Resolutely curb tea planting and deforestation (letter investigation)
Comrade editor:
In the summer of 2020, while traveling in the Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, I discovered that many local villagers depend on planting, picking and selling Pu'er tea for their livelihoods.
In order to speed up the growth of tea trees, increase the yield of tea, and increase the income of tea growing, some villagers used methods such as stripping the bark and cutting down to destroy the vegetation around the tea trees. Some tea hills can be seen everywhere around the tea trees.
What's more, there are villagers who plant tea in the nature reserve to destroy forests and destroy the ecology.
It is hoped that similar situations can arouse the attention of relevant departments.
An environmental protection volunteer
Recently, this newspaper received letters from readers stating that some villagers in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan destroyed forests to grow tea, causing the vegetation around the tea trees to die.
Is there any phenomenon in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, where villagers plant tea and destroy forests?
What supervision and rectification measures have been taken by the local authorities, and how is the progress?
A few days ago, the reporter went to Menghai County, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan to conduct investigations and interviews.
Some villagers destroy trees and destroy the ecology by stripping tree bark and using toxic chemicals.
At the end of December 2020, the reporter drove to the foot of a tea mountain in Bulang Township, Bulang Mountain, Menghai County.
Climbing up the mountain, you can see some tea trees from time to time along the way, growing mixedly in dense forests.
However, around tea trees, there are often dead and broken trees, ranging from four to five trees to as many as a dozen trees. Some seem to have died naturally, while others have obvious signs of felling, forming a tea tree. The "white space" at the center.
"These tea trees have a long history, and the tea they produce is the ancient tree Pu'er tea that has been sought after by consumers in recent years. At present, the price of ancient tree tea on the market is very high, and it is a veritable'money tree' in the eyes of villagers." Wen Yan, a villager of Ang Village, said that in order to increase the output of ancient tea, some villagers took up the idea of the surrounding forests, thinking that as long as the vegetation around the ancient tea trees is removed, the ancient tea trees can get more sunlight and nutrients. People deliberately peel off the bark, and as long as a circle of bark is peeled off, the forest will slowly die."
The reporter carefully observed a tree that had withered and died, and found that a circle of bark with a width of about 6 cm was peeled off as a whole at a position where the trunk was more than 20 cm above the ground, exposing the white trunk.
Iwan told reporters that it was the stripped bark that caused the trees to die. “Some villagers regularly clean up the vegetation around the ancient tea trees. Whether it is weeds, shrubs or tall trees, they will be removed one by one.”
Yang Chao, a forest ranger at the Bulang Mountain Bulang Nationality Forestry Service Center in Menghai County, said: “The forest rights of this forest belong to the village collective. The villagers know that it is illegal to cut trees by individuals, and it is easy to be discovered by the forest rangers. The method of stripping the bark allows the tree to wither slowly to cover people's eyes."
Yan Mouwen also told reporters that in order to make the trees die as soon as possible, very few villagers even use the toxic chemical glyphosate. "After using glyphosate, the trees will die quickly, but it will also have a serious impact on the surrounding environment." .
It is understood that the deforestation around ancient tea trees is particularly serious in the areas where ancient tea trees are concentrated in Xishuangbanna.
In recent years, large and small deforestation incidents have occurred every year: From 2011 to March 2019, a villager in Menghai County used bark stripping and the use of toxic chemicals in many collective forest lands to grow tea. Destroyed forests, felling more than 800 trees, using toxic chemicals to destroy 122 trees, stripping 54 trees, a total of 31.3 mu of forest land was illegally occupied, and the original vegetation was severely damaged; from 2013 to 2016, Menghai County A villager used the method of stripping bark to grow tea and destroying forests, felling 152 trees and stripping 98 trees, illegally occupying 39.2 mu of forest land, and the original vegetation was severely damaged.
"Ancient tea mountain and ancient tea tree resources are precious heritage left to us by our ancestors. They have important cultural, economic, ecological, and species protection values. Xishuangbanna is an important birthplace of domestic Pu'er tea. Market prices have risen, and some ancient tea mountains and ancient tea tree resources have problems such as inadequate management and protection, excessive picking, and surrounding forest trees. If they are not resolved in time, it will affect the ancient tea mountains and ancient tea tree resources and the ecosystem that coexists with them. Caused serious damage.” said Dong Xuejun, deputy director of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture.
Over the mountain, the reporter came to the Bulong State Nature Reserve in Xishuangbanna.
Yang Chao pointed to a forest on the mountainside and said: "The forest in front looks good now. In fact, it was destroyed by the villagers by the same means a few years ago. Because it is within the scope of the nature reserve, it was discovered and repaired early. After several years of governance, it gradually recovered."
Driven by interests, lack of awareness of ecological protection and legal awareness, leading to frequent tea planting and deforestation
The purpose of the villagers' deforestation is to grow tea, which also exposed some deep-seated problems such as the pursuit of short-term interests by some villagers and the lack of supervision by relevant departments.
"The price of ancient tree tea began to rise wildly around 2006, and some even doubled within a year. This also stimulated some villagers' eagerness to get rich. Under the inducement of some illegal tea merchants, they resorted to cutting down trees and stripping trees. The bark and other means to remove the vegetation around the ancient tea trees, hoping to increase the output of the ancient tea trees, thereby increasing income." Dong Xuejun said.
Menghai County People’s Court sentenced Yumou, a resident of the Bulang nationality village of Bulangshan Mountain, to 8 months imprisonment and fined 5,000 yuan for planting tea and destroying forests.
She told reporters: "Our villages here are generally very poor, and there are almost no other sources of income except tea. The high price of Pu'er tea makes people jealous. Under the stimulus of the high price, the villagers are all thinking about how to increase the output of tea and sell it well. price."
In addition to being driven by interests, the villagers' weak awareness of ecological protection is also an important reason.
In Xishuangbanna, the villagers here have depended on the tea mountain to support their families for generations, but in the past few years, the tea mountain on which the villagers depend for survival has been included in the nature reserve.
"The Bulong Nature Reserve began to be built in 2009, and the specific scope was delineated in 2012. The total area is about 530,000 mu, many of which are forest and agricultural land of former villagers. In the consciousness of villagers, this tea mountain has belonged to ancient times. You can use it at will and dispose of it at will.” Shen Guojin, director of the management and protection office of the Bulong Nature Reserve, said that many villagers have not yet established a strong awareness of ecological and environmental protection, and they are not very clear about deforestation is illegal. .
However, destroying forest trees is an illegal act prohibited by law.
Article 76 of China’s Forest Law stipulates: “Those who illegally fell trees shall be ordered by the competent forestry authority of the people’s government at or above the county level to replant trees with more than one and less than five times the number of illegally felled trees in situ or in a different place within a time limit, and the illegal felling A fine of five to ten times the value of the forest tree.” Article 82 stipulates: “Anyone who violates the provisions of this law and constitutes a violation of public security management shall be given public security management penalties according to law; if a crime is constituted, criminal responsibility shall be investigated in accordance with the law.” China’s nature Article 26 of the Regulations on Protected Areas stipulates: “It is forbidden to carry out activities such as logging, grazing, hunting, fishing, collecting medicine, reclamation, burning, mining, quarrying, sand digging in nature reserves”.
In addition, Article 14 of the "Regulations on the Administration of Nature Reserves in Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province" stipulates: "It is forbidden to dump wastes into nature reserves, discharge pollutants exceeding the standard, destroy forests and other activities that damage the natural environment and natural resources of nature reserves. ."
"Many villagers have a low level of education and weak legal awareness. They don't know that deforestation is illegal, and they never consider the serious consequences of tea planting and deforestation on the ecological environment." Deputy head of Bulang Township, Bulang Mountain, Menghai County Yanhan cried.
The special rectification has achieved positive results, and more and more villagers realize that with a good ecology, tea can be sold at a good price
The once-frequent tea planting and deforestation behavior has attracted the attention of relevant departments of Yunnan Province.
In May 2020, the Yunnan Provincial Government issued the "Special Remediation Work Plan for the Illegal Occupation of Forest Land, Tea Planting and Deforestation and Other Destructive Forest Resources Illegal and Non-Regulated Issues", and a 6-month special project on the phenomenon of tea planting and deforestation across the province Remediation.
The "Work Plan" proposes that the illegal encroachment of forest land, tea planting and deforestation that have occurred since the complete cessation of commercial logging of natural forests in 2017 should be resolutely investigated and dealt with in accordance with laws and regulations, and that illegal planting of crops should be eradicated. , And do a good job in ecological restoration. We must adhere to laws and regulations, emphasize ecological protection, and deal with the problems of illegal encroachment of forest land, tea planting and deforestation that occurred before 2017.
The special rectification actions have achieved positive and effective results.
According to the "Work Plan", as of September 2, 2020, Xishuangbanna has completed all the clue verification and cancellation numbers, and the established tasks of case investigation and cancellation.
"Our comprehensive analysis found that the current deforestation cases involved are all committed by individuals, and gangs have not been found to commit crimes, and the incidence rate has shown a significant decline in the past four to five years." Yuan, deputy head of the Forest Police Division of the Public Security Bureau of Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture Song Ming said.
Li Ling, head of the Criminal Division of the People's Court of Menghai County, tried a batch of tea planting and deforestation cases.
According to her, the court will comprehensively consider the fact that the villagers planted tea trees before the delimitation of the nature reserve, as well as the defendant’s performance of repentance, and the rectification and restoration of mountain forests. "We will make the judgment within the scope permitted by law. The trial will be lightened internally and the first evil will be severely punished, forming a demonstration effect."
However, the special rectification action also encountered some difficulties.
Luo Cheng, deputy director of the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Menghai County, said: “Most illegal villagers have adopted the method of encircling and stripping the bark, which is very concealed. It is difficult for forest rangers to find out when the trees are really dead. Years later. How to find and stop them in the first time is a topic that we need to focus on. Moreover, even if the forest rangers discover trees that have been stripped of bark, if the villagers refuse to admit it, the evidence is difficult to fix and the law enforcement lacks basis. ."
Luo Cheng also mentioned that Xishuangbanna has good rain and heat conditions and rapid vegetation growth. Many lands that were originally agricultural land will grow trees and even form natural forests within a few years.
"According to the Rural Land Contract Law, the land contractor has the right to operate agricultural land, which means that villagers can cut down trees on agricultural land for the purpose of agricultural operation. According to the newly revised Forest Law, cut trees on non-forest land, There is no clear requirement for logging permits. This makes the legal basis for the protection of non-forest natural forests insufficient, and the development needs of the villagers and environmental protection also need to strike a balance."
"The ultimate goal of carrying out special rectification actions is not only to combat tea planting and deforestation. We also hope to use the special rectification actions to gradually straighten out and strictly implement the supervision responsibilities of the supervisory department, while continuously improving the villagers’ awareness of environmental protection." Shen Guojin said, after In this special rectification operation, the villagers have realized that protecting the ecological environment is a legal requirement, and destroying forest trees is illegal. "More and more villagers have a deeper understanding of protecting the ecological environment, and many villages have spontaneously set up inspectors. Teams, or formulate village rules and regulations, consciously strengthen the supervision and management of tea planting and deforestation in the village. As the market gradually shifts to the pursuit of ecological tea, villagers also realize that the original method of planting tea and destroying forests and blindly pursuing production is no longer conducive to Increasing income, on the contrary, is the undamaged tea mountain with more natural vegetation, which is more conducive to increasing the income of the villagers."
"Now, many places where ancient tea is concentrated are stepping up efforts to build ecological tea gardens, replanting water melon, white birch and other tree species around the tea trees, which not only allows the ancient tea trees to produce high-quality ecological tea, but also restores the surrounding ecological environment. The economic and ecological benefits of tea planting are taken into consideration.” Dong Xuejun said that if this kind of forest-tea symbiosis development model can be fully promoted, it will help curb the irrational behavior of tea planting and deforestation.
Calculate the "golden rice bowl" of ecological account stability (after editing)
In order to increase their income from growing tea, some villagers even stripped the bark and used toxic chemicals. This is obviously a short-sighted behavior that only calculates economic accounts, not ecological accounts, only immediate accounts, not long-term accounts, and must be corrected in time .
Tea experts know that the more ecological tea grown in the lush mountain forest, the better the taste, the more favored by the market, and the good ecological environment enhances the added value of tea.
Once the tree dies and the forest is destroyed, the output of some ancient teas will increase in the short term, and tea farmers will gain benefits, but in the long run, the destroyed ecological environment will inevitably lead to a decline in the quality of tea, and it will be difficult for tea to sell well. price.
This will seriously weaken the market competitiveness of local tea, and the interests of tea farmers will eventually be harmed.
Driven by economic interests, coupled with the lack of scientific knowledge and the weak legal and ecological awareness, villagers will do things like planting tea and destroying forests.
"Green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains." Relevant localities and departments must take various measures. Not only must strictly enforce relevant laws and regulations, resolutely curb tea planting and deforestation, but also increase the publicity and popularization of legal knowledge and ecological civilization knowledge. , Let the villagers understand the great significance of protecting the ecological environment, and understand that protecting the ecological environment and developing industries are not contradictory, but complementary.
Only in this way can we put an end to tea planting and deforestation, and stabilize the "golden rice bowl" of ecological enrichment.
Our reporter Shi Yiqi and Shen Tongrui