On September 4, 2019, at the invitation of the government of Honghe Prefecture, Yuanyang County, Yunnan Province, Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, the Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) and conservation expert Mr. Huang Shaowen and his entourage went to Hani Terraces for a field inspection.

The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces are the system of Hani rice-growing terraces located in Honghe Prefecture, Yuanyang County, Yunnan, China. The terraces' history spans around 1,200 years. In 2013, the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces were listed as a World Heritage Site (Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces). Since then, more and more experts and the public have been paying attention to the problems such as the impact of modern industrial civilization and economic development, how the forest ecosystem and soil and water can be effectively maintained, and whether the diversity of traditional crops will be damaged.

In July 2019, CBCGDF specially wrote to the relevant government departments such as Yunnan Honghe Prefecture on the various challenges faced by experts on the protection of Hani Terraces. “The most fundamental source of these problems lies in the contradiction between the people in traditional terraced reserves in protecting and improving the quality of life.” The relevant leaders of Honghe Prefecture once said frankly when they visited CBCGDF. They also introduced the relevant departments of Yunnan Province and Honghe Prefecture have fully protected the Hani terraced land, by increasing legislation, reforesting trees, and promoting farming methods to increase farmers' income to alleviate this contradiction and conserve the long-established world heritage site.

On September 4th, Dr. Zhou Jinfeng and the conservation expert Mr. Huang Shaowen, accompanied by the leaders of Honghe Prefecture, went to Yuanyang County, the core area where Hani Terraces was located, for a field investigation. In the Hani History and Culture Center, Dr. Zhou learned more about the colorful and traditional farming culture of the Hani people. Later, everyone went to the terraced area of Panzhihua Township, Yuanyang County, in the hot sun. The terraces there are 50 kilometers away from Yuanyang County, where you can enjoy the most beautiful sunsets. In June 2019, there were landslides in the lower right of the observation deck of the terraced fields there, which caused 172.6 mu of protected terraces to be damaged to varying degrees. Dr. Zhou and his team took a look at the area after the landslide, and then visited the local Hani villages in a non-stop manner to learn about the dividend rules of the villagers who were originally created in the exploration of protection and development.

The day that Dr. Zhou and Mr. Huang went to Yuanyang for field visits coincided with the New Rice Festival of the Hani. People pick up a new rice on this day, and every family will sacrifice and celebrate. Shortly after the holiday, the Hani Terraces area will begin to cut rice with a large file. At the invitation of the locals, Dr. Zhou and his party participated in the local Hani New Rice Festival and tasted the new rice with the Hani villagers.

Dr. Zhou said during the field inspection that how to effectively protect the important world cultural heritage of Hani Terraces under the premise of ensuring the steady improvement of the quality of life of the local people, CBCGDF is willing to explore with the local provincial and municipal governments on the basis of in-depth investigation to find the answer.

(Photo credit: CBCGDF)

Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/9790.html

By / Maggie