "We don't have a suitable relocation site, and the funds are even more unbearable." ”
In the view of Zhou Chaoxiang, deputy director of the Huize Management and Protection Bureau, black-necked cranes are "inseparable from people". Black-necked cranes will lose their food sources if they are separated from human activities, and the feeding practices adopted in some protected areas may lead to the loss of black-necked cranes in the wild.
"However, due to historical reasons, some of our indigenous people are demarcated within the core area of the reserve, and according to the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Nature Reserves, the production and livelihood of these indigenous people will definitely be affected, which will eventually cause our 'management difficulties'," Zhou Chaoxiang said.
Schematic diagram of the three lines of the protected area
The Red Star News reporter's investigation found that, in fact, the troubles caused by the division of the three regions had attracted attention at the national level as early as three years ago.
On November 22, 2021, the Office of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (National Park Administration) published a reply on its official website ["Suggestions on Accelerating the Scientific Promotion of the Optimization and Integration of National Ecological Function Zones and Helping Rural Revitalization" (No. 9645 of 2021)] mentioned that in February 2020, the bureau and the Ministry of Natural Resources issued the "Letter on Doing a Good Job in the Preliminary Work of the Optimization and Adjustment of the Scope and Functional Zoning of Nature Reserves" , clarifying the rules for the optimization and adjustment of nature reserves and zoning control. The integration and optimization of protected areas is based on the principles of ensuring that all aspects should be protected, all should be delineated, and seeking truth from facts, and efforts should be made to resolve all kinds of contradictions and conflicts in protected areas.
According to the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, in order to solve the problems left over from history and practical problems in the integration and optimization of nature reserves, and to ensure that there are laws and regulations to follow in the supervision of nature reserves after the integration and optimization, and to take into account protection and development, the bureau has also simultaneously promoted the drafting and revision of laws and regulations such as the National Park Law and the Regulations on Nature Reserves.
The letter mentioned that after more than 60 years of construction, the mainland nature reserve has been in the protection of biodiversity, the preservation of natural heritage, However, the delineation and functional zoning of some nature reserves are not scientific and reasonable, overlapping with other nature reserves, there are many problems left over from history, the control measures are not targeted and operational, and various contradictions and conflicts are acute, so it is urgent to optimize and adjust the scope and functional zoning of nature reserves, and at the same time integrate and optimize various nature reserves.
According to preliminary statistics, there are 29 urban built-up areas (2 in the core area), 531 township built-up areas (72 in the core area), a population of about 4 million (about 400,000 people in the core area), and 1.46 million hectares of cultivated land (179,000 hectares in the core area), of which 928,000 hectares of permanent basic farmland (83,000 hectares in the core area), overlapping permanent basic farmland and ecological protection red lines, and the contradiction between the production and life of indigenous residents and protection and management is prominent.
The letter calls for the improvement of functional zoning, and the functional zoning of nature reserves from core areas, buffer zones, and experimental areas to core protection areas and general control areas, and this division method is also used in the Regulations on Nature Reserves (Revised Draft). The National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) solicited public comments on the draft amendment in August and September last year. Xiao Liangkai, director of the management and conservation bureau of the Huize Black-necked Crane Reserve, said their proposals to change the historical limitations of the three-zone division were cited.
View of the reserve According to Xinhuanet
The Red Star reporter found that the draft will no longer include human activities such as cutting, grazing, fishing, medicine collection, and burning land related to the production and life of indigenous residents in the prohibited provisions, while activities such as reclamation, development zone construction, real estate development, golf course construction, wind power and photovoltaic development that have a greater impact on the protection and management of nature reserves are included in the prohibited provisions.
"We sincerely accept the criticism of the inspectors and have submitted a corrective action plan. This is not just a problem left over from our history, our suggestion is that the previous three-zone demarcation line is not in line with the current reality, and in the future, it may be possible to implement classified and time-based protection of protected areas, so that our dilemma will be solved. Xiao Liangkai said.
Red Star News reporter Liu Mumu and Xi Zhang Na are from Yunnan
Editor: Guo Yu, Editor: Feng Lingling
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