Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Overview — Agriculture (Part 2)
Section 2 Forestry. Xiangxi lies in the Wuling mountain area of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, with a mild climate, ample rainfall and fertile soil suited to many trees and medicinal herbs, and rich forest resources. Its people have a fine tradition of "living off the mountains and nurturing them in return," and are experienced in forestry. Since the founding of New China, the prefecture has worked in silviculture, asset management...
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section 2 Forestry
Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture is located in the Wuling Mountain area of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, with a mild climate, abundant rainfall, and fertile land, suitable for the growth of many kinds of trees and medicinal herbs, and rich in forest resources. The people here have the fine tradition of "living off the mountains and nurturing the mountains," and rich experience in forestry production. After the founding of New China, the entire prefecture achieved remarkable results in silvicultural production, asset management, forest industry construction, and forestry scientific research.
I. Forest Resources
Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture has a great variety of tree species. Timber forests mainly include pine, Chinese fir, cypress, and toon, found throughout the prefecture. There are also rare tree species such as nanmu, camphor, red tung, dove tree, ginkgo, and dawn redwood. According to the Republic of China Year 19 Yongshun County Gazetteer, in the fifth year of Chenghua in the Ming Dynasty (1469), when Prefect Yi Tianjue of Guiyang rebuilt the prefectural office, Yongshun, Baojing, Youyang, and the various offices of the two rivers each assisted with more than one hundred nanmu logs. In the tenth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty (1515), Peng Shiqi, the Xuanwei envoy of Yongshun, presented 300 large nanmu logs and personally supervised their transport to Beijing; in the thirteenth year, he presented another 470 logs, and his son Mingfu also presented large nanmu logs transported to Beijing, all for the construction of the Ming imperial palace.
In November of the 29th year of the Republic of China (1940), based on surveys and reports from various counties, the Hunan Provincial Agricultural Improvement Institute calculated that the forest area of the 10 counties in the prefecture (excluding the area of economic crops, the same below) was 263,600 hectares. By 1949, it had increased to 290,900 hectares.
After the founding of New China, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture successively conducted 5 systematic Class II forest resource surveys. The first survey was in 1956-1957, with the following results: the prefecture had 1,607,900 hectares of forestry land, of which 297,200 hectares were timber forest, close to the forest area in 1949, and 175,500 hectares were economic forest; forest coverage was 29.4%; the original standing timber volume was 27.9548 million cubic meters, accounting for 9.9% of Hunan Province's volume, basically natural forest. The second forest resource survey was conducted in 1975-1976: the prefecture had 1,610,100 hectares of forestry land, on par with the first survey. Among this, forest land increased by 64,200 hectares, an increase of 13.6%; forest coverage was 35%. The third forest resource survey was conducted in 1983-1986: the prefecture's forestry land area was 1,542,800 hectares. Compared with the second survey, forest land increased by 225,500 hectares, an increase of 42.0%; forest coverage rose to 48.7%; standing timber volume was 19.9693 million cubic meters, an increase of 4.9608 million cubic meters over the second survey and 71.4% of the first survey. The fourth forest resource survey was conducted in 1994-1996: the prefecture had 567,300 hectares of forest land; forest coverage was 58.8%; standing timber volume was 15.0598 million cubic meters, a decrease of 4.9095 million cubic meters from the third survey. The fifth survey was conducted in 2003-2004: the prefecture had 644,890 hectares of forest land, an increase of 77,590 hectares over the fourth survey; forest coverage was 60.97%, up 2.17 percentage points from the fourth survey; total standing timber volume was 24.2783 million cubic meters, an increase of 9.2185 million cubic meters over the fourth survey.
Economic forests occupy an important position in the forestry of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. Traditional economic forests mainly include tung tree, oil tea, Chinese tallow tree, lacquer tree, Chinese gallnut, Chinese chestnut, persimmon, and jujube.
Tung Oil According to the Guangxu period Guzhangping Subprefecture Gazetteer: "In our township, poverty grows worse by the day, production is not abundant, the land is all barren, mountains are extensive and fields are few, and it cannot compare with fertile lands. Among what it produces, there is no other major commodity. Its grains and miscellaneous crops are not enough to supply local needs. Only tung and tea are a great source of profit for this place." A folk saying circulated: "One boat of tung oil goes down the river, ten boats of rice come up the mountain"; "A family with a thousand tung trees will never suffer poverty." In the 25th year of the Republic of China (1936), among the 16 counties in Hunan Province producing more than 500 tons of tung oil, 7 counties were in the prefecture, namely Qiancheng (present-day Jishou), Longshan, Yongshun, Fenghuang, Baojing, Luxi, and Guzhang. In the 29th year of the Republic of China, 16,300 hectares of new tung forest were planted in 73 counties across the province, of which 2,800 hectares were planted in the 10 counties of the prefecture, accounting for 17% of the province. According to statistics from the Research Office of the Hunan Provincial Bank in the 29th year of the Republic of China, that year the tung tree planting area in the 10 counties of the prefecture reached 41,300 hectares, accounting for 30.5% of the province's 135,300 hectares; tung oil output was 10,152 tons, accounting for 35.6% of the province's 28,491 tons, with Qiancheng the highest at 2,175 tons; tung oil export volume was 9,113 tons, accounting for 44.7% of the province's export volume of 20,399 tons, with Qiancheng exporting the most at 2,040 tons. During the War of Resistance Against Japan through the War of Liberation, sales were poor, prices fell, tung forests were abandoned and destroyed, and output declined.
In 1995, the tung forest area in the 8 counties and cities of the prefecture was 70,500 hectares, with an output of about 4,125 tons. In 2005, tung seeds output was 9,061 tons.
Oil tea is distributed in all counties and cities of the prefecture and is a traditional edible vegetable oil tree species. In the 29th year of the Republic of China, the prefecture produced 1,791 tons of tea oil, accounting for 5.5% of the province's total tea oil output of 32,460 tons; in 1949, tea oil output was 1,340 tons, with a harvested area of 43,100 hectares and a yield of more than 2 kilograms per mu. In 1995, the prefecture's oil tea forest area was 77,900 hectares, with a total tea oil output of 1,764 tons. In 2005, oil tea seeds output was 5,759 tons.
Chinese tallow tree is produced in Yongshun, Baojing, Jishou, Huayuan, and other counties and cities. The oil pressed from Chinese tallow seeds is wood oil. In the 29th year of the Republic of China, the prefecture produced 180 tons of Chinese tallow seeds; by 1949, output had dropped to 153 tons. In 1995, the total area of Chinese tallow trees in the prefecture was 333 hectares, with an output of 39 tons. In 2005, Chinese tallow seed output was 101 tons.
Lacquer Tree Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture is a key raw lacquer producing area in Hunan Province, with total output accounting for about 60% of the province. In 1950, the purchase volume in the entire prefecture was 14.9 tons. From 1989 to 1995, 51 tons of raw lacquer were produced. Among this, 4.5 tons were produced in 1995. In 2005, output was 8 tons.
Chinese gallnut is mainly distributed in Longshan, Huayuan, Yongshun, Guzhang, Baojing, and other counties. Annual output is 300 tons. According to a 1975 survey, the prefecture's gallnut forest area was 169 hectares, and output in 1974 was 187 tons. In 1995, the prefecture retained 34.66 hectares of Chinese gallnut area and produced 120 tons. In 2005, output was 129 tons.
Chinese chestnut is distributed in all counties and cities, with the most in Yongshun, Luxi, and Baojing. In the 1950s, the prefecture's Chinese chestnut area was 1,100 hectares, with an output of 614 tons. In 2005, output was 3,547 tons.
Persimmon Tree Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture is one of the three major persimmon-producing areas in the province. It is distributed in all counties and cities, planted sporadically in the "four sides," and began to have small patches of forestation in the 1970s. In 1995, the total area was 300 hectares, with an output of 427 tons of fresh persimmons. In 2005, output was 171 tons.
Jujube is distributed in all counties and cities, with the main producing areas being Luxi and Huayuan. In 1995, the retained area of jujube was 213.33 hectares, with an output of 265 tons. In 2005, output was 53 tons.
The prefecture is rich in varieties of medicinal plants and resources, including more than 170 kinds such as eucommia, blood vine, coptis, codonopsis, astragalus, papaya, vitex, gastrodia, honeysuckle, angelica, peony, agrimony, Paris polyphylla, and Tripterygium wilfordii. The main woody ones are Phellodendron, Eucommia, and Magnolia officinalis, referred to as the "three wood medicinal materials," which have relatively high economic value and are important resources for export earnings. The annual output of the "three wood medicinal materials" in the prefecture accounts for 50% of the province. In the late 1950s, state-owned forest farms began to plant a small amount of medicinal forest. In 1995, the prefecture had 3,951 hectares of Phellodendron, 981.4 hectares of Eucommia, and 98.6 hectares of Magnolia officinalis, with an annual output value of more than 5 million yuan.
II. Silvicultural Production
After the founding of New China, the forestry development of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture went through a tortuous path, roughly divided into four stages.
From 1952 to 1978, forestry advanced tortuously, with repeated setbacks. First was the upsurge stage of forestry construction. In the early 1950s, farmers obtained land, mountains, and forests, and their enthusiasm for planting trees and afforestation was unprecedented. From the beginning of 1958, the "Forestry Plan of the Second Five-Year Plan" was implemented. Driven by the slogan "large-scale afforestation, build large forests," a mass afforestation upsurge formed throughout the prefecture. Second was the stage in which forest resources suffered great destruction and forestry fell to a low point. Starting in the second half of 1958, under the call of "people's communeization" and the "Great Leap Forward" for "largeness and public ownership," Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture engaged in large-scale steelmaking, running communal canteens, and building water conservancy projects. In addition, the destruction of forests for opening wasteland caused by the three consecutive years of natural disasters that followed led to great destruction of forest resources, with losses of nearly 10 million cubic meters of standing timber, and forest resources fell into a situation of unchecked deforestation and lack of management. Third was the stage of difficult forestry recovery. Because the deviations of the "Great Leap Forward" were corrected, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture formulated the "30 Articles on Forestry Construction" in 1962, once again mobilizing the masses' enthusiasm for afforestation, especially focusing on large-scale planting of Chinese fir forests. The prefecture's Chinese fir forest bases developed to 227 patches, with an area of 1.41 million mu and a retained area of 1.2 million mu, compensating to a certain extent for the loss of forest resources.
From 1979 to 1987, forestry entered a stage of diversified afforestation. In order to reverse the situation of emphasizing cutting over planting and accelerate the pace of afforestation and greening, in 1981 the CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government deployed the stabilization of mountain forest ownership, the designation of private hills, and the determination of forestry production responsibility systems (abbreviated as the "three fixings"); in 1983, the prefecture committee issued the "Resolution on Carrying Out a Nationwide Voluntary Tree-Planting Movement in the Prefecture"; in 1984, the prefecture committee decided that the contracted hills and responsibility hills designated during the forestry "three fixings" would likewise be allocated to farmers as private hills, referred to as "three hills become one hill." These policies and measures mobilized the enthusiasm of the broad masses for planting trees and afforestation, forming a situation in which the state, collectives, and individuals all undertook forestry. In the process of implementing the "three fixings" and the "three hills become one hill" policies, due to farmers' psychology shaped by historically frequent policy changes and the long-standing arrears in farmers' timber for daily life, deforestation once appeared for a time. In the process of allocating hills to households, the method of mixing good and bad and equalizing distance was adopted. In many places there appeared the situation of one hill having many owners and one owner having many hills, bringing increased disputes and many inconveniences in afforestation, forest cultivation, forest protection, harvesting, and regeneration. Single households found it difficult to engage in large-scale forestry production. In response to these problems, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture extended the contract management period for mountain forests and mountain land from the original 30 years to long-term unchanged, allowed inheritance, signed contracts, and performed notarization. On the basis of stabilizing mountain forest ownership, it advocated establishing specialized household forest farms and joint-household forest farms, with joint-household afforestation, concentrated contiguous patches, household management, and dedicated caretakers. The main characteristics of afforestation and greening at this stage were: a shift from mainly state and collective afforestation to diversified afforestation, a shift from artificial afforestation to a combination of artificial afforestation, aerial seeding afforestation, and closed-mountain forest cultivation, and a shift from purely planting timber forests to planting multiple forest types.
II. Silvicultural Production
After the founding of New China, the forestry development of Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture went through a tortuous path, roughly divided into four stages.
From 1952 to 1978, forestry advanced tortuously, with repeated setbacks. First was the upsurge stage of forestry construction. In the early 1950s, farmers obtained land, mountains, and forests, and their enthusiasm for planting trees and afforestation was unprecedented. From the beginning of 1958, the "Forestry Plan of the Second Five-Year Plan" was implemented. Driven by the slogan "large-scale afforestation, build large forests," a mass afforestation upsurge formed throughout the prefecture. Second was the stage in which forest resources suffered great destruction and forestry fell to a low point. Starting in the second half of 1958, under the call of "people's communeization" and the "Great Leap Forward" for "largeness and public ownership," Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture engaged in large-scale steelmaking, running communal canteens, and building water conservancy projects. In addition, the destruction of forests for opening wasteland caused by the three consecutive years of natural disasters that followed led to great destruction of forest resources, with losses of nearly 10 million cubic meters of standing timber, and forest resources fell into a situation of unchecked deforestation and lack of management. Third was the stage of difficult forestry recovery. Because the deviations of the "Great Leap Forward" were corrected, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture formulated the "30 Articles on Forestry Construction" in 1962, once again mobilizing the masses' enthusiasm for afforestation, especially focusing on large-scale planting of Chinese fir forests. The prefecture's Chinese fir forest bases developed to 227 patches, with an area of 1.41 million mu and a retained area of 1.2 million mu, compensating to a certain extent for the loss of forest resources.
From 1979 to 1987, forestry entered a stage of diversified afforestation. In order to reverse the situation of emphasizing cutting over planting and accelerate the pace of afforestation and greening, in 1981 the CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government deployed the stabilization of mountain forest ownership, the designation of private hills, and the determination of forestry production responsibility systems (abbreviated as the "three fixings"); in 1983, the prefecture committee issued the "Resolution on Carrying Out a Nationwide Voluntary Tree-Planting Movement in the Prefecture"; in 1984, the prefecture committee decided that the contracted hills and responsibility hills designated during the forestry "three fixings" would likewise be allocated to farmers as private hills, referred to as "three hills become one hill." These policies and measures mobilized the enthusiasm of the broad masses for planting trees and afforestation, forming a situation in which the state, collectives, and individuals all undertook forestry. In the process of implementing the "three fixings" and the "three hills become one hill" policies, due to farmers' psychology shaped by historically frequent policy changes and the long-standing arrears in farmers' timber for daily life, deforestation once appeared for a time. In the process of allocating hills to households, the method of mixing good and bad and equalizing distance was adopted. In many places there appeared the situation of one hill having many owners and one owner having many hills, bringing increased disputes and many inconveniences in afforestation, forest cultivation, forest protection, harvesting, and regeneration. Single households found it difficult to engage in large-scale forestry production. In response to these problems, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture extended the contract management period for mountain forests and mountain land from the original 30 years to long-term unchanged, allowed inheritance, signed contracts, and performed notarization. On the basis of stabilizing mountain forest ownership, it advocated establishing specialized household forest farms and joint-household forest farms, with joint-household afforestation, concentrated contiguous patches, household management, and dedicated caretakers. The main characteristics of afforestation and greening at this stage were: a shift from mainly state and collective afforestation to diversified afforestation, a shift from artificial afforestation to a combination of artificial afforestation, aerial seeding afforestation, and closed-mountain forest cultivation, and a shift from purely planting timber forests to planting multiple forest types.
From 1988 to 1999, forestry entered a stage of comprehensive afforestation. In November 1988, the CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government issued the 'Decision on Eliminating Barren Hills Suitable for Afforestation in Five Years and Greening the Whole Prefecture in Ten Years,' marking the start of large-scale tree planting and afforestation. All counties and cities in the prefecture signed target responsibility agreements level by level, placing afforestation and greening as a major matter on the important agenda of Party committees and governments, forming an upsurge of tree planting and afforestation with the whole Party mobilized and all people taking action. In 1990, the Yangtze River Upper and Middle Reaches Shelterbelt Project was successfully launched and implemented in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, marking the prefecture's entry into the period of forestry engineering afforestation. In 1994, the second phase of the World Bank loan afforestation project was launched. In 1996, the 'Hundred Farms, Thousand Li, Ten Thousand Mu' green corridor project was launched. In 1997, the 'Three Difficult Lands' afforestation assault project was launched. The launch of numerous forestry engineering projects enabled the steady development of forestry ecological construction in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. In 1993, the prefecture eliminated barren hills suitable for afforestation as scheduled; in 1997, it achieved the greening standard one year ahead of schedule; by 1998, a total of 1.9435 million mu of afforestation had been completed under the first phase of the Yangtze River Shelterbelt Project, 66,500 mu under the second phase of the World Bank loan project, and the 'Three Difficult Lands' afforestation became the main battlefield of the province.
From 2000 to 2005, forestry entered a stage of comprehensive advancement of key engineering afforestation. At the turn of the century, the state made returning farmland to forest the fundamental point and entry point of the Western Development Strategy, which brought a rare opportunity for forestry ecological construction in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. To accelerate the pace of forestry ecological construction, the CPC Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government issued the 'Opinions on Implementing the Strategy of Ecological Prefecture Construction.' The concept of forestry ecological construction took root in the hearts of the people throughout the prefecture, and upsurges of tree planting and afforestation arose one after another. In 2000, a 100,000-mu pilot demonstration of returning farmland to forest was implemented in Yongshun County. In April 2001, Premier Zhu Rongji of the State Council inspected Xiangxi, specifically listened to reports on returning farmland to forest and ecological construction, and gave important instructions on ecological environment construction, thus opening the prelude to protecting the ecological environment and implementing returning farmland to forest in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture. The whole prefecture conscientiously implemented the Premier's instructions, organized meticulously, deployed carefully, and implemented earnestly. From 2000 to 2005, a cumulative total of 3.8 million mu of afforestation was completed under the returning farmland to forest project, covering 158 townships and 1,975 villages across the prefecture, benefiting 506,000 farming households and 2.026 million farmers. During this period, 165,000 mu of afforestation was also implemented under the second phase of the Yangtze River Shelterbelt Project, 300,000 mu under the third and fourth phases of the World Bank loan afforestation project, and forestry foreign-funded projects such as the Japan Obuchi Fund afforestation project, the Sino-German cooperative afforestation project, and the Sino-EU natural forest management project were introduced. In 2005, to further optimize the layout of afforestation and greening, enhance the external image, and accelerate the pace of ecological prefecture construction, the Prefecture Committee and the Prefecture People's Government made arrangements for vigorously implementing the 'Four Sides' greening project, namely, using about 10 years to complete afforestation and greening within 3 kilometers of urban planning areas, along national and provincial roads, on both banks of rivers, and within 1 kilometer of visible areas around reservoirs throughout the prefecture.
The achievements in forestry ecological construction in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture were affirmed by the State Forestry Administration and the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and the Provincial People's Government. In December 2002, the National On-site Work Conference on Returning Farmland to Forest was held in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture, promoting the successful experience of the 'Eight In-Place' approach in the prefecture's returning farmland to forest work. In 2004, the Provincial People's Government awarded Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture the honorary title of 'Advanced Collective in Forestry Work.'
While the cause of afforestation and greening developed vigorously, the protection and management of forest resources in Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture continuously improved, and protection efforts continuously increased.
Forest resource management stepped onto a legal track, and the phenomenon of arbitrary requisition and occupation of forestry land was effectively curbed. In 1985, the prefecture began implementing the system of harvesting trees with permits. In 1987, the forest harvesting quota system was implemented. All counties and cities strictly implemented the harvesting quota targets issued by the province, strictly harvested according to plan, and controlled excessive consumption of forest resources. In 2001, the Standing Committee of the Tenth Prefecture People's Congress deliberated and passed the 'Resolution on Protecting and Developing Forest Resources and Accelerating Forestry Construction,' improving local forestry regulations and providing a legal basis for strengthening forest resource protection throughout the prefecture. While managing the full amount of harvesting quotas, forest land management was placed on an important agenda. Special actions were carried out to address arbitrary requisition and occupation of forest land, cracking down on illegal acts of arbitrary requisition and occupation of forest land. In addition to applying and obtaining approval according to procedures, requisitioning and occupying forest land also required paying a certain amount of forest vegetation restoration fees for afforestation in other locations.
Forestry judicial and administrative law enforcement teams were continuously established and improved. By the end of 2005, the prefecture had a total of 9 forest public security agencies with 129 personnel, 8 forestry judicial agencies with 31 personnel, 4 forestry procuratorial agencies with 12 personnel, 9 forestry administration agencies with 67 personnel, 2 forestry administration law enforcement brigades with 18 personnel, and 26 timber inspection stations with 132 personnel. This forestry law enforcement team played an important role in cracking down on indiscriminate logging and protecting forest resources according to law.
Forest fire prevention and pest and disease control were continuously strengthened. The prefecture and counties/cities established forest fire prevention command headquarters, with 9 forest fire prevention offices and 27 personnel. Forest fire prevention presented a new situation of unified leadership by the government, coordinated management by relevant departments, and joint participation by society. The forest pest and disease forecasting, quarantine, and prevention system was continuously improved, and the prefecture and counties/cities established forest pest and disease prevention agencies. Prevention and control measures shifted from single chemical control to comprehensive prevention and engineering management mainly based on biological control, effectively controlling forest pests and diseases.
Good achievements were made in the construction and management of nature reserves, and biodiversity was effectively protected. The prefecture established a total of 31 nature reserves and 17 nature protection sub-areas, with a total area of 273,400 hectares, accounting for 17.65% of the prefecture's total land area. Among the 31 nature reserves, 1 is national-level, namely Hunan Xiaoxi National Nature Reserve; 6 are provincial-level, namely Fenghuang Jiuchongyan, Liangtouyang, Guzhang Gaowangjie, Baojing Baiyunshan, Longshan Yinjiajie Nature Reserves, and Longshan Luota Protection Point; and 24 are county/city-level. Classified by protection object, 26 protect forest ecosystems, 2 protect forest and wetland ecosystems, and 3 protect rare wild animals and plants. The establishment of nature reserves and nature protection sub-areas plays an irreplaceable role in effectively protecting nationally endemic and rare endangered species, unique ecological environments, and biodiversity within the prefecture.
Forest eco-tourism continued to heat up. The prefecture has 5 forest parks at or above the provincial level, with a total area of 13,300 hectares. Some forest parks fully utilized and leveraged their resource advantages, increased investment through attracting business and investment, actively revitalized resource assets, increasingly improved forest tourism facility construction, continuously improved management and reception levels, and forest tourism revenue rose year by year. Forest eco-tourism attractions such as Xiaoxi National Nature Reserve, Qifeng Lake, Zuolong Stream, Nanhua Mountain, and Bu'er Gate have become highlights of mysterious Xiangxi tourism. In 2005, forest parks in the prefecture received more than 300,000 visitors annually and achieved tourism revenue of 19.22 million yuan.