Destroying forest-covered villas and building luxurious tombs, leaving the chaos of Guangdong Guanyinshan National Forest Park unattended?
The area of artificially destroyed forest trees is nearly 2,000 mu, and a large number of trees have been felled and discarded, causing soil erosion;
Destroy forests and dig mountains in the park scenic area, and build more than 20 large and small tombs, most of which cover an area of 50 to 100 square meters, of which two tombs cover an area of more than 300 square meters;
There are more than 60 illegal buildings in the park area, of which two villas occupy an area of about 300 square meters each. During the construction, nearly 6 acres of forest were cut down and the slope was flattened by about 3,800 square meters.
Another villa has a construction area of about 500 square meters, covering an area of more than 2500 square meters...
A reporter from China Business News and related experts recently learned during an investigation in Guangdong Province that the above-mentioned violations of the ecological environment exist in Guangdong Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park (located in Dongguan). Some are serious and have been ongoing for many years, but they have not Was effectively stopped.
Regarding the problems found in the survey, a reporter from China Business News contacted relevant leaders of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Ecology and Environment.
The other party stated that it would cooperate with the investigation and fully support (investigation).
Destroy forests to build graves and build villas in the scenic area
In the early morning of December 19, the CBN reporter followed experts and officials from the Guanyinshan National Forest Park Management Committee to enter the scenic area from the park gate. Along the way, they saw many private buildings that were being renovated and expanded.
"These buildings are under construction. We have no law enforcement powers and cannot stop them," the manager said.
The CBN reporter saw that the main body of a three-story cement building has been completed and the scaffolding has not been removed.
On the roof of another building under construction, two workers are pouring cement, and a large amount of construction materials are stacked in the yard.
Going further inside, a forklift is transporting stones to the workshop in a factory called "Xinpeng Caishichang".
The park management staff said: "This colored stone field was opened illegally in the core area of the park, without any relevant operating procedures."
Passing through this complex of buildings, is a mountain forest near Xianquan Reservoir.
The primordial secondary forest halfway down the mountainside has been cut down and planted with litchi trees.
The lychee forest and the original secondary forest on the upper part of the mountain are obviously different in appearance, like patches are pasted.
A winding dirt road about 3 meters wide was opened on the hillside to facilitate the passage of construction and transportation vehicles.
The mountains along the route are bare, with traces of soil erosion.
Managers told reporters that the surface soil on the hillside has been dug into terrace-like strips, and ponds have been built to store water for the lychee trees.
"In 2014, we commissioned the Cangzhou Science and Technology Affairs Judicial Appraisal Center to appraise the area of litchi trees in the park and determined that there were at least 13 litchi forests within the Guanyinshan Park, and as many as 1085.91 acres of destroyed forest land." The management said.
Going further along the dirt road, you can see many luxurious tombs.
Under the leadership of a manager, the reporter walked through the dense grass and found a luxurious cement tomb on a mountainside with the back of the mountain and the water.
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 already been cut down, and some trees have been felled and discarded.
According to the manager, there are currently more than 20 tombs built illegally in Guanyinshan Forest Park, and there are 8 large tombs like this one, of which 7 were destroyed and built illegally after the park was contracted for management.
The 6.8-kilometer-long Jixiang Road in the scenic area leads to the top of the mountain. Along the way, CBN reporters saw tourists in twos and threes walking slowly, or stopped to watch the beautiful scenery and take photos, but there were also many discordant scenes along the way-many villas were next to each other. They were built along the roadside, and some abruptly invaded the sidewalk.
"Most of the private residences in the park are over-sized and illegally built. The 66 houses actually occupy more than the area registered in the land use certificate, and are suspected of occupying more woodland." According to the above-mentioned manager, the villa named "Yiya Shanfang" was built. On the edge of the sidewalk in the park.
The homeowner also expanded the fence in front of the door to occupy the sidewalk.
This has also become the "bottleneck" of the road. When there are more tourists during holidays, congestion will occur here.
On the Foguang section, a reporter from China Business News saw that a villa inlaid with "Famous Gate" bronzing characters was also built on the side of the road.
Inside the big iron gate, there are actually two independent villas and a yard covering an area of more than 300 square meters.
There are people living in the villa and multiple cameras are installed.
According to the management, the homeowner forcibly felled 1.5 acres of woods to build a villa in December 2009 without the approval of the Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park and the National Forestry Department. The villa began to be used in 2011, with a total area of more than 2500 square meters.
Relevant departments admitted to 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 and is located in Zhangmutou Town, Dongguan. It has a planned area of 18 square kilometers and has the largest and most complete primary secondary forest in Dongguan.
On November 30, 1999, the local private entrepreneur Huang Ganbo and the Shixin Village Committee of Zhangmutou Town (later changed to "Shixin Community") signed the "Dongguan Guanyin Mountain Forest Park Joint Development Contract". The two parties agreed to use the Guanyin Mountain Forest The natural ecological resources of the primary and secondary forests in the park, such as Bijia Mountain, Xiangongling, Feiyun Mountain, Xianquan Reservoir, and other landscapes, protect the natural ecological environment, and build Guanyin Mountain Forest Park into a first-class natural ecological park with rich characteristics in Dongguan .
According to this contract, Guanyinshan Forest Park obtained the right to manage and manage the mountain forests and primary secondary forests, including Bijiashan, Xiangongling, and Feiyunshan.
The joint development period is 50 years.
In December 2001, the Dongguan Municipal Government Office approved the establishment of "Dongguan Guanyin Mountain Forest Park"; in December 2005, it was upgraded to "Guangdong Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park" with the approval of the former State Forestry Administration.
The approval clarified the geographic coordinates and four boundaries of Guanyinshan National Forest Park.
In July 2007, the "Guangdong Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park Master Plan" was approved by the Guangdong Forestry Bureau; in December 2009, it was rated as a national 4A scenic spot by the National Tourism Scenic Spot Quality Rating Committee.
This is also the country's first private national forest park.
"In the 21 years since the construction of Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park, the forest coverage rate has reached more than 90%, the forest volume has tripled, and the total tax paid to the local government has exceeded 30 million yuan." Huang Ganbo told China Business News reporter.
But what puzzles him is that in the Guanyin Mountain National Forest Park, illegal activities such as deforestation and illegal construction of luxury tombs and villas have not been effectively stopped.
"Every time we find illegal construction in the park, we complain to the local government department as soon as possible. The relevant department also admits that it is illegal construction, but just sit idly by." He said.
According to a reporter from China Business News, in the past few years, Guanyinshan National Forest Park and Shixin Community Neighborhood Committee had contracted management disputes, and Shixin Community Neighborhood Committee wanted to withdraw the management rights of Guanyinshan National Forest Park.
But in the end, the Supreme People's Court ruled in March 2014 that the contractual operation contract signed by both parties in 1999 was valid and both parties should perform the contract as agreed.
"The lawsuit was won, but Liangzi was also settled." The above-mentioned manager told the China Business News reporter. After that, the relevant local law enforcement agencies have ignored the violations of the ecological environment in the Guanyinshan National Forest Park.
Still need to strengthen the management responsibilities of nature reserves
The CBN reporter received a reply from the Zhangmutou Township Government and the Dongguan Natural Resources Bureau that the owner of the villa has obtained the collective land use right, and "the use of it as a homestead is not prohibited according to the laws and regulations at the time of approval."
"The homesteads occupied by these villas are not the original homesteads, nor the empty land in the village, nor the ordinary mountainous land that can be used for housing construction, but woodland. Not only did they not obtain the approval of the forestry department, but the actual land area was obviously different from that in 1997. The land use certificate obtained does not match the land area." said Ren Dongjie, a lawyer from Beijing Weiheng Law Firm, who represented the legal affairs of Guanyinshan National Forest Park.
Article 10 of the "Forest Park Management Measures" stipulates that the construction of forest park facilities and scenic spots must be carried out in accordance with the overall planning and design.
Except for the necessary protection and auxiliary facilities, no hotels, guest houses, sanatoriums and other engineering facilities shall be built in precious scenery, important scenic spots and core scenic spots.
Article 11 stipulates that it is prohibited to destroy forests for reclamation, deforestation, quarrying, sand mining, soil mining and other deforestation activities.
According to the provisions of Chapter 9 of the "National Plan for Major Functional Zones" issued by the General Office of the State Council in December 2010, the National Forest Park "automatically enters the national list of prohibited development areas", and prohibits all kinds of development activities that do not meet the main function positioning, and guides the population Gradually and orderly transfer.
"Except for necessary protection facilities and ancillary facilities, it is prohibited to engage in any production and construction activities that are not related to resource protection." "It is not allowed to occupy, requisition or transfer forest land at will."
Regarding the above-mentioned 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 a reporter from China Business News today (21st) that some of the original policies and regulations, Adjustments should be made in accordance with the above-mentioned laws and regulations, as well as the "Guiding Opinions on Establishing a Natural Reserve System with National Parks as the Main Body" issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council in June 2019, and adhere to the ecological red line.
Those that do not conform to the plan must be resolutely cleaned up to maintain the seriousness of the central reform documents and laws and regulations.
Chang Jiwen said that in accordance with the "Guiding Opinions on Establishing a Natural Reserve System with National Parks as the Main Body", national parks are nature reserves and ecological red lines. They are the most important and unique natural landscapes in my country's natural ecosystem. The most essential part of natural heritage and the richest biodiversity should strengthen the main responsibilities of local governments and management agencies, which should exercise the management responsibilities of nature reserves and strictly enforce the supervision.
For ineffective supervision of law enforcement, local party committees and governments should hold responsible units and persons accountable.
Gao Guilin, a researcher at the Supreme People’s Court’s Environmental Resources Judicial Theory Research Base and president of the Beijing Environmental Resources Law Research Association, also told China Business News this morning that attracting social funds to build a national forest park is in line with the development direction of national ecological civilization construction. The legal rights and interests of investment in ecological construction should be protected.
This is not only a concrete manifestation of the rule of law, but also an inevitable requirement for implementing the green principles of the Civil Code.
Gao Guilin said that equal protection of civil rights related to ecological construction is also an important part of improving the business environment. Whether local governments implement relevant national laws, regulations and policies is also an important indicator to measure the modernization of local government governance capabilities.
Author: Zhang Ke