The South China Karst, made up of the stone forest
in Yunnan Province, Libo County in Guizhou Province, and Wulong County in Chongqing City, was a source of great pride
for Chinese people after it was inscribed on UNESCO's World
Heritage List, but according to Liu Wenwei, Party secretary of
Shilin County, top priority should be given to better protection of
the natural heritage.
Considered as the "Museum of Karst Topography," the Shilin Karst
is famed for stones that are majestic and oddly shaped and massive
in size. As early as 17 years ago, Shilin began organizing its bid
to be added to the World Heritage List. It formally withdrew from
the application race in 1991 for a lack of systematic comparison to
other karst topography worldwide.
However, considering the unique opportunity, Shilin never waned
in its protection of the environment, with the local government
dedicating 284 million yuan towards reconstruction and
rehabilitation work in the area.
According to the local tourism bureau, the recent inclusion will
definitely attract more visitors to Shilin and boost the local
economy. Some 2.4 million visitors from home and abroad visited the
region last year and generated 260 million yuan in direct revenue,
the number being expected to reach 400 million in 2010.
More importantly, the government is well aware that the
desperate pursuit of economic interests could lead to irretrievable
losses to the fragile environment.
UNESCO's World Heritage Committee warned during its convention
this year that six of China's World Heritage sites could be placed on
an endangered list: the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and
the Summer Palace in Beijing; the Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet;
and the Three Parallel Rivers and the Old Town of Lijiang in Yunnan
Province.
Although these sites have since passed the censors and managed
to escape from the endangered list, the problems of over
commercialization in some areas are still serious, as man-made
structures like cable cars and hotels are built in the protection
zones at the cost of the local environment.
Unwilling to follow the same disastrous road, Shilin has its own
plan: relocate villages outwards, remove hotels and bridges in the
protection zone, and allocate 20 million yuan annually for the
establishment of new villages and preservation of the
eco-system.
Wukeshu, for instance, used to be a poverty-stricken village
surrounded by the stone forest. The living conditions for the
residents have been greatly improved since the opening of the
reserve in the 1970s with per capita income rising from lower than
300 yuan to 5,000 yuan per year, said Pu Guoliang, head of the
village.
All the 267 families will move out of the core area by 2008 and
it may affect their lives in short term, but the plan is still
backed by the villagers because they understand it's a move their
descendants can benefit from, Pu noted.
According to the plan, 100 million yuan will be earmarked for
the relocation and a suggestion has been made to transform the
current Wukeshu Village into a folk-custom exhibition hall.
"Our ultimate goal lies in better protection rather than just
being listed as a world heritage site; during the application
process we have learned how to better treat our surroundings," Liu
confided.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao, July 5, 2007)
