The area of artificial destruction of forests is nearly 2,000 mu, and a large number of trees have been cut down and discarded, resulting in soil erosion;
In the park scenic area, deforestation and digging mountains, more than 20 large and small graves were built, most of which covered an area of 50 square meters to 100 square meters, of which two graves covered an area of more than 300 square meters;
There are more than 60 illegal buildings in the park scenic area, of which two villas each cover an area of about 300 square meters, nearly 6 acres of forest were cut down during construction, and about 3800 square meters of slopes were bulldozed. Another villa with a floor area of about 500 square meters and an area of more than 2500 square meters ...
The first financial reporter recently learned with relevant experts in Guangdong Province that there are the above-mentioned violations and violations of the ecological environment in the Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park in Guangdong (located in Dongguan City), some of which are very serious and have lasted for many years, but have not been effectively stopped.
Regarding the problems found in the investigation, the first financial reporter contacted the relevant leaders of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Guangdong Province. The other party said that it would cooperate with the investigation and fully support (investigation).
Destroy forests in the scenic area to build graves and build villas
On the morning of December 19, the first financial reporter followed the experts and the relevant personnel of the Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park Management Committee to enter the scenic spot from the park gate tower, and saw a number of private buildings that were being renovated and expanded along the way.
"These buildings are under construction. We don't have enforcement powers to stop it. The manager said.
The first financial reporter saw that the main body of a three-story cement building has been completed, and the scaffolding has not been demolished. On the roof of another building under construction, two workers are pouring cement and a large pile of building materials is piled up in the yard.
Further inside, in a factory area called "Xinpeng Cai Stone Yard", a forklift truck is transporting stone to the workshop. Park administrators said: "This colored stone field was opened illegally in the core area of the park, and no relevant business procedures were handled. ”
Passing through this complex, there is a mountain forest near the Xianquan Reservoir. The pristine secondary forest below the mountainside has long since been cut down and planted with lychee trees. The forest phase of the lychee forest and the primitive secondary forest in the upper part of the mountain is obviously different, like patches. A winding dirt road of about 3 meters wide has been opened on the hillside to facilitate the passage of construction and transport vehicles. The mountains along the route are exposed, and there are traces of soil erosion.
Managers told reporters that the topsoil layer on the hillside had been dug into terraced strips, and ponds had been built to store water for watering lychee trees. "In 2014, we commissioned the Cangzhou Science and Technology Affairs Forensic Appraisal Center to identify the area of lychee trees in the park and determined that there were at least 13 lychee forests in Guanyin Mountain Park, and as many as 1,085.91 mu of deforested land were destroyed." The manager said.
These trees in guanyin mountain national forest park have been sawn off. Source: Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park, Guangdong
The mountains in Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park are exposed and there are traces of soil erosion. Photography / Zhang Ke
A luxurious grave in Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park that was destroyed by about 300 square meters and built illegally. Photography / Zhang Ke
Further down the dirt road, you can see a number of luxurious tombs. Led by a manager, the reporter walked through the thick grass and found a luxurious cement grave halfway up the mountain. The cemetery is half the size of a basketball court and is divided into three floors. The trees in the surrounding area of more than 300 square meters have long been cut down, and some trees have been discarded after being cut down.
According to the manager, there are currently more than 20 illegal graves in guanyin mountain forest park, and there are 8 large tombs like this, of which 7 are deforested and illegally built after the park is contracted for operation.
The 6.8-kilometer-long auspicious road in the scenic area leads to the top of the mountain, and the first financial reporter saw tourists walking slowly, or stopping to watch the beautiful scenery and take photos, but there were also many discordant scenes along the way - many villas were built next to the roadside, and some of them encroached on the sidewalk.
"Most of the private houses in the park are over-area and illegal, and the actual area of 66 houses exceeds the area registered with the land use certificate, which is suspected of occupying more forest land." According to the above-mentioned managers, the villa named "Yiya Mountain House" was built on the edge of the sidewalk of the park. The homeowner also expanded the fence in front of the gate to occupy the sidewalk. This has also become a road "bottleneck", and congestion will occur here every time the number of tourists increases on holidays.
In the Foguang Road section, the first financial reporter saw that a villa with the gilded characters of "Famous Gate" inlaid at the door was also built on the side of the road. Inside the large iron gate, there are actually two independent villas and a yard covering an area of more than 300 square meters. The villa is inhabited and multiple cameras are installed.
According to the management, the owner of the house forcibly cut down 1.5 acres of forestry in December 2009 without the approval of the Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park and the National Forestry Department, and began to use it in 2011, covering a total area of more than 2,500 square meters.
The relevant departments admitted to the illegal construction but ignored it for a long time
Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park is located in the center of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, located in Zhangmutou Town, Dongguan City, with a planned area of 18 square kilometers, with the largest and most complete primary secondary forest in Dongguan.
On November 30, 1999, local private entrepreneur Huang Ganbo and the Shixin Villagers Committee of Zhangmutou Town (later changed to "Shixin Community") signed the "Dongguan Guanyin Mountain Forest Park Joint Development Contract", and the two sides agreed to use the natural ecological resources of the original secondary forest of Guanyin Mountain Forest Park, Beacon Mountain, XianGongling, Feiyun Mountain, Xianquan Reservoir and other landscapes to protect the natural ecological environment and build Guanyin Mountain Forest Park into a first-class natural ecological park with rich characteristics in Dongguan City.
According to this contract, Guanyin Mountain Forest Park acquired the right to operate and manage the land of mountain forests and primitive secondary forests, including Beacon Mountain, Xiangongling Mountain, Feiyun Mountain, etc. in accordance with the law. The joint development period is 50 years.
In December 2001, the Dongguan Municipal Government Office approved the establishment of "Dongguan Guanyin Mountain Forest Park", and in December 2005, with the approval of the former State Forestry Administration, it was upgraded to "Guangdong Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park". The approval clarifies the geographical coordinates and four boundaries of Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park.
In July 2007, the "Guangdong Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park Master Plan" was approved by the Guangdong Provincial Forestry Bureau, and in December 2009, it was rated as a national 4A level scenic spot by the National Tourism Scenic Spot Quality Rating Committee. It is also the first private national forest park in China.
An illegal villa at No. 1 Foguang Road, Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park. Photography / Zhang Ke
Illegal villas in Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park. Photography / Zhang Ke
The Cangzhou Science and Technology Affairs Judicial Appraisal Center surveyed the schematic map of illegally cut forests and privately built cemeteries in Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park. Source: Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park, Guangdong
"In the 21 years since the construction of Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park, the forest coverage rate has reached more than 90%, the forest stock has tripled, and the tax paid to local governments has exceeded 30 million yuan." Huang Ganbo told the first financial reporter.
But what puzzled him was that in the Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park, illegal acts that damaged the ecological environment, such as deforestation and illegal construction of luxurious graves and villas, have not been effectively stopped. "Every time we find illegal construction in the park, we will complain to the local government department for the first time." The relevant departments also admitted that it was illegal, but just sat idly by. He said.
According to the first financial reporter, a few years ago, there was a dispute over the contract operation contract between Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park and the Shixin Community Neighborhood Committee, and the Shixin Community Neighborhood Committee wanted to reclaim the operation and management rights of Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park. In the end, however, the Supreme People's Court ruled in March 2014 that the contractual operation contract signed by the two parties in 1999 was valid and that the contract should be performed as agreed.
"The case was won, but it was also tied." The above-mentioned manager told the first financial reporter that after that, the relevant local law enforcement departments have ignored the violations of laws and regulations that damage the ecological environment in guanyin mountain national forest park.
There is still a need to strengthen the responsibility for the management of protected areas
The first financial reporter received a reply from the Zhangmutou Town Government and the Dongguan Municipal Bureau of Natural Resources that the owner of the villa had obtained the right to use the collective land, and "according to the legal provisions at the time of approval, it was not prohibited from being used as homestead land".
"The homestead occupied by these villas is not the original homestead, nor is it vacant land in the village, not ordinary mountainous land that can be used to build houses, but woodland. Not only was the consent of the forestry department not obtained, but the actual land area was clearly inconsistent with the land use certificate he had obtained in 1997. Ren Dongjie, a lawyer at Beijing Weiheng Law Firm, which represents the legal affairs of Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park, said.
Article 10 of the Measures for the Administration of Forest Parks stipulates that the construction of facilities and scenic spots in forest parks must be carried out in accordance with the overall planning and design. In precious scenic spots, important scenic spots and core scenic spots, hotels, guest houses, nursing homes and other engineering facilities shall not be built except for necessary protection and auxiliary facilities. Article 11 stipulates that deforestation and reclamation and deforestation quarrying, sand mining, soil mining and other deforestation acts in forest parks are prohibited.
According to Chapter IX of the National Main Functional Area Planning issued by the General Office of the State Council in December 2010, the National Forest Park "automatically enters the directory of national prohibited development areas", strictly prohibits all kinds of development activities that do not conform to the functional positioning of the main body, and guides the gradual and orderly transfer of population. "Except for the necessary protective facilities and ancillary facilities, it is forbidden to engage in any production and construction activities unrelated to resource conservation" and "forest land shall not be arbitrarily occupied, requisitioned or transferred".
A corner of Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park. Photography / Zhang Ke
A large number of residential facilities and various factories in Guanyin mountain national forest park. Photography / Zhang Ke
The Cangzhou Science and Technology Affairs Judicial Appraisal Center surveyed the illegal destruction of villas, factories, shops and other buildings in the Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park. Source: Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park, Guangdong
Regarding the above problems in Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park, Researcher Chang Jiwen, deputy director of the Institute of Resources and Environmental Policy of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said in an interview with the first financial reporter today (21st) that some of the original policies and regulations should be adjusted in accordance with the above laws and regulations, as well as the requirements of the "Guiding Opinions on Establishing a System of Natural Protected Areas with National Parks as the Mainstay" issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council in June 2019, and the ecological red line should be adhered to. Those that do not conform to the plan must be resolutely cleaned up and the seriousness of the central reform documents and laws and regulations should be safeguarded.
Chang Jiwen said that according to the "Guiding Opinions on the Establishment of a System of Natural Protected Areas with National Parks as the Mainstay", national parks belong to natural protected areas and ecological redlines, which are the most important parts of China's natural ecosystem, the most unique natural landscapes, the most quintessential natural heritage, and the richest biodiversity. Where law enforcement supervision is inadequate, local Party committees and governments should carry out accountability for responsible units and responsible persons.
Gao Guilin, researcher of the Supreme People's Court's Environmental Resources Judicial Theory Research Base and president of the Beijing Environmental Resources Law Research Association, also told the first financial reporter this morning that attracting social funds to build a national forest park is in line with the development direction of national ecological civilization construction, and the legitimate rights and interests of private enterprises investing in ecological construction should be guaranteed. This is not only a concrete embodiment of governing the country according to law, but also an inevitable requirement for the implementation of the green principles of the Civil Code.
Gao Guilin said that the equal protection of civil rights related to ecological construction is also an important part of improving the business environment, and whether local governments implement relevant national laws, regulations and policies is also an important indicator to measure the modernization of local government governance capabilities.