World Heritage status has proved to be both bitter and sweet for
indigenous residents living in the stone forest reserve in
southwest China's Yunnan Province.
UNESCO on Wednesday added three clusters of karst landscape in
south China to its World Heritage list. The stone forests in Shilin
were one of those clusters.
One of the conditions for inclusion on the UNESCO list requires
the local government to ban all man-made structures within the 120
sq km core of the 350 sq km reserve, said Li Zhengping, director of
the reserve administration.
"All structures will be dismantled and people moved out by
2008," Pu Guoliang, head of Wukeshu Village in the reserve, said as
he pointed at the rows of houses to be destroyed.
The village, one of four to be relocated, is home to about 200
households of the Yi minority group.
The stone forest, with its distinctive karsts, has long been a
popular tourist attraction.
Most of the villagers earn a living providing services and
selling souvenirs to visitors.
"Indeed, our life has gradually improved as the reserve has
become more prosperous," Pu said.
"We are happy because more tourists will come here as a result
of the area's new designation."
The village's annual per-household income was about 20,000 yuan
($2,600) last year.
But many villagers are worried that they will lose their niche
after the evacuation, with some even blaming Pu for betraying their
interests. Many of them will be leaving homes in which their
families have lived for generations.
Meanwhile, the practice of collecting stones to sell as
souvenirs has been banned, and most of the village's farmland is
now under protection, which means animal husbandry is no longer
permitted.
"Many of my friends are worried that they can no longer sell
things within the reserve," said Peng Jinyu, a local guide.
However, Liu Wenwei, Party secretary of Shilin, said the
difficulties would be "short-term".
The county plans to allot 100 million yuan (US$13.13
million)?to build a cultural village near the buffer zone
surrounding the reserve to accommodate the residents from the core
area.
The cultural village will also be developed into a tourism
destination.
(China Daily June 29, 2007)
