More than 70 years ago, Austrian-American scholar, Joseph F. Rock
set out to explore southwest China's
Yunnan
Province. There he took some 3,000 photographs documenting the
local people, their culture and the geography of the province at
the time.
Some 70 years later, Bob Moseley, an American biologist supported
by The Nature Conservancy, a
leading organization in the field, has once again framed the very
same mountains and villages in his lens.
The pictures serve to reflect the ecological changes in the
northwest part of Yunnan in the intervening 70 years and were the
subject of a recent exhibition staged in the province.
Bob Moseley took the Chinese name Mu Bao Shan on coming in China.
As chief scientist for The Nature Conservancy's preservation
program in Yunnan, his work is to set up a collaborative program
with the local government to investigate the natural resources of
the area. This is known as the "Action Plan for the Protection and
Development of Northwest Yunnan."
Following in Rock's footsteps, Moseley has visited more than 40
villages in Yunnan. He has digitized 50 separate sets of
comparative photographs to be displayed in the exhibition. Moseley
said "The landscape in Deqine has changed little over the 70 years
or so. The forest cover has only decreased slightly and in some
areas the vegetation has actually increased. Areas of devastation
are rare." Moseley was surprised at this finding as it runs counter
to claims he has heard of so called devastating development in
western China.
Referring to one particular photograph of the "Tea and Horse Road,"
an ancient trade route, he explained, "You can see in this picture
that the vegetation coverage on the mountain side has changed
little." He pointed out the line of the ancient path running
covered by greenery alongside the modern road zigzagging its way up
the contours of the mountain.
The records show Rock was acting in the capacity of an agricultural
commissioner of the United States. He arrived in northwest Yunnan
sitting in a sedan chair carried by four people. His party traveled
many km on rugged mountain roads. During his 27 years in Yunnan,
Rock wrote a number of articles on his travels and took many
photos. His work aroused much interest in the West and may even
have helped inspire the famous novel Lost Horizon by British
writer James Hilton with its wonderful tales of Shangri-La.
Its special geography and climate give rise to a relatively closed
ecological environment in northwest Yunnan. Biologists around the
world have recognized that its abundance of ancient species, a
sparse human population and a general absence of outside impact on
the environment have endowed the area with a rich gene bank.
"Twenty years ago when I was at university, my tutor told me of the
great importance of the northwestern area of Yunnan to the
worldwide ecological balance. So naturally, I opted to work in
Yunnan when I got the chance. I think this is a place where
biologists might realize their dreams," said Moseley.
Bob Moseley came to Yunnan for the first time at the beginning of
2001. He felt a strong sense of belonging when he found the green
mountains, valleys and grassland here are so similar to those to be
found around his hometown. And so he settled in well on broad
pastureland at the foot of snowcapped mountains.
Photos are commonly used for comparison purposes ecological survey
work. The pictures taken by Rock all these years ago have become
important reference documents for today's scientists engaged in
ecological research.
At
first Moseley went out at weekends like a tourist. He took along
Rock's pictures, which had been published in National
Geography in the United States in August 1926. He tried to seek
out the actual places in the photographs.
"I
had been going to these places and taking photographs for about a
year when I suddenly realized that what I was doing was actually
creating a program in its own right," said Moseley. He then sought
and obtained the support of The Nature Conservancy for this
work.
Using Rock's map of 1946, Moseley looked for elderly local people
who can speak Tibetan, Chinese and English to help him find the
exact places where Rock had been. He even tried to rediscover the
same camera angles.
"The local people have been a great help. They have kindly told me
of the geographic changes in the villages, valleys and roads and
any changed names in both Chinese and Tibetan," he said.
Moseley spoke particularly highly of the help he had received from
Cili Nongbu, a Tibetan who had always accompanied him.
They had followed the old "Tea and Horse Road" beside the Jincha
River to the Yongming glacier and even into the remote parts of
Dengqin and Weixi. When they went deep into the mountains they
would often spent the night in local Tibetan houses. Sometimes they
camped in the fields. For Moseley and his guide, dangers such as
landslide and even just plain getting lost were to become
commonplace.
Some photos show a rapid retreat of snowcaps and glaciers. Moseley
is opposed to attributing this to the local impact of tourism. He
said, "In my opinion this has been caused by global warming. There
is evidence to support this view in the rich vegetation in Kawagebo
Mountain. In addition some glaciers have retreated where there have
never been any tourists."
Some of Moseley's ideas differ from the views traditionally held by
his Chinese counterparts. Chinese scientists have held that the
valleys of the Lancang and Jinsha Rivers are not suitable for
forestry due to their dry and warm river-valley climates. They view
is that the timber resources there are not abundant and so there is
little felling. Moseley has pointed instead to the influence of the
good practice of the Tibetan farmers. Despite the needs of an
increasing local population they have not over-exploited the timber
resources.
Moseley said, "The media can be quick to make claims of excessive
tree felling in western China but this is not borne out by what I
have found. Local government has an interest in developing the
economy through tourism and will work to take care of the
environment. The importance of ecological protection to the
long-term future of tourism is well understood and the work of
local government is very important." He added that he also had
confidence in the cooperation of central government.
The people of Tibet; the Naxi and Lisu ethnic groups; their homes,
villages and places of worship; all these have attracted Moseley's
attention. In the eyes of an ecologist, the cultural practices of
an ethnic minority can bring important influences to bear on the
social ecology. So Moseley's photographs are not only of the
natural environment but also include the people.
"Rock took pictures of three young people in a Tibetan village,"
said Moseley speaking at the exhibition. Pointing to one group of
photos he said, "I have included three young people from the same
village in my pictures. There is little difference in the past and
present photographs. The old tree at the entrance to the village is
still there. The only change is that the young people of today are
dressed in Chinese tunic suits and yellow sweaters. Their smiles
can be seen to be as sincere as always. The only difference might
be a sense of curiosity which can be seen in their eyes, while the
smile of their predecessors of 70 years ago radiated with a greater
health and confidence."
Moseley now spends most of his time in Yunnan. Besides his
dedication to taking photographs and researching the flora of
Yunnan, he is an enthusiastic rock-climber. During his vacations he
likes to go climbing with like-minded friends on the Sleeping
Beauty Mountain near Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan
Province.
However, his biggest hope is to trace all the places where Rock had
been and so complete his "photographic exhibition of ecological
change in northwest Yunnan."
(china.org.cn translated by Zhang Tingting, October 30, 2002 )