Project of Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Use of the Agroforestry System in Yao Communities in Fangchenggang, Guangxi
Baseline
Jiangpo Village is a mountainous rural community with the Yao ethnic group as the main aborigines. Most of these aborigines moved here 100-200 years ago and often chose remote mountainous areas to escape or hide from disasters. More than ten years ago, most of these villages had no roads and poor traffic conditions. Due to inconvenient transportation and narrow geographical location, the villagers are relatively closed, and there is a gap in the communication between the villagers and the outside world. Compared with other nearby ethnic groups, the Yao villagers in Jiangpo Village are often disadvantaged.
These communities have limited arable land resources and more mountainous land. The Yao people have lived in harmony with nature for generations and are especially rich in the use of botanical medicines and traditional knowledge. The production and lifestyle of the villagers are closely related to the local forestry resources, and they are still highly dependent on the local natural resources. Mountain forests have always been their important means of production. Residents in Jiangpo Village mainly rely on star anise and osmanthus as sources of income and harvesting turpentine. In recent years, the number of people going out to work has shown an increasing trend, the mobility of people has increased, and the village has an aging population, a low marriage rate (more single men), and zero or negative population growth. The proportion of rural children studying in cities is getting higher and higher. Jiangpo Village is close to the nature reserve. With the promotion of national ecological civilization construction, forestry law enforcement is stricter, and forestry and illegal logging are gradually banned. In addition to production and living use, the direct impact of community villagers on forest vegetation is mainly the use of forestry pesticides. Excessive application of pesticides under star anise and laurel forests has resulted in a large reduction in shrubs, herbaceous plants, protozoa, large animals, and soil microorganisms, and the degradation of rainforests has intensified.
Main problems
Biodiversity decline and vegetation tree species are relatively single: In the 1980s and 1990s, the local Yao people widely planted star anise, osmanthus, and other economic trees, gradually replacing the original tropical and subtropical forest species. The number of some rare animals and plants decreased, resulting in a biological decline in diversity. Farmers focus on economic income in long-term forestry management, lack diversified development thinking, and maintain a single forestry tree species, resulting in the frequent occurrence of forestry diseases and insect pests (such as anthracnose). Farmers mainly rely on pesticide control, leading to a vicious circle.
Insufficient awareness of sustainable development among villagers: Villagers in the community also focus their production and life on industrial development and economic income generation, ignoring the publicity and governance of culture, resources, and the environment, lacking awareness and understanding of sustainable development, and ignoring water sources and forests. Less attention has been paid to the relationship among modern technology, the environment, and health. This refers to insufficient awareness of the hazards of pesticides used in water sources that the local knowledge of the local Yao people has gradually been forgotten, ignored, and It has not been able to organically combine with biodiversity protection and ecological civilization construction to give full play to the positive role of traditional culture.
Farmers' livelihoods are overly dependent on economic forest resources and lack resilience: The primary sources of income for villagers in Jiangpo Village are star anise and osmanthus. Due to the excessive application of pesticides in the forest, the species in the tropical rainforest community are gradually becoming homogeneous, and the nutritional promotion effect of species mixing is exceptionally significant. Most of the trees planted are 30-50 years old, the utilization of single elements in the soil is intensified, harmful pathogenic bacteria accumulate, and the local wet, humid and hot rainforest climate has led to serious obstacles to continuous cropping in economic forests. In recent years, affected by the anthracnose of star anise trees and the epidemic situation, the price of star anise has fluctuated greatly, which affects the stability of villagers' life.
Activities
1. Organize villagers to study, exchange or training activities
2. Establish and strengthen the protected area system with the community as the main body
3. Enhancing the role of communities? traditional knowledge in biodiversity conservation
4. Implement livelihood improvement and explore understory planting
Anticipated results
1. The villagers' awareness of participation in protection and independent development has been improved. To a certain extent, they can reflect on the shortcomings of past development methods and can carry out actions for biodiversity protection and sustainable development;
2. The traditional culture or knowledge of the community has been restored and strengthened to a certain extent, and intergenerational knowledge dissemination and exchange will be promoted. The young people of the Yao nationality can master certain traditional cultures, customs, and knowledge of the Yao nationality through learning and promoting villagers to participate in biodiversity conservation;
3. Establish community-protected areas to promote the protection of forest and river ecosystems and the sustainable use of natural resources. Rare plants in local ecosystems can be conserved locally, and biodiversity can be restored to a certain extent;
4. Explore local alternative livelihoods and under-forest planting methods, improve the biodiversity of the forest farming system, promote the diversification of livelihoods in the community, and further enhance the community's sustainable use of local plant resources and resilience against market risks;
5. Promote cohesion within the community, enhance the villagers' national self-confidence and cultural pride, enhance the unity and mutual assistance of the community, and practice the sustainable development of the community.
Jiangpo Village is a mountainous rural community with the Yao ethnic group as the main aborigines. Most of these aborigines moved here 100-200 years ago and often chose remote mountainous areas to escape or hide from disasters. More than ten years ago, most of these villages had no roads and poor traffic conditions. Due to inconvenient transportation and narrow geographical location, the villagers are relatively closed, and there is a gap in the communication between the villagers and the outside world. Compared with other nearby ethnic groups, the Yao villagers in Jiangpo Village are often disadvantaged.
These communities have limited arable land resources and more mountainous land. The Yao people have lived in harmony with nature for generations and are especially rich in the use of botanical medicines and traditional knowledge. The production and lifestyle of the villagers are closely related to the local forestry resources, and they are still highly dependent on the local natural resources. Mountain forests have always been their important means of production. Residents in Jiangpo Village mainly rely on star anise and osmanthus as sources of income and harvesting turpentine. In recent years, the number of people going out to work has shown an increasing trend, the mobility of people has increased, and the village has an aging population, a low marriage rate (more single men), and zero or negative population growth. The proportion of rural children studying in cities is getting higher and higher. Jiangpo Village is close to the nature reserve. With the promotion of national ecological civilization construction, forestry law enforcement is stricter, and forestry and illegal logging are gradually banned. In addition to production and living use, the direct impact of community villagers on forest vegetation is mainly the use of forestry pesticides. Excessive application of pesticides under star anise and laurel forests has resulted in a large reduction in shrubs, herbaceous plants, protozoa, large animals, and soil microorganisms, and the degradation of rainforests has intensified.
Main problems
Biodiversity decline and vegetation tree species are relatively single: In the 1980s and 1990s, the local Yao people widely planted star anise, osmanthus, and other economic trees, gradually replacing the original tropical and subtropical forest species. The number of some rare animals and plants decreased, resulting in a biological decline in diversity. Farmers focus on economic income in long-term forestry management, lack diversified development thinking, and maintain a single forestry tree species, resulting in the frequent occurrence of forestry diseases and insect pests (such as anthracnose). Farmers mainly rely on pesticide control, leading to a vicious circle.
Insufficient awareness of sustainable development among villagers: Villagers in the community also focus their production and life on industrial development and economic income generation, ignoring the publicity and governance of culture, resources, and the environment, lacking awareness and understanding of sustainable development, and ignoring water sources and forests. Less attention has been paid to the relationship among modern technology, the environment, and health. This refers to insufficient awareness of the hazards of pesticides used in water sources that the local knowledge of the local Yao people has gradually been forgotten, ignored, and It has not been able to organically combine with biodiversity protection and ecological civilization construction to give full play to the positive role of traditional culture.
Farmers' livelihoods are overly dependent on economic forest resources and lack resilience: The primary sources of income for villagers in Jiangpo Village are star anise and osmanthus. Due to the excessive application of pesticides in the forest, the species in the tropical rainforest community are gradually becoming homogeneous, and the nutritional promotion effect of species mixing is exceptionally significant. Most of the trees planted are 30-50 years old, the utilization of single elements in the soil is intensified, harmful pathogenic bacteria accumulate, and the local wet, humid and hot rainforest climate has led to serious obstacles to continuous cropping in economic forests. In recent years, affected by the anthracnose of star anise trees and the epidemic situation, the price of star anise has fluctuated greatly, which affects the stability of villagers' life.
Activities
1. Organize villagers to study, exchange or training activities
2. Establish and strengthen the protected area system with the community as the main body
3. Enhancing the role of communities? traditional knowledge in biodiversity conservation
4. Implement livelihood improvement and explore understory planting
Anticipated results
1. The villagers' awareness of participation in protection and independent development has been improved. To a certain extent, they can reflect on the shortcomings of past development methods and can carry out actions for biodiversity protection and sustainable development;
2. The traditional culture or knowledge of the community has been restored and strengthened to a certain extent, and intergenerational knowledge dissemination and exchange will be promoted. The young people of the Yao nationality can master certain traditional cultures, customs, and knowledge of the Yao nationality through learning and promoting villagers to participate in biodiversity conservation;
3. Establish community-protected areas to promote the protection of forest and river ecosystems and the sustainable use of natural resources. Rare plants in local ecosystems can be conserved locally, and biodiversity can be restored to a certain extent;
4. Explore local alternative livelihoods and under-forest planting methods, improve the biodiversity of the forest farming system, promote the diversification of livelihoods in the community, and further enhance the community's sustainable use of local plant resources and resilience against market risks;
5. Promote cohesion within the community, enhance the villagers' national self-confidence and cultural pride, enhance the unity and mutual assistance of the community, and practice the sustainable development of the community.
Project Snapshot
Grantee:
Fangchenggang Volunteer Promotion Association
Country:
China
Area Of Work:
Biodiversity
Grant Amount:
US$ 50,000.00
Co-Financing Cash:
Co-Financing in-Kind:
US$ 563.38
Project Number:
CPR/SGP/OP7/Y3/STAR/BD/2022/06
Status:
Currently under execution
Project Characteristics and Results
Capacity - Building Component
1 Organize community representatives to study, understand the experience and lessons of other ethnic minority communities in ecological protection and sustainable development, realize the importance of villagers' subjectivity, and expand the cognitive scope of villagers in the community.
2 Invite external experts into the community to carry out training to promote Yao villagers' ecological protection and community development.
3 Relying on existing ethnic cultural inheritors or villagers familiar with traditional knowledge, dig out traditional knowledge related to biodiversity, such as ethnic medicine, sustainable utilization of resources, etc., organize them into books, and carry out training in traditional skills.
Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
1. Cooperate with local primary and secondary schools and other units to share traditional knowledge and disseminate it for young people.
2. Complete the experience summary and report of the project; take the project as a case, make project promotional materials, carry out collation and dissemination, and organize community co-construction and co-management or community-protected area summary meetings attended by the government, NGOs, and communities.
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SGP Country office contact
Ms. Meijia Lu
Phone:
+861085320743
Email:
Ms. Lixia Zheng
Email:
Address
No. 2 Liangmahe Nanlu
Beijing, Chaoyang, 100600
Beijing, Chaoyang, 100600
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