USING UPLAND FOREST IN SHIMENTAI NATURE RESERVE, CHINA

USING UPLAND FOREST IN SHIMENTAI NATURE RESERVE, CHINA*

STEVE S. W. XU and C. Y. JIM

ABSTRACT. The Shimentai Nature Reserve in Yingde County, Guangdong Province, China, established recently in a subtropical upland forest area, has served for ages as an essential and customary source of livelihood for local people. Assessment of forest usage indicates heavy reliance by villagers on its diversified biotic resources. This forest dependence, associated with socioeconomic factors such as distance from village, ethnic origin, out-migration of rural youngsters, and a local tradition of conservation, is unlikely to decline in the near future. The reserve management recognizes the need to address the livelihood issues of local people and to win local support. A pragmatic adherence to provincial and higher-level policies that exclude forest-tapping activities could lead to more people-versus-park conflicts, which would dilute fundamental conservation objectives. A more enlightened and localized approach that nurtures a synergy between limited forest use and conservation while helping to develop new income sources could furnish workable alternatives. Keywords: China, forest use, na t 11 m I resources, na t ure conserva ti0 n, na t 11 re reserve.

3 protected area (PA) is essential for biodiversity, habitat conservation, and the delivery of vital ecosystem services (McNeely 1993; Utting 1993; Ceballos-Lascurlin 1996). In the past few decades, many developing countries have significantly ex- panded their PA systems (Ghimire 1994). For instance, between 1978 and 2000 China increased its nature reserves rapidly, from 34 to 1,227, incorporating almost 10 percent of its territory. The hasty designation of new PAS has created problems, notably the widespread escalation of peoplepark conflicts (Wells and Brandon 1992; Lewis 1996; Scott 1998; Liu and others 2001). The rising discords in developing countries are attributed largely to an anachronistic PA management myth that nature is sepa- rated from people and to the corollary that nature’s integrity will be compromised if people are present (Wells and Brandon 1992; IUCN 1999). Limited by this myopic mind-set, reserve authorities usually relied on enforcement instruments such as guards, patrols, and penalties to deter and inhibit “illegal” activities of local inhabitants, including traditional hunting and collection, a tactic epitomized as “fences and fines” (Wells and Brandon 1992). PA managers often had to confront the wrath of local residents whose livelihoods were intertwined with PA natural resources (Lewis 1996; Harkness 1998). Drowning in this sea of hostility, many PAS literally became “paper parks” with degraded environmental quality. The pivotal roles of local inhabitants, including minority peoples, in maintaining biodiversity were un-

We are gratrful for the research grant support kindly provided by the Hui Oi Chow Trust Fund. The study was made possible through the cooperation and assistance of staff- of the Shimentai Nature Keserve Management Bureau and cif many local people and elementary school teachers in Changjiang, Huangdong. Lianshan, Liyu, Shimentai, Shuitou, And Wenfeng Village Committees. Heartfelt thanks are due to Dr. He Guoqiang and Mr. Xiao Yiwen for their support during field trips and to Professor Zhang Jinquan, Mr. Shi Yuan’an, and Mr. He Kejun for suggesting this study of the Shimentai Nature Reserve.

%b DR. Xu earned his doctorate in geography at the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China, where DR. JIM is a professor of geography.

The ( ; n r g r ~ p / i I n i l Review 93 (3): j i i H - j q , July rtirrj

Copyright 8 2004 hy the American Geographical Society rrf New York

UPLAND FOREST USE IN CHINA 309

fortunately not recognized, and their potential contributions to the planning and management of PAS were seldom tapped (Kemf 1993).

PAS cannot continue to coexist with hostile local communities. Since the 1980s people-park conflicts have attracted the attention of a wide spectrum of PA stakeholders, including researchers, park managers, national governments, and international agencies (Zube and Busch 1990; Wells and Brandon 1992; Mehta and Kellert 1998). They have advocated replacing the paramilitary approach with a community-benign one, stressing cooperation and participation of key stakeholders rather than coercion (Wells and Brandon 1992; Borrini 1996; Lewis 1996; Hackel 1999). The fundamental shift in mind-set has nurtured the Community Natural Resources Management ( C N R M ) conservation paradigm, emphasizing managing biodiversity by, for, and with the interests of local people (Kellert and others 2000) . This innova- tive model is based on the belief that the benefits, costs, responsibilities, and decision-making powers of PAS should be shared through participatory mechanisms among selected stakeholders (Scott 1998). CNRM stresses achieving PA conservation objectives by improving the social and living standards of local inhabitants (Lewis 1996; Kellert and others 2000). In particular, local people are encouraged to utilize natural resources on a sustainable basis as the means to mitigate people- park conflicts in developing countries (Utting 1993; Scott 1998).

An abundance of literature with enlightening findings, especially from forest PAS, has enhanced our understanding of local use of park resources. For example, natural-resource extraction is usually limited to a few local people due to the land and resource tenure that predated PA designation (Brandon, Redford, and Sanderson 1998). The accessibility of forest resources correlates with where local people live- people who live farther away from a forest use fewer of its resources-while household socioeconomic background, such as size or wealth, plays an important role in resource utilization (Boer and Baquete 1998; Scott 1998). Some social factors, such as ethnic group and in- and out-migration, also influence the resource-use pattern (Amend and Amend 1995; Boer and Baquete 1998).

In South China some pockets of evergreen broadleaf forests still remain despite centuries of massive forest clearance and conversion. An important reason for their continued existence is the ecosystem’s intimate association with one or several ma- terial, cultural, or ecological values of local people (Menzies 1994). The composi- tion of these “pristine” forests has been modified by long-term preferential selection of some species over others in the course of harvesting, planting, hunting, and gath- ering (Richardson 1990; Fellowes and Hau 1997). Many decision makers have fo- cused narrowly on the natural aspect of forests and marginalized their importance to people. It is necessary to build a solid knowledge base about the integration of PAS and local people, in order to preserve the ecological integrity of many nature reserves in China (Harkness 1998; Herrold 1999; Coggins 2000, 2002). The aim of this article is to provide a detailed analysis of local uses of the forest in the recently established Shimentai Nature Reserve ( SNR) in Yingde County, Guangdong Prov- ince, China. The specific objectives are: to quantify the intensive and extensive di-

310 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

Shimentai Nature Reserve, Guangdong Province, China

Ruyuanpo County uokeng Nature Reserve

rn Changjiang 1 0 I 2 3 k m - I

Zone 1 Is I

Bu&r

0 Transition

FIG. 1-Zonation and principal village committees studied in the Shimentai Nature Reserve, Yingde County, Guangdong Province, China. (Cartography by T. B. Wong, Department of Geography, Uni- versity of Hong Kong)

mensions of local dependence on forest resources, to evaluate the impacts of past and present human activities on the forest ecosystem, to discuss a number of socioeconomic factors that affect forest preservation, and to provide decision makers with some tentative “technical fixes” so that biodiversity loss within the reserve can be minimized.

THE SHIMENTAI NATURE RESERVE Formally established in 1998 as a provincial-rank nature reserve, the SNR is divided into three concentric zones: core, buffer, and transition (Figure I). The core zone prohibits human disturbance; the buffer zone allows only scientific research and monitoring; and the transition zone facilitates benign human activities such as scientific research, environmental education, agroforestry, and nature tourism.

The SNR is located in northwestern Yingde County, at approximately 24O22’- 24O31’ N and 113~05 ’--113~31’ E. Covering 33,555 hectares, the reserve extends from east to west and lies about 40 kilometers by road north of Yingde Township. It is by far the largest terrestrial PA in Guangdong Province. Its significance is enhanced by its contiguity with Luokeng Nature Reserve, to its north in another county. It com- prises largely forest lands of fifteen village committees (the lowest administrative

UPLAND FOREST USE IN CHINA 31’

FIG. 2-Hunting tools (including a matchlock and its associated flint, gunpowder, bullets, and an iron trap) in a Yao household in Lianshan Village Committee, China. The Yao use these hunting tools to catch large mammals such as wild boars and goats. (Photograph by Steve Xu, December 1999)

unit in rural China, usually composed of a number of villages). The forest-dependent population is largely concentrated immediately outside the SNR, under the administration of Boluo, Hengshitang, Shakou, Shigutang, and Yunling Townships.

Dominated by a subtropical monsoon climate with alternating moist and dry seasons, most rains fall between April and October and attain totals of more than 2,000 millimeters per annum. The topography is undulating, higher in the north and descending toward the south with an altitudinal range between 200 and 1,586 meters. The reserve’s 262 mountains have a mean altitude of about 800 meters; the highest summit is Chuandiding at 1,586 meters. The varied topography, climate, and soil nurture a high diversity of habitats, species, and biotic communities.

A reconnaissance biological survey conducted in 1998 recorded 1,173 plant species, and the total species count could exceed 2,000 (YSRZ 1998). Twenty-four national-level registered endangered plants dwell in the forest. The notable ones include Alsophila spinulosa (spiny tree fern) , Fokienia hodginsii (Fukien cypress), Tsoongio- dendron odorum (Tsoong’s tree), Ixonanthes chinensis (Chinese ixonanthes), Brersch- neidera sinensis (Chinese bretschneidera), and Eurycorymbus cavaleriei (Cavaler eurycorymbus). The survey also identified nineteen national-level endangered ani-


FIG. 3-A China fir (Cutinitighaniia lanceohta) logging site of the Lianshan Village Committee, inside the buffer zone of the Shimentai Nature Reserve. This photograph highlights a dilemma brought t o the SNH’S managers: The China fir trees were planted as a result of the government’s afforestation policy of “planters are tree owners,” well before the SNR was established. However, the local people can no longer cut the economic trees inside the nature reserve; nor do they receive adequate pecuni- ary compensation from the reserve agency. (Photograph by Steve Xu, December 1999)

ma1 species, and a thorough survey could find more. The outstanding members include Paiithera tigris anioyensis (tiger), Python nioliirus bivittatus (python), and Syrmaticas ellioti (pheasant).

Most local residents are Hakka (Han); the minority are Yao. Agricultural practices of these two ethnic groups differ. Hakka people usually cultivate a wide range of subsistence crops, including paddy rice, sweet potato, cassava, taro, vegetables, and fruits. The main cash crops are sugarcane and tobacco, usually mixed with other crops. The sale of agricultural and forest products constitutes the principal revenue for the Hakka. They also engage in some supplementary (principal for some) off- farm, income-generating activities, such as petty trading, wage-earning work, self- employment as motorcycle drivers and butchers, or have access to remittances from relatives working as migrant laborers.

In contrast, the Yao people depend heavily on forest-product collection, such as edible fungi, medicinal herbs, wild honey, bush meat (Figure 2), and timber (Fig- ure 3) . Some Yao still practice slash-and-burn agriculture, but the activity has significantly declined, in part due to strict prohibition by the local government. They usually supplement their incomes with occasional off-farm jobs, such as working as porters or lumberjacks, and by trading forest products, albeit to a lesser extent in comparison with the Hakka.

UPLAND FOREST USE I N C H I N A 3’3

TARLE I-(:HARACTERISTICS OF T H E S E V E N SELECTED VILLAGE C O M M I T T E E S

W I T H I N O R ADIACENT TO T H E SHIMENTAI NATURE KESERVE, GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA

~ ~~ ~ ~~ . - ~~ ~. . ~~~~

TOTAL N U M R E R OF

TOTAI. H O U S E H O L D S NL!MBEK OF SURVEYED

V I L L A G E S ( N U M R E R O F P O P U L A T I O N ( N U M R E R OF H O U S E H O L D S P R O X I M I T Y

VILI.AGE ( N U M R F A O F VILLACF.S S U R V E Y E D TO T H E E T H N I C T O W N S H I P COMMITTRE H O U S E H 0 L I ) S ) S U R V E Y E D ) IN U E P T H ) KESERVE C R O U P AFFILIATION

. ~ ~~~ ~ ~~~ ~ ~~~ . ~~~ ~~

Changjiang 2,796 (626) 30 (27) 7 0 ( 1 ) Far Hakka Shigutang Liyu 2.971 (632) 27 (19) 64 ( 6 ) Far Hakka Shigutang Wenfeng 2,039 (425) 16 (16) 60 ( 0 ) Far Hakka Hengshitang Huangdong 8 19 ( 156) 9 ( 8 ) 15 (6) Near Hakka Shigutang Lianshan 476 (94) 4 ( 4 ) I6 ( 6 ) Near Yao Shigutang Shimentai - ( 6 6 ) 4 ( 4 ) 14 (10) Near Yao Hengshitang Shuitou Near Hakka Yunling

~~~ ~ ~ . . 1,542 (197) 12 (12) 58 (0)

~~ ~ ~ . ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~ ~

Revenues generated from selling native products are usually spent on a variety of necessities, particularly children’s compulsory education, which in practice is financially self-reliant in rural China, including tuition, textbooks, stationery, and other supplies. Daily necessities, such as sugar, tea, meat, soap, cooking oil, electric- ity, and, for some households, gasoline for a motorcycle are also major expenditures. Industrial products to support farming, such as fertilizers, pesticides, farming tools, crop seeds, and spores of edible fungi consume considerable resources. Also important are outlays for durable commodities, such as television sets, videocas- sette players, and bicycles and motorcycles. Finally, agricultural taxes and township government levies must be met. Surplus money in a good year is often saved to meet unpredictable or ad hoc expenditures, such as a wedding, house construction, or grave illness.

DATA COLLECTION A N D ANALYSIS

Two in situ surveys were conducted, focusing on the household level. A reconnaissance survey conducted in September 1999 was followed by a questionnaire survey in December 1999. Based on distance to the reserve and forest-use intensity, seven village committees-Changjiang, Liyu, Wenfeng, Huangdong, Lianshan, Shimentai, and Shuitou-were selected for study (Figure 1, Table I ) . Huangdong, Lianshan, Shi- mentai, and Shuitou are situated within the reserve or have rights to forests within it; they form the “near-zone’’ group. Changjiang, Liyu, and Wenfeng, located in the floodplain of the Lianjiang River with less access to the forest, form the “far-zone” group. Each village committee administers from four to thirty villages.

Four data-collection methods-main plus supplementary questionnaire surveys, face-to-face interviews, organized group discussions, and in situ observation-were utilized, and nature reserve official records and local gazetteers were reviewed. In

3’4 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

TABLE 11-PERCENTAGES OF SURVEYED HOUSEHOLI)S EXPLOITING ELEVEN K I N D S OF FOREST RESOURCES I N T H E SEVEN VILLAGE COMMITTEES WITHIN O R ADJACENT TO THE

SHIMENTAI NATURE RESERVE, GUANCDONC PROVINCE, CHINA^

C H A N G J I A N G

RESOURCE ( F A R )

Fragrant mushrooms I .7 ~. ~ ~~ ~~

(Lentinus edodes)

White fungi 1.7 (Aurici4larin nuricitln)

Bamboo shoots 6.8

Tea 1.7

Mixed timber 10.2

(Cnnoderttin spp.) Lingzhi fungi 0.0

Wild honey 3.4

Firewood 78.0

Wild canes 0.0

Medicinal plants 8.6

Wild animals 13.8 - ~~ ~~~

LlYU

( F A R )

6.1

4.5

22.7

1.5

1.5

0.0

0.0

96.9

4.5

7.7

7.6

1.8

1.8

26.3

5.3

0.0

0.0

5.3

35.1

0.0

1.8

0.0 -~

.. _ _ ~ ~~~

HUANGDONG LIANSHAN ( N E A R ) ( N E A R )

53.3 62.5 ~~~

33.3 75.0

66.7 50.0

20.0 37.5

86.7 43.8

60.0 18.8

20.0 50.0

100.0 100.0

60.0 12.5

46.7 16.7

46.7 50.0 .

~ ~ - -~

5 H l M E N r A l SHUITOU ( N E A R ) ( N E A R )

85.7 77.2 ~~ ~

71.4 70.2

50.0 91.2

42.9 63.2

7.1 84.2

50.0 50.9

57.1 50.0

100.0 96.5

14.3 21.1

7.1 58.9

71.4 61.9 ~ ~ ~~

The survey was conducted in December 1999. “Near” and “far” in the column headings refer to proximity to the Shimentai Nature Reserve.

the questionnaire survey, because a jia (equivalent to an extended household in the West) constitutes the basic unit of shared economic production and resource utilization in rural China, it is not unusual to have more than one hu (officially registered household) in a jia. Most rural jias still preserve the Chinese tradition of several generations living under the same roof. The mean value is 1.83 hus per jia (based on eighty-two responses). Hereinafter, “household” refers to jia.

The main questionnaire survey explored the collection of forest products and their quantities, household income, and expenditure profile, as well as respondents’ knowledge and perceptions of, and expectations and attitudes toward, the SNR. Socioeconomic information about respondents’ backgrounds (gender, education level, and years of formal education), household characteristics (size and composi- tion, ethnic group, wealth, out-migration of younger generations, and numbers of school children) was also gleaned. A total of 297 households was randomly selected from the seven village committees to participate in the survey. A stratified sampling approach was employed to ensure proportional representation of households of villages in each village committee.

An in-depth supplementary questionnaire survey was conducted respectively for Hakka and Yao peoples. The goal of this survey was to probe details of past and

UPLANII FOREST USE IN CHINA 3’5

present forest-use patterns. Both fixed-response and open-ended questions were adopted and were targeted at near-zone households showing a high level of forest dependence. The sample size in this case is relatively small: sixteen Yao and thirteen Hakka households were successfully interviewed.

Local primary school teachers were recruited as research assistants and trained to administer the questionnaires. The use of local teachers as interviewers could minimize non-sampling errors in the following ways. First, as teachers of local children, they were able to win if not command respondents’ trust. Second, because most local teachers were conversant in local languages (Hakka dialect or Yao lan- guage), effective communication was facilitated. Third, as the best-educated group in the villages, they were able to understand the research objectives and the gist of the questions, helping to convey faithfully the intended research message. Inter- viewees were selected randomly in accordance with a prescribed interview quota in the chosen villages. Because most respondents were male household heads, the interview approach inevitably has resulted in a gender imbalance.

Survey data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences ( SPSS) version 9.0. The number of forest uses indicated by respondents formed the basis for assigning a numerical value (0-11) to each surveyed household. Statistical analyses helped to evaluate whether some demographic variables could explain the varied patterns in household dependence on forest resources. The influence of the distance factor was gauged by the Student’s t-test; of the ethnic variable, by the Mann-Whitney test. For the influence of wealth, household size, and migrant labor variables, one-way analysis of variance was applied.

HOUSEHOLDS AND FOREST RESOURCES A total of 274 men and 10 women were successfully interviewed. The respondents ranged in age from 17 to 76, with an average of 44.2 years. About 90 percent of them claimed Hakka (Han) extraction; 10 percent, Yao. Some 3 percent of the respondents were illiterate, and 48 percent were educated through the primary level. About 32 percent of respondents had attended junior high school, and 17 percent had reached the senior high school level. The majority of respondents (64 percent) de- scribed their household economic status as average in their respective villages. Only 11 percent of the respondents ranked their households as rich, whereas 25 percent rated themselves as poor. In terms of livelihood improvement after China’s incep- tion of the open-door policy (since 1978), most respondents (92 percent) reported a better life than before. Approximately half of the households had one or several members working as migrant laborers, mainly in the prosperous Pearl River Delta Region 200-300 kilometers away. Household size varied significantly, ranging from 2 to 21 members, with a mean size of 5.97.

The percentages of households exploiting different types of resources from the forest are presented in Table 11. The majority collected one or more types. In particular, there was no marked difference in the collection of firewood between the far-zone and near-zone communities. Regardless of distance from the reserve, the


FIG. 4-A cultivation site of white fungus (Auricrdnria auriculn) in the forest of the Lianshan Village Committee. Cultivation of edible fungi basically follows this sequence: cutting down some particular trees, dcbarking them, cutting their trunks into segments, making holes in the segnierits with a special hammer, placing them under a tree canopy, and putting purchased spores into the holes. The practice contributed to a decline in the stock of certain broadleaf tree species in the forest. (Photograph by Steve Xu, September 1999)

livelihood of local people to a varying extent relied on the forest. Near-zone households harvested all eleven resources on the list, with a much higher level of resource use than that of their far-zone counterparts. Thus households in the near-zone depended extensively on forest resources. Concerning the influence of ethnicity, Yao respondents tended to focus on collecting edible fungi (fragrant mushrooms and white fungi) and honey and on hunting wild animals; the Hakka exploitation pattern was more diversified and extensive.

The listed forest products fall into two broad groups, those obtained with human cultivation efforts and those acquired without them. The collection of edible fungi (Figure 4), bamboo shoots, tea, and wild honey requires intensive labor. With- out appropriate and active forest-cultivation efforts, the collection of such products would be far less productive. Another group of forest products-mixed hardwood timber, lingzhi (Ganoderrna spp., a medicinal fungus), wild canes (Figure 5), medicinal plants, and wild animals (mainly as bush meat)-are usually collected without continual inputs by local communities. Harvesting forest products with the aid of intensive human efforts and skills could provide a stable and predictable source of revenue, in comparison with other supplementary means of income derived from collecting unmanaged forest products.

UPLAND FOREST USE I N CHINA 3’7

FIG. 5-Bundles of wild cane in front of a Yao house in Lianshan Village Committee. Wild cane can be used to make cane furniture and utensils. (Photograph by Steve Xu, September 1999)

Although it is obvious that the vast majority of local households (in particular those living within and closest to the nature reserve) relied on the forest for a living, this says little about the intensity of forest dependence, especially the contribution of selling slintzlirio (non-timber forest products) for household income. The mag- nitude of dependence was evaluated by ranking the major income sources of each surveyed household. Respondents were asked to estimate the percentage contribution of each income source in 1998 (listed in Table 111). The raw data were processed into the mean percentage of individual income source in each village committee, and the percentages were then converted into ranks.

Table I11 suggests that the ranking of major income sources is related to distance to the reserve. Far-zone households were mainly dependent on revenues derived from cultivating economic crops and sideline activities. Remittances from migrant laborers and earnings from “other” channels constituted two important sources of supplementary income. For far-zone households, the revenues derived from the forest, as expected, rank the lowest in the income list. In contrast, the revenues of near-zone households depended more heavily on selling forest products.

Yao and Hakka residents differed in the intensity and mode of forest dependence as well. For the Yao, income derived from “other” items, mainly from occasional wages, was more relevant. The work, according to the face-to-face interviews, was largely confined to forest activities, including service as field guides for scien-


TABLE 111-RANKINGS OF PRINCIPAL SOURCES OF INCOME I N T H E SEVEN VILLAGE COMMITTEES WITHIN A N D ADJACENT TO THE SHIMENTAI NATURE RESERVE,

GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA^ __

SOURCE OF INCOME

All

VILLAGE T O T H E ETHNIC Forest Mi rant Cash Sideline COMMITTEE RESERVE GROUP Products Timberb La\orc Crop Activityd Othere

PROXIMITY Non-Timber

.. -. . . - ___ Changjiang Far Hakka 6 5 3 1 2 4 Liyu Far Hakka 6 5 4 1 2 3 Wenfeng Far Hakka 5 6 3 2 1 4 Huangdong Near Hakka 4 1 5 3 2 6 Lianshan Near Yao 1 2 4 6 5 3 Shimentai Near Yao 1 5 3 6 4 2 Shuitou Near Hakka 2 3 4 6 3 5

~~

The survey was conducted in December 1999.

‘ “Timber” includes income derived from selling bamboo stems, as well as lumber from mixed woods and forest plantations containing species such as China fir (Cunninghamin lanceolata) and South China pine (Pinus massoninna).

Migrant labor” means income derived from the remittance of one or several household members working as migrant laborers, usually in nearby industrialized areas.

Sideline activity” indicates income from selling homemade products, such as bamboo mattresses, poultry, pigs, and fish.

Other” sources of income include petty trading, occasional work for wages, and craftsmanship.

c ‘ I

d I.‘

e ,I

tists, miners, or lumbermen. For the Hakka, a larger proportion of revenues was derived from sideline activities related to the forest. For example, Huangdong villagers are renowned for their skill in weaving elaborate bamboo mattresses and utensils to add extra handicraft value to their products. According to interviews with local government officials, the mean annual per capita income of the Hakka was more than twice that of the Yao.

To gain insights into the nature of local forest dependence, some demographic factors were assessed statistically (Table IV). Regarding the spatial nature of forest dependence, the distinction between near-zone and far-zone households was marked (z = 21.4, p <o.ooi). A typical near-zone household collected on average 6.54 types of listed products from the forest, whereas far-zone families on average collected only 1.21 product types.

It was hypothesized that the poorer sector in a specific forest-dependent population relies more extensively on the forest for a living. This assumption was not supported by the survey. Whether a household was categorized as rich, average, or poor had no significant differential impact on the number of its forest uses (F = 0.289, p not significant). After excluding the proximity factor, Yao and Hakka peoples were significantly different in terms of forest dependence (z = -2.94, p <0.003). On average the number of resource uses of the near-zone Hakka people was 6.99, whereas

U P L A N D FOREST USE I N C H I N A 3’9

‘TAHLk. IV-MEAN N U M H E R S 01: FOREST USES MEASURED IN K E L A T I O N TO A N U M H E R O F DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS, W I T H z OR FVALUES

AN11 LEVELS OF SIGNIFICANCE, SHlMENTAl NA’rUKE RESEKVE, GUANCDONG PROVINCE, CHINA

~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~~~~~~ ~ ~~~ ~~ ~~~~~~

(:ATEGORY

MEAN NUMBER OF TYPES OF FOREST EFFECTIVE PRODUCTS USED SAMPLE SIZE

~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~ ~~~~~~

Distance from the reserve (T-test: z = 2 1 . 4 ; ~ <O.OOI) - ~~ ~~

Fdr 1.21 178 97 Near

Wealth (one-way ANOVA: F = 0.289; P not significant)

Kich 3.19 31 Averdge 3.16 174

2.82 6X Poor

E t h n i c group (Mann-Whitney test: z = -2.94; p <o.o03)

~ ~ ~~ ~~

6.54 ~

- .. .._ -~

~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~ ~

Hakka 6.99 71 26 Yao

~ ~ ~ ~~ ~~ ~

5.3 1 ~~

Household size (one-way ANOVA: F = 1.54; p not significant) ~ ~ ~ -~ - .

Sniall 2.46 61 Medium 3.3 1 131 Ldrgc 3.2 1 77

~ ~

Benefit from migrant labor (one-way ANOVA: F = 5.303; p <0.006) - __ ~

None 3.2 I 146 Low 3.52 91 Medium o r high

~

that of the Yao was 5.31. Because the data were not gleaned from a large sample ( n = 97), the possibility of sampling error exists.

Empirical evidence gathered through fieldwork indicates that those households benefiting from migrant-labor remittance may have lower forest dependence. This hypothesis was strongly supported by the data (F= 5.303,~ <0.006). On average, for households that indicated receiving a medium or high level of such a benefit, the number of forest use was as low as 1.53 (n = 36). For those claiming meager or no benefits, the number of forest uses was higher, 3.52 ( n = 91) and 3.21 ( n = 146), respectively.

The extent to which household size contributes to forest dependence was explored. There was no obvious association between household size and the number of forest uses (F = 1.54, p not significant). The mean number of forest uses in small households (two to four members) was 2.46 ( n = 61), whereas the medium-sized (five or six members) and large households (seven or more members) registered 3.31 (n = 131) and 3.21 ( n = 77) uses, respectively.

320 THE GEOGRAPHICAL R E V I E W

TABLE V-RESPONDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF CHANGES I N FREQUENCY OF ENCOUNTERS W I T H VARIOUS PLANT A N I ) WILDLIFE SPECIES I N RECENT DECADES, SHIMENTAI NATURE RESERVE,

FOREST ITEM ~~~~ ~

Quantity of hardwood trees suitable for cultivation of fragrant mushrooms

Quantity of broadleaf trees suitable for white fungus cultivation

Availability of hardwood trees with high market demand

Quantity of wildlife species

Availability of bush meat ~~~ ~~~~

NO INCREASE CHANGE DFLREASE

~~~

Yn NO. %J No. %I No.

1 1 . 1 3 7.4 2 74.1 20

~~ ~

30.8 8 3.8 1 61.5 16

23.8 5 19.0 4 47.6 10

3.6 1 0.0 0 82.1 23

0.0 0 96.4 27 ~~ ~~

0.0 0 ~

PAST AND PRESENT FOREST-USE TRENDS

DON’T KNOW

~

Yn No.

7.4 2 ~

3.8 1

9.5 2

14.3 4

3.6 1 ~ ~~

The SNR management agency was quite concerned about whether forest resources were being exploited sustainably, due to the pressure of rising external market demand in recent years. This concern encouraged a detailed study to assess the impacts of local forest use on the protected flora and fauna and their habitats in the past few decades. The fundamental difficulty in carrying out an impact study is the absence of a systematic baseline biological survey, not to mention continual biological monitoring, before the creation of the SNR. Consequently, an objective assessment based on long-term scientific study is nearly impossible. But because the forest is home to many local residents, their perception about changes in the form of frequencies of encounters with certain plant and wildlife species, albeit some- what subjective in nature, can provide a surrogate measure for a broad-brush and indicative assessment. The results can assist decision makers in instituting and imple- menting a management plan.

The in-depth questionnaire surveys asked each respondent to report his or her personal perception of changes in the frequencies of encounters with specific plant and wildlife species in the forest, in comparison to the frequency a decade ago or during the respondent’s childhood. The results, listed in Table V, indicate that a drastic decline has occurred in encounters with many species. It is apparent that the forest biota associated with the livelihood of local communities has been exploited in an unsustainable manner over the past two decades. In addition, because the harvesting patterns may not be distributed evenly, forest areas with easy accessibility or specific species with high contemporaneous market values were more likely to be subject to overharvesting. This is especially alarming for those plant and ani- mal products for which external market demand is ever increasing.

Examining the extent and nature of local forest dependence is key in preparing a rational management plan for the nascent nature reserve. The research results


indicate that the majority of local households relied to a varying degree on the forest for their livelihood. Thus they have direct and indirect interests in the future direction of SNR management. If the needs of stakeholders can be addressed appro- priately, they are more likely to be enlisted as active participants in forest protection. Because local dependence encompasses a wide range of resources, the nature reserve authorities have considerable policy latitude within which to balance the conflicting interests of the park and the people. For instance, by allowing some sustainable or less destructive forest uses to be conducted in a sustainable manner, such as collection of wild honey, bamboo shoots, and firewood, substantial benefits could be legitimately expected by the local people without causing appreciable harm to the forest ecosystem.

The results also demonstrate that a geographical differentiation in local forest dependence exists. Near-zone households exploit a disproportionately larger number of forest resources than do their far-zone counterparts. A similar pattern ap- plies to revenues obtained from forest products. The number of forest uses differs between Yao and near-zone Hakka peoples.

Emigration of the younger generation affords a positive factor in conserving the forest ecosystem. The migration is triggered by the pull factor of relatively high wages earned by migrant workers engaged in off-farm jobs in the Pearl River Delta Region (Woon 1999). Such variations in the pattern of local forest dependence calls for flexibility in the management of the SNR, which should duly consider the diversified and changing needs of local people.

The study did not find a statistical association between the level of local forest uses and household size or household affluence. The result implies that, unless local forest dependence can be significantly offset by supplementary income sources, the villagers will continue to exploit the forest even if a household shrinks in size or becomes richer.

A variety of effective local conservation practices, which are closely associated with religious beliefs whether in the form of lineage forest, fengshui forest (Figure 6) , or holy or temple forest, prevailed in South China during the imperial era (Menzies 1994). In the SNR forests, community forest ownership, de facto or de jure, still exists. Group discussions with some local people revealed that a non-community member, even living adjacent to the forest, could not tap forest resources-except to collect firewood-without the owner’s prior permission. These effective modes of traditional local protection partly account for the confinement of high-level forest uses to near-zone households. The continual operation of indigenous codes or con- ventions on the right to enter and harvest forest resources, largely based on geopo- litical units, is still appreciated, albeit not always strictly observed, by local people. The local traditional tenure of these forest lands (Coggins 2002), confiscated by the authorities in an earlier period, was reinstated by the local government in the post- Mao era (Li and Li 1994, 208-211). This institutional change, resulting in a well- defined official and traditional land-tenure regime, has recently augmented the popular sense of forest ownership and contributed to the rapid development of

322 T H E GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

forestry and improved maintenance of remnant forests in many parts of China (Liu and Morrison 1999).

Some healthy practices of local communities have declined or even disappeared, however. A case in point is the temple forest of Xihua Buddhist Temple, the ruin of which can still be spotted on a hill behind the Shuitou Village Committee. This forest, mentioned in an old Guangdong gazetteer (difangzhi) (Gui i933), has been replaced by plantations of citrus, China fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata), and South China pine (Pinus massoniana). The temple had occupied its site since the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907), but it was completely destroyed during the era of the Great Leap Forward (1958-1960) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).

Minority peoples in China, most of whom reside in the mountainous regions in which many nature reserves are located, play a contradictory role in biodiversity conservation. On one hand, they help protect flora and fauna, due to their religious beliefs and veneration of natural spirits (Liu and others 2002). These religious beliefs usually were effectively integrated with the time-honored local conservation knowledge and relayed to younger generations through various forms of traditional social and religious organizations. The Yao people in the study area used to have the Yao Zhang system. In this structure the respected elders of the Yao Village Council, chosen by popular consent, usually served as arbitrators in community public affairs, including those related to the forest. By minimizing unsustainable activities in the forest, this system has proved to be an effective protective instrument (Lee 1939; He 1999). Unfortunately, the role of the time-honored social fabric and associated natural taboos was completely dissolved during the Mao era. Now the Yao people can utilize forest resources at will without being punished and repudiated by the community. A certain measure of residual sanction, however, still lingers because fear of punishment by the mountain spirits is innate.

On the other hand, the population growth rate of these ethnic minorities is increasing the ecological pressure on already vulnerable PA ecosystems (Liu and others 2001). To some extent this situation reflects the fact that, since the i97os, the fertility rate of minority groups on the whole is higher than that of their Han counterparts. This occurs because the central government grants a special privilege to the minorities by relaxing the national family-planning policy (Attane and Courbage 2000). In the Lianshan Yao Village Committee, for example, the population in 1999 was triple that in the early 1950s.

The provincial PA agencies erroneously believed that the acquisition of forest land rights by nature reserves from local communities could effectively reduce people-park conflicts (Zhang 1997,325-327), which they perceived as being driven in part by population growth. With such a constricted mind-set, a provincial directive issued to local governments that had one or more nature reserves, which re- quired local authorities to “conduct a comprehensive survey on forest land titles within nature reserves, to transfer these forest land rights to the nature reserve agencies, and to publicize the outcome to the pub1ic”by the end of 2000 (GSRZ 2000,15),

seemed a perfectly logical approach. In common with other nature reserves, all the

UPLANI) FOREST USE IN CHINA 3 23

FIG. &A culturally protected Wet paddy rice cultivation is the Xu, September 1999)

fengshui forest behind a Hakka village in Shuitou Village Committee. main agricultural activity of the Hakka people. (Photograph by Steve

forest land rights within the park were to have been transferred de jure to the SNR

Management Bureau. Meeting this requirement was essential if the SNR were to obtain approval as a provincial-rank nature reserve and receive financial support from the provincial government.

This inconsiderate approach has induced indirectly destructive policies and practices by local governments. From the standpoint of local people, the separation of de jure from de facto land right serves to obscure rather than to clarify the legal framework within the reserve forest. Depriving local communities of their forest land resources triggered various adverse impacts on the forest environment. First, after losing their forest rights to the reserve agency, local people lost their sense of ownership and hence were less likely to safeguard the forest, although they still had stakes and interests in it. Second, because the reserve agency lacked the institutional capacity to enforce relevant government directives and laws on restricting forest uses, local people could continue to operate as they always had with few fetters, though in an officially “illegal” way. Third, the local code of forest use, which hith- erto had been effective in excluding non-community members from using forest resources and is closely associated with customary land rights of local communities, is in danger of being disrupted. The rather draconian and incongruous “fences and fines” exclusion mechanism that the local government prefers certainly is not a feasible substitute for the indigenous mechanisms for local protection.


MANAGEMENT DILEMMAS AND ALTERNATIVES The survey assessment results concerning local forest uses highlight a dilemma facing reserve managers. On one hand, because certain commercially oriented resources have been overharvested, the need to regulate forest uses is obvious. However, forcibly restricting people from tapping the resources does not seem to be a feasible strategy. It engenders an atmosphere of heightened conflict, as people’s very livelihood o r even survival is at risk. Punishments for illegal forest uses seldom are effective because local people can easily find loopholes by undertaking social avoidance activities, such as felling trees at night and trading wildlife on the black market, that minimize their chances of being caught (Garvie and Keeler 1994; Albers and Grinspoon 1997). Legalizing controlled and mutually agreeable local access to forest resources would therefore be an effective alternative. But managers fear adopting this strategy, because it risks imposition of more use pressure on the forest environment. This is especially true when a high demand for forest products prevails, and villagers are still able to meet their economic aspira- tions by defying the imposed regulations.

In reality, the local government subscribed to a policing approach to manage the reserve ( YSGAJ 1999) while admitting its deficiency. Adopting the “fences and fines” approach was a straightforward response to a call by the provincial government to “combat illegal activities of hunting, cutting, collecting and quarrying within nature reserve[s]” (GSRZ 2000,iB). Despite doubts about the efficacy of the paramilitary approach, the SNR management agency was quite aware that unless it heeded the provincial directive, its chance of obtaining badly needed external funding could be jeopardized.

There is an urgent need to allow forest-dependent communities to have alternatives before the imposition of restrictive regulations. The provision of livelihood alternatives by means of CNRM development-oriented initiatives plays a vital part in attaining this goal (Wells and Brandon 1992; Kellert and others 2000). Several cog- nate initiatives have been proposed or enforced to provide economic alternatives for some neighboring SNR communities in an attempt to win local support for forest regulation. In particular, the S N R Management Bureau chose to support the Wenfeng and Shimentai Village Committees in a recent round of the countywide improvement campaign intended to help rural people plant fruit trees in the hill lands adjacent to the reserve. According to a contract signed with Wenfeng Village, the reserve authority agreed to provide continuous financial and technological support for thirty years and to seek only a nominal share of the fruit harvest.

But efforts to provide alternatives for local people may encounter obstacles. First, the critical linkage between conservation and development may be missing (Wells and Brandon 1992). This is a lack of an effective institutional setup to permit some limited and compatible developments without compromising conservation objectives. Second, the development initiatives earmarked to help forest-dependent people rely heavily on external financial support from higher governmental levels, which usually frown on the chronic insufficiency of aid recipients (Albert 1996). Thus ex-

UPLAND FOKEST USE IN CHINA 325

ternal funding is unlikely to be forthcoming unless regional authorities are con- vinced of the validity of local development initiatives, which may be a difficult selling job to accomplish. Third, forest dependence is unlikely to be offset completely by the revenues arising from development efforts even in optimal cases. This occurs because, apart from being perceived as an important income source, local people commonly attach additional values to the forest: for instance, in support of cultural, ceremonial, food security, and health needs (Scott 1998). Finally, this study has pinpointed how, even without alternative income opportunities locally, a small number of local households managed to reduce their level of forest dependence through the out-migration of younger generations. Assisting local people in finding external development opportunities, such as the provision of work-skills training and help in job hunting, is a constructive alternative policy instrument for some nature reserve agencies in China, in particular those located in less poor regions.

POLICY I M P LI CAT ION s

The findings of this study indicate that many local people depend to varying de- grees on the forest resources within the SNR for a living and that such forest dependence is unlikely to decline in the near future. These local forest resource extraction activities are bound to have had a negative impact on some flora and fauna. Addi- tionally, spatial and social differentiations in forest dependence exist. Some socioeconomic factors, such as distance to the reserve, ethnic origin, out-migration of local youngsters, and a local tradition of conservation, can affect the level of forest use. Consequently, addressing the miscellaneous interests of local people will be an imperative for the nature reserve agency if existing people-park conflicts are to be reduced or resolved.

Unfortunately, a policing management paradigm, which does nothing but in- tensify the conflicts, was adopted. The SNR agency had to align with the administrative directive of the provincial government that supported drastic measures, even though local administrators were quite aware of the drawbacks. Otherwise, the chance of acquiring financial support from the provincial government, one of the justifications for creating the SNR, could be jeopardized. In addition, the provincial directive does not contradict the relevant national laws or regulations. These con- troversies highlight the fact that the resolution of people-park conflicts in China is still a complicated and sensitive issue. Some agreement has emerged that conservation strategies in China should give more consideration to the needs and opinions of the local people (Wen, Yin, and Wu 1998; Coggins 2000). Nurturing a synergy between limited forest use in the wider context of conservation could find a happy medium. The need to find appropriate and localized solutions, rather than impos- ing a uniform panacea, cannot be overstressed. Applying the well-recognized pro- cess- or development-oriented CNRM approaches in China remains difficult, due to the absence of a supportive network of indigenous environmental nongovernmen- tal organizations. Despite its good intentions, the government acting alone cannot properly handle the existing problems.


Even in the absence of substantial government-propelled conservation efforts, the forest within the nature reserve can still be maintained and protected by local people due to the widespread practice of customary conservation mechanisms in rural China. Consequently, existing government polices or regulations associated with nature reserves can be molded to encompass the long-established, but some- what enfeebled, conservation wisdom and to refrain from disrupting the time-honored equilibrium. The fine local living-within-nature tradition needs to be revived and reinforced, so that the innate desire to protect ecosystem integrity can be mobi- lized and such conservation can truly become everyone’s concern and practice. The findings of this study also demonstrate that some households have benefited eco- nomically from the out-migration of the younger generations, with the by-product of reducing the level of their forest dependence. Assisting more local residents in finding alternatives to local forest resources for the support of their families, rather than directly providing funds from external sources, can furnish an effective conservation-with-development strategy in China and other developing countries.

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USING UPLAND FOREST IN SHIMENTAI NATURE RESERVE, CHINA