(Biodiversity Conference) Hunters, loggers, and housewives in Gaoligong Mountain "transfiguration"
China News Service, Kunming, October 15th, title: Gaoligong Mountain hunters, loggers, and housewives "transfiguration"
Author Luo Jie
"The woods have become denser, the wild animals have increased, and everyone has moved." In the eyes of forest rangers Lou Bihui, Cai Zhihong, and Li Yuhua, Gaoligong Mountain has changed.
Gaoligong Mountain is the boundary mountain range between China and Burma. It connects to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the north and Indochina Peninsula to the south.
The typical alpine and gorge landform, a complete ecosystem integrating tropical, subtropical, temperate and frigid zones, enriches biodiversity here.
Recently, the reporter saw a group of people running through the forest all year round in this "world species gene bank".
They used to be hunters, loggers, housewives, farmers...After becoming forest rangers, they all shoulder the responsibility of guarding the common homeland of Gaoligong Mountain. They "changed".
Lumberjacks become the "living dictionary" of the reserve
In the southern extension of Gaoligong Mountain-Yunnan Baoshan Longling Xiaoheishan Provincial Nature Reserve, 58-year-old Lou Bihui has spent 22 years as a forest ranger.
Since 1988, Lou Bihui has worked as a lumberjack in a forest farm.
Lou Bihui felt very uncomfortable seeing the erosion of water and soil after the felling of trees and the reduction of wildlife habitat.
In 1998, Lou Bihui voluntarily applied for transfer to become a forest ranger.
He patrolled more than 30,000 acres of mountain forest by himself, and traveled to and from the protected area more than 30 forest protection routes.
"During the patrol process, we will record in detail the new discoveries in the reserve." Bird feathers, ocelot feces, scratches left by black bears... Lou Bihui photographed animal traces and wild plants, together Consult an expert.
The notes were changed from book to book, and mobile phone albums were gradually being filled with photos. He became the "living dictionary" of the protected area in the eyes of colleagues, and he just shyly said, "I can't talk about it yet."
Now, Lou Bihui, who is about to retire, says, "As long as I can walk, I will always be a voluntary publicist for biodiversity conservation."
The hunter turned into a "living map" of the reserve
"I used to be a hunter and lived by hunting and farming." Cai Zhihong, a 51-year-old Lisu forest ranger, is now a forest ranger in the Longyang branch of the Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve.
In 2011, he participated in the scientific research and monitoring work to protect the Gaoligong Hooded Gibbon.
"We mainly focus on fire prevention, anti-poaching, and ape chasing. We also collect ape dung and do monthly phenological observations." Over time, he gradually understood the living habits of gibbons.
"The white-browed gibbon is a'forest singer'. When it starts to sing, we have to chase the song over. In order not to disturb them, we have to stop when the sound stops." Cai Zhihong and them have been in contact with the gibbons for 9 years. Become a "friend" of a tree that "communicates". "Sometimes we chat under the tree and the gibbons can eat on the tree freely."
Today, Cai Zhihong has been guarding the forest clerk for 23 years.
"Looking at the cute white-browed gibbon, I regret having been a hunter, and I hope that future generations can protect their homeland."
"Rainbow Ranger" of Dulong River
"This is the Ganoderma I just found in the mountains!" When she saw Li Yuhua in the natural forest of Dizhengdang Village, Dulongjiang Township, she wore a colorful Dulong blanket and walked out of the woods.
She lives in Dulongjiang Township, the only settlement of the Dulong nationality in China. She has directly transitioned from the end of primitive society to a socialist society. The "one step across the millennium" of the Dulong nationality is also reflected in the gradual transformation of ecological protection consciousness.
"Our ancestors used alternate farming and followed the practices of not cutting down big trees or riverside trees to conserve water and soil." Li Yuhua recalled that the Dulong people used to live by slash-and-burn cultivation and hunting in the mountains, but ecological protection has always existed in the ethnic culture. idea.
In 2016, with the support of the ecological compensation policy, Li Yuhua became an ecological forest ranger.
"In the beginning, I was the only female ranger. It was difficult to walk in the mountains, and I couldn't keep up with my physical strength." The woman refused to let her beard, and now Li Yuhua can go in and out of the mountains freely.
In 2021, Li Yuhua won the national "Most Beautiful Ecological Ranger" award.
She told reporters that as the team of forest rangers in the village has grown stronger, the villagers' awareness of scientific ecological protection has also been continuously strengthened.
"The job of a forest ranger is a stable income, and it is also the responsibility of guarding Gaoligong. Now the ecological environment is getting better, and the life is getting better and better." (End)