Programme Outline
Yunnans forests are a source of timber for industry and of revenue for local government. Peasant farmers rely on woodlands for fodder, food, construction materials and fuel. Large-scale felling of trees reduces the stability of the soil and promotes erosion. The additional silt washed down the Yangtze increases the likelihood of flooding downstream in the big cities on the plains. Consequently the interests of farmers and foresters high in the Yangtze watershed conflict with those of the city dwellers far downstream. After the floods of 1998, felling was suspended and the reforestation programmes were immediately extended.
A reforestation programme is being implemented in the Upper Yangtze basin to reduce erosion. Ten years ago, in the village of Tuochi in Huize County, several hectares of arable fields high in the hills were planted with pines: trees of little value to the villagers who had been deprived of some of their farmland. This programme examines their loss.
00.00 00.50
The Yangtze, Chinas longest river. Forests used to cover the hillside, preventing rainwater from rushing down the hillside and carrying soil into the river.
00.50 01.35
Summer floods in Gongan county in 1998. 400 million people are potentially at risk. Downstream, flooding is only part of the problem: gullies are eroded, the topsoil washed away by rain, devastating the landscape, destroying fields and damaging the livelihood of local farmers.
01.35 01.54
The course of the Yangtze River. The mountains near Lijiang still have healthy forests.
01.54 02.15
There is a huge variety of species in the forest (biodiversity), providing good livelihood for herdsmen.
02.15 03.00
Pictures of a family living in the forest. Packhorses, goats and cattle depend on the forest for fodder. The head of the family says that conditions in the forest are crucial: they respect the land while they live here so that conditions do not deteriorate.
03.00 03.38
Wild flowers grow in the forest. Tree roots stabilise the soil, preventing it from being washed away. Woodland streams flow all year round. Without the forest, water would run off quickly after every rainstorm.
03.38 04.55
The family use the forest for fodder and fuel. Houses are built from the wood. The son says that the forest provides firweood, wild vegetables to eat in summer, and wild animals to catch for food. They are no longer allowed to cut trees down, but must gather fallen deadwood for fuel. Relatively few people live here now, so there is enough fuel. Mushrooms provide food; tips of bracken are used for pickling; Spanish moss is used to stuff bedding; baskets are made from bamboo; herbs and lichens are used for medicines.
04.55 05.40
Wood is used for building in the town. There is also a growing demand for herbal medicines and teas.
05.40 05.56
Forest plants must be allowed to regenerate too many are being collected. Forests need to be managed sustainably.
05.56 06.20
The demand for timber has led to forests being felled on a large scale. Since the floods of 1998, felling has been banned in the Upper Yangtze basin. Natural regeneration is a slow process, and cannot happen if the land where trees have been felled is used for pasture or farming.
06.20 06.25
There is a new policy of planting trees to halt erosion.
06.25 06.40
In 1940, Huize county had over 40% forest cover. Since then over a half has been cut down. The people of Tuochi township suffered as a result.
06.40 07.20
For the Tuochi villagers, maize and potatoes are the staple foods. They receive a cash income from tobacco. The average cash income is £50 a year per person. There are few opportunities for paid employment locally.
07.20 08.20
A woman carries a sewing machine on her back to the local market in order to earn some extra money. The local market is a social gathering as well. It is not a wealthy area, and there is not much for sale.
08.20 09.00
A framer explains that there is a tradition of arable, not livestock farming. Cattle are kept in the back yard. Little fodder is available: the cattle are fed on corn stalks and grass.
09.00 09.30
In the Yangtze valley there are terraced fields, and hills covered with barren scrub: no good pasture or forest. Plant life here has little chance to regenerate once it is destroyed.
09.30 09.43
In the 1950s, these mountains were covered with trees, which were cut down to fuel the local steel mills.
09.43 10.10
Mao insisted that villages build their own steel smelters, as part of his Great Leap Forward.
10.10 10.20
The steel produced in the village mills was of poor quality; and the smelters were abandoned after two years.
10.20 10.40
Tuochi lost most of its forest and was left with open scrubland, which was later terraced for farming in order to increase food production. The land is not fertile: only buckwheat will grow here.
10.40 11.00
A woman explains that buckwheat is used for noodles, soup, dumplings, and salads.
11.00 11.55
Many terraces were poorly built, sloping in such a way that the fertile topsoil is washed away, so that the fields become less productive every year. Heavy rain washes away the soil, forming gullies and gashes in the hillside. Some areas are now completely barren. There are no trees to hold the soil together. Mountain streams dry up, reducing the water supply in the valleys; while heavy rains rush straight down and cause floods in the valleys below.
11.55 12.03
The richest farmland is along valley sides, which are vulnerable to flooding.
12.03 13.00
A family are working in a field tending vegetables and tobacco. The tobacco crop was lost in the terrible flood of 1985.
13.00 13.20
To prevent flooding, the County Forestry Bureau has started a programme of planting trees. It is planned to reforest the upper Yangtze basin to protect areas downstream.
13.20 14.15
A forestry official explains that the government invests money, the locals provide labour, and the profits are shared between the two. The government provides seedlings and expertise, and farmers plant their own trees. Buckwheat is interplanted. The intention is to stabilise the soil to prevent rapid run-off. But this is monoculture: just one species of pine is grown, and the trees are so close together that there is no undergrowth.
14.15 14.36
These plantations lack the biodiversity of natural forests. There is no grass for cattle and there are no berries for pigs.
14.36 15.10
Seedlings are cheap, but the pine trees not directly useful to the family who live there. The soil is too acid to grow anything beneath them. The income from selling the trees will eventually be shared, but this is still decades away.
15.10 15.36
Pine trimmings are useful for kindling; but this does not compensate for the hectare of buckwheat fields the family lost.
15.36 16.00
The forestry official explains how difficult it was to satisfy everyones wishes.
16.00 16.10
New irrigation techniques, polythene covers and high-yield varieties have been introduced to increase farming output.
16.10 16.21
The use of polythene covers on the fields has helped restore standards of living.
16.21 17.15
Some new and more effective schemes for reforestation of hills are being tried, which are of low cost to farmers, but which still serve to restabilise the soil and reduce erosion. Poor management leads to losses. During collectivisation, forests were managed by the whole community together. Later, land was divided up between households: families were free to cut down whatever they wanted. The hills are now completely bare.
17.15 18.14
A farmer who ploughed up forest land four years ago was recently persuaded by the Forestry Department to plant chestnut trees in between his crops. The saplings reduce his crop yield by only 10%. As they mature, the bean crops will diminish, but the yield of chestnuts will compensate for this.
18.14 18.24
The soil is fertilised for the trees.
18.24 end
These are not rich people. Reforestation programmes are costly for poor farmers, who have paid a high price to help much richer people downstream.
