This article was downloaded by: [Tulane University]On: 11 October 2014, At: 01:28Publisher: RoutledgeInforma Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House,37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Contemporary ChinaPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjcc20

The Recent Environmental History of Tiger LeapingGorge: environmental degradation and local landdevelopment in northern YunnanJack Patrick HayesPublished online: 13 Jul 2007.

To cite this article: Jack Patrick Hayes (2007) The Recent Environmental History of Tiger Leaping Gorge: environmentaldegradation and local land development in northern Yunnan, Journal of Contemporary China, 16:52, 499-516, DOI:10.1080/10670560701314461

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10670560701314461

PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE

Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) containedin the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make norepresentations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of theContent. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, andare not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon andshould be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable forany losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoeveror howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use ofthe Content.

This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematicreproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in anyform to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions

The Recent Environmental Historyof Tiger Leaping Gorge: environmentaldegradation and local land developmentin northern YunnanJACK PATRICK HAYES*

Over the past 150 years few Western and Chinese scholars have examined the nature of the

environment in Hutiao xia (Tiger Leaping Gorge) and its various inhabitants. However, as

a unique geographical and geological feature, one of Asia’s deepest gorges, part of the

headwaters of the Yangtze River, and a common destination for tourists, the gorge has taken

on greater and greater significance. Americans, Chinese literati, Party Cadres, and others

have commented on Tiger Leaping Gorge. This essay will examine both the local environment

and local environmental practices related to the gorge. Considering historical and

contemporary land use practices, the gorge and its changing status can act as a microcosm of

western China’s various kinds of land development strategies, their implications for local and

larger concerns, and land use ideologies of various sorts. Through discussing soil

composition, water management, natural vegetation patterns, population growth, and recent

developments in tourism, this essay will discuss the human impact on the natural environment

of Tiger Leaping Gorge between the 1870s and 2002. It will not only demonstrate patterns in

environmental degradation based on both natural and human processes, it will also show that

depending on the form of institutional authority and local management practices, the

environment in the gorge has been most effected by the political and ideological changes of

the last half-century in comparison to earlier times. However, despite increasing challenges

in the face of various human factors, some recent environmental practices have succeeded in

helping to minimize elements of local soil and vegetation degradation.

Over the past 150 years few Western and Chinese scholars have discussed the Hutiaoxia (Tiger Leaping Gorge) and its inhabitants. However, as a unique geographical andgeological feature, one of Asia’s deepest gorges, part of the headwaters of theYangtze River, and a popular destination for tourists, the gorge has taken on greaterand greater significance. In fact, Chinese literati, foreign visitors, scientists, and PartyCadres have commented on various aspects of Tiger Leaping Gorge. This essay willsurvey both the status of the local environment and development practices related

* Jack Patrick Hayes is a graduate student in the Department of History UBC, and is recently returned from sixmonths of research in western China. His recent research delves into the complex history of Chinese ethnic relations,identity and local politics, and China’s environment. Most of this research concerns western China, especially Tibetanand Hui areas of Sichuan Province. Other research interests include Chinese ecology and Republican era history inwestern China.

Journal of Contemporary China (2007), 16(52), August, 499–516

ISSN 1067-0564 print/ 1469-9400 online/07/520499–18 q 2007 Taylor & FrancisDOI: 10.1080/10670560701314461

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

to the gorge. The historical and contemporary land and environment use practices ofthe gorge and its environmental history can act as a microcosm of western China’sland development issues and strategies, their implications for local concerns, and landuse ideologies.1 Indeed, we shall see that local and national population growth andinfrastructure development with clearly human-made alterations of the localenvironment spell great changes in the erosion and vegetation patterns of TigerLeaping Gorge.

Through discussing soil composition, natural vegetation patterns and retro-gression, hydrology and dam-building issues, mining, population growth, and recentdevelopments in tourism, this paper will discuss the human impact on the naturalenvironment of Tiger Leaping Gorge between the 1870s and 2002.2 It is thecontention of this paper that the environmental history of Tiger Leaping Gorge can beseparated into four distinct time periods that demonstrate increasing environmentaldeterioration linked to increasing human action to develop the gorge. The paper willnot only demonstrate patterns in environmental degradation based on both naturaland human processes, it will also show that depending on the form of institutionalauthority and local management practices, the environment in the gorge has beenmost effected by shifts in political and ideological practice as much as by populationgrowth or local land use practices. However, despite increasing challenges in the faceof various development schemes, some recent environmental initiatives havesucceeded in helping to minimize elements of local soil and vegetation degradationand even ameliorate some tendencies to further develop the gorge.3

This essay is concerned with a single overarching question—what were and are thevariables driving environmental transformation in Tiger Leaping Gorge?In discussing the transformative natural, social, and economic forces in the long-term development of the gorge this leads to another question: to what extent doefforts to save and utilize the gorge reflect changing environmental attitudes inChina? The essay will discuss the environmental and social history of the gorge byengaging in three constructions of its own:

1. This paper is based on original research, including field research in the summers of 1996 and 2002. I haveparticularly benefited from the paper by David Watts and Zhou Yue, ‘Erosion in deep gorges: the Leaping TigerGorge on the upper Yangtze’, in Terry Cannon, ed., China’s Economic Growth (London: MacMillan Press Ltd, 2000),pp. 293–308, which is an excellent study of the impact of erosion on the biology and geology of the area. The presentpaper seeks to build upon their and other research by bringing in new data and by covering recent developments intourism and hydropower in Yunnan, as well as by providing a more comprehensive analysis of historical and currentsocial factors influencing the environment of Tiger Leaping Gorge. I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers ofthis paper, Dr Timothy Cheek, and Dr Andreas Wilkes for their input and insights while writing this paper.

2. This essay tries to take both scientific and socio-cultural studies into account in examining the environmentalhistory of this region. While by no means exhaustive, this examination tries to accomplish what J. R. McNeillchallenges environmental historians to do—show the ways that environmental history is shaped by political andcultural differences and show links between environmental history and other disciplines, especially geology and thenatural sciences, in such a way that a richer and more comprehensive picture of the issues and problematic nature ofhuman–nature interaction can be understood. See J. R. McNeill, ‘Observations on the nature and culture ofenvironmental history’, History and Theory 42, (December 2003); and J. R. McNeill, ‘China’s environmental historyin world perspective’, in Mark Elvin and Ts’ui Jung Liu, eds, Sediments of Time (Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress, 1998), pp. 31–51.

3. This essay is part of a larger project I am working on to compare similar geological and vegetative gorge zonesin the PRC and Taiwan. Most of the research was done on two visits to the gorge area in the summers of 1996 and2002.

JACK PATRICK HAYES

500

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

1. a discussion of the natural geographical, topographical, and ecological settingof the gorge;

2. an historical discussion of human impact on the gorge; and3. an analysis of recent administrative, social, and tourism development in the

gorge.

In conclusion, this essay considers the recent ‘reforms’, or more clearly stated,‘policy reactions’ taken by the provincial and national government to address theincreasing natural and human caused environmental degradation of Tiger LeapingGorge. These actions include new laws and scientific initiatives (studies), in largepart based on increased tourism and international recognition of the scenic beauty andscientific importance of this region of Yunnan Province. The paper also takes intoaccount the most recent dam-building initiatives in the gorge and the political andeconomic forces pushing for such development in addition to how such developmentforces have galvanized movements to protect the region.

This essay on the environmental history of Tiger Leaping Gorge attempts tocontribute to our understanding of environmental history in China, and the politics ofenvironment in local China over the past century. This is not a new direction inChinese environmental history, but this study does offer a few new insights.It develops a local environmental history for northern Yunnan along the lines ofEmily Yeh’s masterful study of forest claims and mushroom harvesting amongTibetans just north of Tiger Leaping Gorge, but deals as much or more with localNaxi as Tibetans.4 It also examines patterns of population growth and environmentalcrisis along the lines of Anne Osborne’s study of the Zhejiang highlands andlowlands, but brings us into the contemporary setting.5 It looks at some of the overallissues of local and non-local views about the environment and ways in which naturalresources should be used in Yunnan and along the Yangtze River, but moves beyonddiscussions of the Three Gorges region and eastern and urban oriented studiesof China’s environmental NGOs.6 Finally, by trying to take into account bothscientific and socio-cultural studies, this examination tries to accomplish what J. R.McNeill challenges environmental historians to do—show the ways thatenvironmental history is shaped by political and cultural differences and show

4. See Emily Yeh, ‘Forest claims, conflicts and commodification: the political ecology of Tibetan mushroom-harvesting villages in Yunnan Province, China’, China Quarterly 161, (2000), pp. 264–278.

5. See Anne Osborne, ‘Highlands and lowlands: economic and ecological interactions in the Lower Yangziregion under the Qing’, in Elvin and Liu, eds, Sediments of Time.

6. See Dai Qing or any of Vlacav Smil’s works on the Yangzte River issues and Three Gorges Dam: Dai Qing,‘The Three Gorges project’, in [compiled by] Dai Qing; John G. Thibodeau and Philip B. Williams, eds, The RiverDragon has Come!: The Three Gorges Dam and the Fate of China’s Yangtze River and its People (Armonk, NY:M.E. Sharpe, 1998). In terms of environmental NGOs in China, the works of Judith Shapiro, Jun Jing, or the scholarswriting for the China Environment Series at the Woodrow Wilson International Center are the most useful and up-to-date discussions of their general impact in China. See Judith Shapiro, Mao’s War Against Nature: Politics and theEnvironment in Revolutionary China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001); Jun Jing, ‘Environmentalprotests in rural China’, in Elizabeth Perry and Mark Selden, eds, Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance(New York: Routledge, 2000), pp. 143–160; Elizabeth Knup, ‘Environmental NGO’s in China: an overview’, ChinaEnvironment Series (#5) (Woodrow Wilson International Center [www.ecsp.si.edu], 1997); Lu Hongyan, ‘Bamboosprouts after the rain: the history of university student environmental associations in China’, China EnvironmentSeries (#6) (Woodrow Wilson International Center, 1997); and Fengshi Wu, ‘New partners or old brothers: GONGOsin transnational environmental advocacy in China’, China Environment Series (#7) (Woodrow Wilson InternationalCenter, 1997).

THE ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF TIGER LEAPING GORGE

501

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

links between environmental history and other disciplines, especially geology and thenatural sciences, in such a way that a richer and more comprehensive picture of theissues and problematic nature of human–nature interaction can be understood.7

Topography, climate, and vegetation

Tiger Leaping Gorge is located in the Hengduan Mountains of northwesternYunnan Province. This area is a geological and vegetative transition zone betweenthe lower Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau and the eastern end of the Himalayanmountains of the Tibetan Plateau.8 The region is a major tectonic zone and itsrecent geologic history has created a large difference in altitude between the twoplateaus (approximately 5,000 vs. 2,200 meter elevation). This difference inelevation creates substantial erosion of all rivers in the region and results in a largenumber of deep valleys and alpine gorges of different types.9 The Jinsha River(upper Yangtze River) flows through and helped create the gorge. The gorge itselfis about 1,500 kilometers upstream of the Three Gorges dam, is approximately16 kilometers long, and is one of the deepest gorges in the world (over 3,600 metersdeep).

The gorge itself is a deep, asymmetrical landform. The topography of the southeastside of the gorge is made up of precipitous cliffs of exposed rock with a slopegradient mostly in excess of 458. On the northwestern side of the gorge the slopes aremore gentle at around 358, and most areas are covered with talus and conglomeratesoils of various sizes including landslides and alluvial fans. In the middle section ofthe gorge on the northwestern side of the river there is a region of gentle slopes andthe remnants of valley shoulders that create a small vale. Most of the villages,farmland, and grazing areas are in this shoulder area on the northern side of thegorge.

The climate in the gorge varies a great deal, but overall can be termed assubtropical plateau monsoon. It is warm overall, but has both dry and wet seasons—with the South-West Monsoon (rainy season, June–October) coming in from theIndian Ocean and the southern branch of the Asian West Jet Stream (dry season,November–May) originating in West Asia and the Middle East.10

The soils and slope materials on the gorge walls are affected by the wet anddry seasons of the regional subtropical environment and are subject to frequentlandslides and slope movements.11 Erosion is one of the primary forces of naturalchange in the gorge, and as part of the environmental setting, plays a key role in thispaper. The soil mixture that supports the natural vegetation of the gorge varies

7. McNeill, ‘Observations on the nature and culture of environmental history’, pp. 37–38.8. Yunnan Provincial Government, Yunnan Shengzhi: Dili [Yunnan Province Gazetteer: Geography ]

(Kunming: Yunnan People’s Press, 1989); J. D. Ives and B. Messerli, The Himalayan Dilemma: ReconcilingDevelopment and Conservation (London: Routledge, 1990).

9. R. Lacassin, U. Schaurer, P.H. Lelopu, N. Arnaud, P. Tamponnier, X. Liu and L. Zhang, ‘Tertiarydeformatory and metamorphism southeast of Tibet: the Folded Tiger Leap Decollement of Northwest Yunnan,China’, Tectonics 15, (1996), pp. 605–622 at p. 608; M. S. Li, ‘Land resources and their rational utilization in the dryvalleys’, in Zhang Li, ed., The Dry Valleys of the Hengduan Mountain Region (Beijing: Science Press, 1992), p. 47.

10. Yunnan Shengzhi 1998.11. Ibid; Lacassin et al., ‘Tertiary deformatory and metamorphism southeast of Tibet’, p. 620.

JACK PATRICK HAYES

502

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

considerably in properties, depth and angle of slope, but on the whole is veryfertile.12 The natural process of soil erosion due to slope gradients and drier andwetter seasons causes debris flows and both minor and massive down slope soilmovements. Despite the existence of the small ‘vale’ on the northwestern shoulderof the gorge, large amounts of soil have and continue to erode into the JinshaRiver—so much so that tourism in Tiger Leaping Gorge has been curtaileda number of times in recent practice (Spring 1994, Spring 1997, Summer 2000,Summer 2004).

The vegetation of the gorge region is very diverse due to the tremendous verticalrange of the gorge walls and the gorge location as a transitional zone between thetwo plateaus. The vegetation of the gorge is dominated by plant species ofevergreen broadleaf forests, but includes tropical and subtropical species in thelower and middle elevation ranges of the gorge.13 Some species are endemic tothe Jinsha River region and one of the subtropical tree community is unique to thegorge.14 According to the Yunnan Vegetation Board, five basic vegetation zonesdominate the gorge. At the lowest level, shrubs and open forests of firs dominatesome of the steepest and most eroded sections of the gorge. Sub-alpine pines anddeciduous trees dominate the second zone. Bamboo shrub and pine forest,especially Yunnan pine, a kind of yew pine (Pinus yunnanesis), and ancient standsof relict species like magnolia and Nouelia insignis form a light and widely spacedforest. Finally, conifers (spruce and fir), alpine shrub and meadow grasses dominatethe upper two zones.15 Oak, various pine (especially Yunnan pine species, Pinnusyunnanesis), and bamboo species are the most common tree and shrub cover, as thelarger subtropical broadleaf evergreen oaks and magnolia that used to dominate themiddle zones and grew in relatively wet and shady gullies of the gorge are nowmore rare.16

Human impact on Tiger Leaping Gorge

Early period

The first historical references to the gorge began in the 1920s. According to localreports and foreign visitors to the area, people lived in the gorge at least as early as the1880s. According to Joseph Rock, the Naxi people moved into the gorge sometime inthe 1880s to hunt wild game and develop small agricultural plots.17 According to localNaxi, they burned small sections of watered areas to grow wheat and rice, and after the

12. Li, ‘Land resources and their rational utilization in the dry valleys’; Watts and Zhou, ‘Erosion in deep gorges’,p. 296.

13. Hou Xueyu et al., eds, A Brief Explanation of the Vegetation Map of the People’s Republic of China (Beijing:Science Press, 1982).

14. Zhou Yue, ‘A newly-discovered vegetation type in the Hutiaoxia Gorge, China, Nouelia insignis community’,Global Ecology and Biogeography Letters 2, (1992), pp. 126–132.

15. Wu Zhengyi and the Editorial Board of the Kunming Institute of Ecology, eds, Vegetation EcologicalLandscapes of Yunnan (Beijing: Forestry Press of China, 1995).

16. Watts and Zhou, ‘Erosion in deep gorges’, pp. 301–302.17. J. Rock, The Fieldnotes, Letters and Documents of Joseph Rock, 1884–1962 (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag,

2000), pp. 98–99; see also, J. Rock, The Ancient Nakhi Kingdom of Southwest China (Cambridge: Harvard UniversityPress, 1947); J. Rock, The Life and Culture of the Na-khi Tribe of the China–Tibet Borderland (Weisbaden: FranzSteiner Verlag, 1963).

THE ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF TIGER LEAPING GORGE

503

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

turn of the century, increasing amounts of potatoes (wheat and potatoes were primarylocal exports). The Naxi were later joined by other minority groups from Yunnan andSichuan, but population growth remained low until the 1940s.18 In the 1940s a largegroup of the Yi people moved into the gorge and proceeded to burn large tracts of theforest for farming and easier hunting. After a short tenure in the burned sections,between three and five years based on rates of soil exhaustion, these Yi would move toother sites and burn and farm. According to local records and interviews, this kind ofshifting cultivation defined local land use techniques until the mid-1950s. Interviewswith local people suggested that there was little change in the natural vegetation untilthe 1940s, and that the hunting in the area was quite good. Bears, deer and boar werefrequently seen and hunted. However, three individuals noted at present that very fewlarge animals seem to be in the gorge outside of the highest zones or on mountainslopes beyond the gorge walls. These individuals believed that over-hunting andagricultural development have scared the animals away.

Communist period

During the Great Leap Forward (1958–1961), steeper, erosion-prone slopes wereburned off and cultivated, a major irrigation canal from approximately half waythrough the gorge was built to supply water to western-end terraced land, and anarrow road (trail) was built from Qiaotou to Walnut Grove (Hetaoyuan).The population also grew significantly between the 1940s and 1960s fromapproximately 100 to 400 people. Households were consolidated into mini-communalized brigades and families were put on construction detail, ordered toexpand terraces and grow food for the county to province grain quotas, or givenlimited herding responsibilities. Large sections of indigenous forest were cut for thecanal, road, and to expand agricultural land, and a great deal of soil was moved tocreate more terraces and the road. Forested land was mostly cleared around thevillages, and while trees along the gorge track were also cut, clearance was relativelylimited compared to later periods.19 Forestry in the gorge mostly depended onproximity to the main path.

More importantly, larger trees were cleared on the gorge slopes at this time toincrease grazing areas for larger numbers of domesticated animals. In some cases, theanimals themselves (especially goats) cleared shrub areas around steep slopes andbadlands near the villages, which increased erosion in these areas. This causedserious soil erosion and several major landslides, especially around the villages ofWalnut Grove, Bendiwan and some massive debris flows (still a major erosion point)between Qiaotou and the village of Erdui. This last massive debris flow was causedby the total destruction of the area forest, up-slope erosion, and excessive but poorlydesigned terracing near Qiaotou that has now at least partly washed away. These

18. Statistical data from Qiaotou Township officials, from an interview, 2002. County Compilation Committee,eds, Lijiang Xianzhi [Lijiang County Gazetteer ] (Kunming: Yunnan People’s Press, 1993). Also, Watts and Zhou,‘Erosion in deep gorges’, from survey data c. 1994, p. 301.

19. Lijiang Naxizu zizhixian gaikuang [Survey of Lijiang Naxi Autonomous County ] (Kunming: Yunnan People’sPublishing House, 1986), p. 415.

JACK PATRICK HAYES

504

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

changes in the natural environment caused some of the major, early human-causederosion of slope sections of almost two-thirds of the northwest side of the gorge.

From the late 1960s to the early 1980s the population continued to grow (another500 þ people) and further agricultural terracing projects around the southern andmiddle reaches of the gorge were created. According to several local herdsmen, evenlarger herds of domesticated animals began to graze the middle and upper regions ofthe gorge.

In addition, tungsten deposits were located in the upper vegetation zonesapproximately halfway through the gorge (due north of the village of Bendiwan).The trail from Qiaotou to Walnut Grove was widened. The mining development ofthe late 1970s was initially seen by locals as a positive step in economic development,but the area in the vicinity of the primary placer mine was the site of serious erosionand pollution problems caused by excavation, timber loss, and waste soil and rockmaterials. Several of the springs in the region of the mine have also dried up. At thepresent time, the mine is only nominally operational, but local people in Qiaotou arelooking forward to an increase in mining in the near future.

Market development in the 1980s and 1990s

In the late 1980s, Tiger Leaping Gorge entered a new phase of development.The Yunnan provincial government started to blast a new road through the bottom ofthe gorge, and in the mid-1990s accelerated the process. This new road currently linksQiaotou and Yongke, and is being extended to eventually go over Haba SnowMountain to link Qiaotou and Zhongdian (now officially termed Shangrila) in atourist circuit. Blasting and digging along the road route has caused even more severeerosion of the lower reaches of the gorge and in 1998 caused a huge landslide near theeastern mouth of the gorge that took nearly a year to clear. From the very bottom ofthe gorge to the top rim, and increased use of the middle and upper slopes, havebrought on more visible and dicey soil, erosion and water problems for the populatedmiddle and lower reaches of the gorge.

Since 1980, local and provincial government policies have promoted rapideconomic growth in the region, stimulating even greater demand for the naturalresources of the area, especially timber. The largest amount of timber was extractedfrom the gorge at this time. Individual fuel gathering was technically illegal, butcontinued hand in hand with officially mandated township and provincial foresting.The timber in the gorge, especially the easy to reach village groves in the middle andlower zones of the gorge, suffered from unsustainable demand. Vegetation loss andsoil erosion followed, and by 1992, were causing massive debris flows to flowbetween the town of Qiaotou and the mouth of the gorge every early summer monsoonseason. Collecting firewood, wildlife and mushrooms for the Chinese medicine tradeand local consumption was also widespread (and over-harvested). Following the ‘hardtimes’ of the 1960s and 1970s, many families in the gorge also chose to buy and raiselarger and larger herds of cattle, yaks, and goats, which led to significant overstockingof herds on the upper gorge slopes. Finally, after building the road along the northernwall of the gorge, byproducts of the construction project have become a problem.Waste oil barrels and tar contribute to serious soil pollution at the northeastern mouth

THE ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF TIGER LEAPING GORGE

505

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

of the gorge. A large field of such barrels seen by the author in 2002 has since been‘cleaned up’, but the space where they were originally piled still shows tar and oilseepage. A nearby village has complained of serious problems with their water.

According to local statistics Tiger Leaping Gorge has over 1,000 people in 165families.20 Most of the families live in the middle and lower elevation zones of thenorthwest slope of the gorge in three villages—Yacajiao (Yanchajiao), Bendiwan,and Walnut Grove (Hetaoyuan). Two other small villages, Erdui and Yongshengare located at the western end of the gorge, and just beyond the eastern mouth ofthe gorge at Yongke. According to local statistics, 1,380 mu (99 hectares) of localland is farmed on southeast facing terraces. The cultivated areas are scattered allalong the gorge but are mostly concentrated above or directly below the sixvillages mentioned above. Most of this land is below 3,500 meters and on slopesthat range from 258 to 308, in the middle part of the gorge. The main crops aremaize, wheat, potatoes and rice, and many families also own domesticatedanimals, especially horses, cattle, goats, and pigs. Since 1996, some familiesinterviewed stated that their children had been moving out of the area in search ofopportunities beyond the gorge, but that the three largest villages in the gorge haveseen a small influx of outsiders (both administrative personnel and businesspeople) capitalizing on the growing influx of foreign and domestic tourists drivingor hiking the gorge.21

Current developments

The most recent developments (2000–2004) for the gorge include a new road alongthe base of the southern wall (eventually to link Muoguxi and the town of Daju, withlinks to Lijiang), a tremendous increase in domestic tourism (companies mostly drivefrom Lijiang to Qiaotou to Walnut Grove, or a burgeoning circuit from Zhongdian toQiaotou to Walnut Grove and then the steep semi-finished road up Haba SnowMountain), and new regulations concerning the region based on nearby reserves andthe Shangrila development scheme (Tianjie shenchuan). The two most importantaspects of this recent growth are the southern road and the increase in tourism. Boththe increased exploitation of southern slopes and blasting for the southern roadcaused the same sorts of massive landslides and soil displacements that the northernroad experienced in the 1990s.

A number of locals and Rose Niu, project coordinator for the Nature Conservancyof the Yunnan Great Rivers Project, agree that the new south Tiger Leaping Gorgeroad is not compatible with sustainable tourism that should be developed in the area.They see the new road as a project that will and is increasing erosion and destructionof the very landscape that draws people to the gorge in the first place. Local andcounty politics is at the heart of the new road development in the gorge. Lijiang andDeqing prefectures are separated by the Jinsha River in Tiger Leaping Gorge.The current entrance to the park is through Deqing Prefecture, and all the money fromtourists goes to them. So Lijiang Prefecture, eager for an entrance on its side and the

20. Select interviews, 2002; Lijiang Xianzhi 1993.21. Watts and Zhou, ‘Erosion in deep gorges’, p. 295; local interviews, 2002; local hand-drawn maps.

JACK PATRICK HAYES

506

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

cash it would bring, is building its own path. From both the north and south road,regardless of the administrative argument to build and/or expand, one can see justhow much erosion and destruction of biodiversity these two developments havecaused. But this is only one part of the overall development plan(s) for the gorge. Thelargest and most disturbing current development is the proposed and recently begunhydropower project in Tiger Leaping Gorge.

Huaneng Group, China’s biggest independent power producer, working with theYunnan provincial government, has recently broken ground on a dam site in TigerLeaping Gorge. This dam is part of a plan to build eight big dams in a 564-kilometresection of the river stretching from Shigu town near Lijiang and the Tiger LeapingGorge, downstream to Panzhihua in Sichuan Province and the mouth of the YalongRiver. Construction of the dams would affect 13 towns and townships in four Yunnancounties, flood over 200,000 mu (13,300 hectares) of prime farmland and force therelocation of at least 100,000 people from the fertile river valley. Liang Yongning, aprofessor at Kunming University of Science and Technology, says the cascade ofdams is designed to be a supplementary project of the Three Gorges dam, regulatingwater run-off and blocking silt from the upstream river. It will also provide water forKunming, the capital of Yunnan.22

The dam is being pushed by the Yunnan government as a way of dealing with theconsequences of earlier environmental disasters and national campaigns to mitigatefuture floods on the Yangtze River. Water from the reservoir is to be diverted to dilutethe heavily polluted lake which supplies the provincial capital of Kunming. The SouthWeekend weekly newspaper reported in September 2004 that construction had begun.Concrete foundations were being poured for one of the eight planned dams, theJinanqiao, but not yet at Tiger Leaping Gorge. An engineer working at the dam sitetold a reporter for the newspaper that major construction activities for large-scalehydro projects normally don’t begin until after feasibility studies on geologicalconditions, resettlement and environmental protection have been approved, thoughsome preparatory work is allowed. ‘But currently there is a severe electricity shortagenationwide’, the engineer explained, ‘and it will be easier for us to sell the electricityin the power market if we get off to an early start’.23

Although the dam site proposal for Tiger Leaping Gorge and the Jinsha riversystem raised great public and international outcry, and even prompted PrimeMinister Wen Jiabao to suspend parts of the project, by no means has the project beentotally shelved.24 Local inhabitants still fear that the dam project will go throughdespite environmental and social concerns. In October 2004, Premier Wen Jiabaoagreed to suspend plans for 13 dams on the Salween River in response to protestsfrom Burma and Thailand and Chinese environmentalists, but this suspension did notinclude the construction sites from Tiger Leaping Gorge to the middle Yangtze.

22. Most of this information comes from a series of Chinese language articles and a short editorial piece. See:South Weekend [Nanfang zhoumo ], (29 September 2004); New Beijing News [Xin jingbao ], (27 September 2004);China Youth Daily [Zhongguo qingnian bao ], (26 September 2004); and Jasper Becker and Daniel Howden,‘The secret dam: China begins huge project in World Heritage Site’, AFP-New York Times, (16 October 2004).

23. The South Weekend [Nanfang Zhoumou ], (29 September 2004).24. See Jim Yardley, ‘Chinese groups seek to halt a dam and spare a treasured place’, New York Times,

(20 October 2004); and Becker and Howden, ‘The secret dam’.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF TIGER LEAPING GORGE

507

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Construction was supposed to have been delayed while an environmental assessmentwas made by China’s State Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA).

So why is this outline of the human impact on the gorge important? As it is relatedabove, three basic trends can be discerned in the socio-environmental history of thegorge. Perhaps the clearest is the impact of population growth in the gorge.Heightened pressure on the land, and resulting erosion, vegetation changes andretrogression, and animal habitat and losses steadily increased in the gorge as thepopulation bloomed. This is shown by the consistent increase in land reclamation andintensified exploitation of the gorge walls for both agriculture and pastoral pursuits(primarily goats and cattle). The second major trend concerns an increasinggovernment involvement in the gorge after the 1940s—largely due to state programs,quotas, and infrastructure development. Investments of time and local labor in trailand then road building, irrigation schemes, and further terracing was not simply afunction of population growth, but also of increased interest and control by theChinese government. But with the increase of non-local interest, gorge resources liketimber, minerals, and grains came under greater pressure, and land once consideredwasteland was brought into production through the adoption of new techniques andcrops. This leads to a third major trend, increasing tension over land use andenvironmental damage between local and national forces of development. As thegorge was increasingly tied to exterior markets and expectations, its naturalenvironment, the land that locals depended on, came under increasing pressure.

Besides the impact of a burgeoning population, the gorge has most recently facedgreater and greater environmental problems as more and more resources have beenextracted, and increasingly, as the gorge itself (notwithstanding the local population)has become a tourist and hydropower commodity. Locals and non-locals havereacted in different ways to further develop or try to protect the gorge, but the heavyhand of development has mostly won out in the face of controversy. Despite thesocial and regional economic concerns raised by the most recent hydropowercontroversy, the environmental situation in the gorge continues to degrade at analarming rate and has little to do with the potential dam and much more with pastand present agricultural, herding, and building practices. Soil erosion, vegetationretrogression, and water scarcity have all become facts of life for those living in thegorge based on the way locals and non-locals have viewed and treated theirenvironment.

Vegetation, soil and water degradation

Human impact on the gorge has been both pervasive and severe over the past 60 years.Most of the natural vegetation cover is under increasing pressure, in many areas it hasbeen at least partly destroyed, and alien plant communities have been introduced andare thriving. These three issues are prime examples of vegetation retrogression andhave been noted not only by local and provincial studies, but also by the peoplemost impacted, local inhabitants.25 Locals and studies have noted the expansion

25. Li, ‘Land resources and their rational utilization in the dry valleys’; Watts and Zhou, ‘Erosion in deep gorges’;Zhou, ‘A newly-discovered vegetation type in the Hutiaoxia Gorge’.

JACK PATRICK HAYES

508

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

of ‘wasteland’ throughout the gorge. The original broadleaf oak forest has largelydisappeared (mostly burned off or used in various construction projects) and themixed forest of pines, oak, and magnolia has severely contracted (due to fires andtimber harvesting). The spruce forests that dominated the upper regions of the gorgehave largely been replaced by shrub and grass communities, more akin to the alpinemeadows than mountain forests common to gorges to the north.26

Many areas of agricultural terraced land and abandoned or wasteland haveexpanded over the past 60 years, most of it at the expense of the pine and oak forests.Primary examples of the new communities introduced by humans into the gorge arethe purple flowered weed Elsholtzia rugulosa throughout the gorge and additionalspecies of bamboo that thrive on higher and drier slopes on the western end of thegorge. The Elsholtzia weed is particularly pervasive on abandoned terraces aroundthe villages and around the main mining area. Furthermore, the areas adjacent to thenew road along the bottom of the gorge have seen serious vegetation destruction.Many of the members of the road crews have denuded the immediate slopes for fuel.The shrubs, trees and grasses that anchored the soil immediately above and below theroadway have been used to cook and warm the workers, but at the cost of causingeven more severe erosion along the roadway—leading to a vicious cycle ofrebuilding the roadway as parts of it erode into the river, and further using roadsidefuels farther up and down the slope to support the work crews. The result of this road-side harvesting is a desert-like, barren landscape around the road in the lowestreaches of the gorge—though this part of the gorge at one time supported extensivegrass, shrub, and tree communities.

But vegetation retrogression is only a small part of the overall environmentaldegradation of the gorge. Changes in erosion patterns and increasing water issueshave also impacted local attitudes toward development. Significant soil erosion hasalways been a part of the natural environment of Tiger Leaping Gorge, but morerecent and accelerated soil erosion has more human origins and is having a greaterenvironmental and social impact. The increasing erosion problems are mostly due todeforestation, cultivation and terracing, overgrazing and civil engineering projectsand occur mostly near farmland, or on the steepest slopes near villages and by thenew road project. Soil loss near areas of farmland or the main road, former forestedareas, is most severe, while soil loss from grasslands and shrub grass communitiesthat have replaced them, but not been over-grazed or cut, is relatively low.27

Vegetation retrogression and soil erosion have also resulted in changes in gorgehydrology. According to Joseph Rock, in the 1940s there were 34 streams of varyingsizes running seasonally and year-around. According to a survey by David Watts andZhou Yue, only 16 existed between 1997 and 1999, and only five run year-around.In May of 2002, I counted only 14 streams while doing research in the gorge (at thebeginning of the rainy season). According to locals, many small, regular springs havedried up entirely, especially in the vicinity of the villages and the road, and in areaswhere the most terracing and forest cover loss has occurred.

26. Li Wen, Forests of the Himalayan–Hengduan Mountains of China and Strategies for their SustainableDevelopment (Kathmandu: ICIMOD, 1993); Wu, Vegetation Ecological Landscapes of Yunnan.

27. Watts and Zhou, ‘Erosion in deep gorges’; personal observations during late spring 2002.

THE ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF TIGER LEAPING GORGE

509

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

Taken together, the increasing human population and movement through the gorgeand natural forces of erosion and climatic change are continually transforming thenatural environment of Tiger Leaping Gorge. Two basic levels of environmentaldegradation can be identified in three sections of the gorge. A light level ofdegradation can be related to vegetation retrogression, and it has developed all alongthe gorge because vegetation is especially susceptible to human impact. The lightestzones of environmental degradation occur on the higher slopes of the gorge wherehuman impact to the environment is limited to animal grazing and forest littercollection. The steeper slopes, location, and distance from settlements help in thisrespect.

However, a more serious level of degradation has and is occurring, in some waysresulting in unrecoverable destruction of the environment. While natural geologicalerosion occurs, especially in a gorge with slope gradients like Tiger Leaping Gorge,soil develops at a faster rate than it erodes but was historically controlled by a naturalprocess of soil and vegetation stabilizing one another. With the steadily increasinghuman use of the gorge over the past 60 years and the vegetation, soil and waterdegradation that has ensued because of it, soils have both developed and eroded at afaster rate than can be controlled by degraded slopes. Gorge vegetation, the naturalprotective layer controlling erosion and retaining water in the soil, has been disturbedor destroyed with increasing intensity. This in turn limits plant growth, preventsvegetation redevelopment (human or natural), which in turn might limit soil loss andwater degradation.

The terraced areas around Erdui village, Yacajiao village, and Walnut Grove, andboth sides of the lower road along the entire length of the gorge are primary examplesof the most severe environmental and possibly irreversible degradation of theenvironment. Not only have these areas faced heavy soil and vegetative degradationfrom increasing grazing and agricultural pressures, fuel gathering (brush, grasses andwillows) by both locals and non-locals have exacerbated the process and problem.To some extent, light degradation of the soil and vegetation is reversible or can atleast be contained by projects to curtail soil erosion, plant trees and other vegetation,and in turn, act to retain biological diversity, balance land use amongst natural andhuman needs, and act to stabilize slopes. The heavier degradation, where fulltime andtemporary cultivation, tree felling and fuelwood gathering, and frequent animalgrazing occur, is more problematic. To some extent, these environmental issues arebeing addressed by local and provincial authorities.28 However, it remains to be seenif local administrative and communal actions have any chance to curtail increasingerosion and vegetation problems.

Administrative actions in Tiger Leaping Gorge

The good news for Tiger Leaping Gorge is that new initiatives are being taken tocounter soil and vegetation degradation. In pre-1980s socialist ideology, theenvironment was something to be conquered, its natural resources extracted for

28. See Watts and Zhou, ‘Erosion in deep gorges’, tree planting/slope protection project by Yunnan Institute ofGeology and description of recent measures following this section.

JACK PATRICK HAYES

510

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

national benefit no matter the cost;29 but current policy and projects look to theenvironment and landscape of western China, with Tiger Leaping Gorge as a primeexample, in a more positive light. The ecology and natural landscape of the gorge isdeemed a renewable natural resource for social and national development. This newattitude, while laudable, does have problems. Commodification of the environmentand local inhabitants of the gorge for tourism, not to mention infrastructure projectsunrelated to environmental protection and tourism, raise as many issues as they solve.With national and international recognition of fragility and importance of gorge newlaws, new scholarly and scientific initiatives, and increased tourist development havepaved the way for meaningful action to counter the environmental degradation of thegorge, but also highlighted local and regional tensions over the development of thegrowing eco-tourist economy of the region.

A number of policy initiatives and pilot projects were slated for Tiger LeapingGorge in the past decade. At the local level, in conjunction with the Yunnan Instituteof Geology, David Watts and Zhou Ye (1999–2001) instituted tree planting andslope protection/stabilization projects for the middle reaches of the gorge in some ofthe most degraded areas near the villages. This pilot project has succeeded inreseeding several ‘wasteland’ plots in the gorge and points to the possibility andefficacy of larger forest restoration projects in the gorge. A large number of technicalreports from the Chinese Biodiversity Working Group on use of native species,invasive and endangered species, and reports from the Chinese Academy of Scienceon soil erosion and vegetation retrogression have been drafted for use in planningmore projects like the Zhou and Watts initiative mentioned above. In 2002 thesereports were acted on to a limited extent and the whole gorge was incorporated as ascenic area with smaller areas designated as nature reserves (as noted below). Thesesmaller projects have not only highlighted possible solutions for local vegetationproblems, they have been acted on. Locals have been active participants in them,both as sources of information and principal actors in ensuring their success. Theseactions point to future possibilities in local activism for the gorge environment.

At the provincial level, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Construction(2001) drafted a general management plan for Three Parallel Rivers National Parkand the ‘Heavenly Mountains and Waters of Shangrila’ special scenic area hasbeen drafted for use in proceeding on further development schemes in the region.30

The main thrust of this plan is to develop the region for tourism, protect the regionfor future generations, provide staff and police to collect fees for local/regionaluse, and build or upgrade the infrastructure to support increased domesticdevelopment. The US based Nature Conservancy working in conjunction with theYunnan provincial government to integrate conservation and sustainabledevelopment in the areas as a pilot project for the other scenic areas in thePRC also drafted the Yunnan Great Rivers Project (2002). This project called forlocal and prefecture governments to establish larger nature reserves, huanjing

29. See Shapiro, Mao’s War against Nature.30. Yunnan Management Bureau of the Three Parallel Rivers National Park, Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan

Protected Area Nomination for World Natural Heritage Status (npb, 2003); Yunnan Province Department ofConstruction, General Management Plan for Three Parallel Rivers National Park (Kunming: Report to WorldHeritage Convention, 2001).

THE ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF TIGER LEAPING GORGE

511

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

baohu qu, in the region, including in Tiger Leaping Gorge. In addition to protectedareas, this project also provides ecological sensitivity education programs forlocals. Furthermore, faced with dam projects throughout the Jinsha and SalaweenRiver systems, NGOs, local environmental activists, and international organiz-ations raised a great deal of awareness both in China and internationally inSeptember and October of 2004. While the initiatives, protests, and articlesgenerated by this short movement only impacted dam building on the SalaweenRiver, there is some hope among NGOs in southern China that they will generateenough sustained interest in Tiger Leaping Gorge to force Wen Jiabao intosuspending that dam project.31

The focus on market development of the gorge highlights one of the main reasonswhy China’s conservation parks, environmental management and protection, and‘sustainable development’, including projects in northern Yunnan and in TigerLeaping Gorge, frequently do not protect what they were created to protect.As Richard Louis Edmonds notes in discussing China’s nature reserves:

Although nature reserves are now a part of China’s national annual plans, their overallfinance is not included in the annual national or local budget. Nature-reserve officials areexpected to maximize income from the reserve lands while preserving their function andcharacter. However, as very little economic assessment of Chinese nature reserves hasbeen done, activities aimed at exploiting renewable resources within reserves oftenbecome excessive. One avenue for reserves to generate revenue is through tourism.However, the effects of tourism on China’s nature preservation has rarely been positive,and many areas are coming under increasing pressure and becoming endangered.32

This is a serious problem not just for Tiger Leaping Gorge, but for northwesternYunnan scenic areas and parks in general as the desire for an immediate financialboost overrides the objective of preservation and dealing with the consequences ofdevelopment and its environmental costs. Problems related to road, building, andtourist site construction are aggravated by a lack of environmental education amongthe inhabitants of the region, tour guides, and even some of the tourism officials andpark managers. Western concepts of ‘pack it in, pack it out’ when it comes to trashremoval in natural and scenic areas do not influence the actions of tourists and guides.All one has to do is look along the sides of the main road through the gorge, along itsmany trails, in its water courses, and around the villages themselves—trash iseverywhere and the only place it really has to go is in the Jinsha River. This is not tosay that local and regional governments, as well as NGOs and foreign tourists and

31. Dr Nu Zhi, an environmentalist with the Chinese non-governmental organization Protection International, hasargued that it is not simply a question of whether to build a particular dam at a certain spot, but a matter of howdecisions on large-scale engineering projects are made. Representatives from nine Chinese environmental NGOs metin Beijing in September 2004 and sent a letter to project authorities urging them not to proceed with the plan to damTiger Leaping Gorge: ‘We call for a halt to the project to prevent damage to the cultural and natural heritage, causingsocial instability and economic loss’, they wrote. At the same time, a number of scholars, environmentalists andjournalists—from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Qinghua University, the State Seismological Bureau, theState Forestry Bureau, Xinhua News Agency and China Central Broadcasting Station—also issued a joint statementcalling on policy-makers to put long-term interests ahead of short-term gain and to leave Tiger Leaping Gorgeuntouched, for future generations and the world. See Mu Lan, ed., ‘Tiger Leaping Gorge under threat’, Three GorgesProbe (in Chinese), (8 October 2004).

32. Richard Louis Edmonds, ‘China’s environment’, in China Briefing 1994 (Boulder: Westview Press, 1994),p. 168.

JACK PATRICK HAYES

512

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

teachers are not trying to work on this. Locals in Qiaotou and Walnut Grove both notea rise in environmental awareness—awareness premised on viewing the very wastelittering their gorge. Furthermore, the Yunnan Great Rivers Project also earmarkedfunds for training local managers, tourist guides, and local inhabitants in wastemanagement premised on sustainable tourism.

Administrative challenges in general continue to be a major problem in TigerLeaping Gorge. Effective implementation of the above programs, monies andcontinuation of related research projects is under constant threat of administrativemisuse, abuse, or negligence. One of the primary reasons for this (considering similarinitiatives elsewhere in China) is the nature of environmental management and socio-economic development in the PRC. Conservation initiatives and rural development ofthe gorge area is under the control of five national, seven provincial and four localadministrations, coordinated from Lijiang and Kunming (under the auspices of theScenic and Cultural Resort Provincial Management Office). This multilayered andfar-flung system of control and oversight results in a large number of administrativebodies, most of which will not take direct responsibility to fund or provide resourcesto deal with environmental problems and infrastructure and tourist developmentprevalent in the gorge. This approach to environmental problems and administrationis endemic to China, but certainly not limited to it,33 but the splintered managementscheme is only part of the explanation.34

The primary ‘conservation’ manager of Tiger Leaping Gorge and the northernregion of Yunnan, according to local reports, is the Construction Department of theYunnan provincial government, whose master plan for Tiger Leaping Gorge (2001–2020) is concerned with developing scenic zones for tourism, building the necessaryinfrastructure to support such tourism (and then upgrading it), and preserving ethniccultures and landscapes while developing their economic potential. This plan islinked directly to Yunnan Province’s ‘Develop the Great West’ program fundingwhich places infrastructure development first in changing the economic fortunes ofwestern China.35 The construction department also works closely with the Huaheng

33. Several of the best discussions of China’s environmental administration concerning local and national systemsand their interaction are: an overarching view, see Kenneth Lieberthal, ‘China’s governing system and its impact onenvironmental policy implementation’, China Environment Series (#1), (Woodrow Wilson International Center[http://www.ecsp.si.edu], 1997); Abigail Jahiel, ‘Organization of environmental protection in China’, ChinaQuarterly 156, (1998), pp. 757–787; Michael Palmer, ‘Environmental regulation in the People’s Republic of China:the face of domestic law’, China Quarterly 156, (1998), pp. 788–808; for Yunnan, see Emily Yeh, ‘Forest claims,conflicts and commodification’; for Tibet, see Melvyn Goldstein and Cynthia M. Beall, ‘Change and continuity innomadic pastoralism on the western Tibetan Plateau’, Nomadic Peoples 28, (1991), pp. 105–122; and for the northernChinese grasslands, see Peter Ho, ‘The clash over state and collective property: the making of the rangeland law’,China Quarterly 161, (2000), pp. 240–263.

34. A large number of recent discussions of the fractured nature of environmental management systems in Chinaat the national, provincial and local level can be found in a variety of sources. Some of the best sources forunderstanding the PRC system of environmental management can be found in the works of Kenneth Lieberthal,Abigail Jahil, Michael Palmer, Peter Ho and Lester Ross (see previous footnote).

35. Perhaps the best overview of the implications of Develop the West programs (Xibudakaifa) can be found in LiShantong’s Develop the West [Program] and Coordinated Regional Development. This text not only gives acomprehensive overview of the goals and outlines the chronology of the program, it also breaks down majorinitiatives by province—including a significant section on Yunnan (pp. 399–431), hydropower development (pp. 400,403–404, 414, 416, 426), and subsidiary economic initiatives that include tourism and cultural initiatives (pp. 401,407, 416, 420–423). See Li Shantong, ed., Xibudakaifa yu diqu xietiao fazhan [Develop the West [Program] andCoordinated Regional Development ] (Beijing: Shangwuyin shuguan, 2003).

THE ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF TIGER LEAPING GORGE

513

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

business group to develop the various hydropower projects on the Jinsha River. Theenvironment and environmental issues are mentioned, but relegated to a place that fitsexisting environmental and provincial legislation, staff training, and publicawareness programs, without getting in the way of developing the region for amajor roadway, ski resort, kitschy tourist sites, a ‘Naxi/Tibetan’ theme park, and abus-route over mountain passes to Zhongdian similar to other popular tourist circuitsin Sichuan Province (Jiuzhaigou–Hongyuan circuits), and finally, the Tiger LeapingGorge dam that will submerge some of these tourist developments, not to mentionover 13,000 hectares of prime agricultural land.

However, the capstone of contemporary management and development programs inthe gorge remains the Yunnan Great Rivers Project. This project envisioned venues forecotourism and compatible economic enterprises in the region, and specifically in thegorge—but it is also devoted to preserving biodiversity. The local and provincialgovernment, however, has increased the scope of the project to explicitly includecultural preservation (hand in hand with cultural tourism) and infrastructuraldevelopment (especially the dam). A large part of including different cultures andcommunities in the project is simply soliciting their input. Heather Peters, a consultantfor UNESCO and a socio-cultural specialist for the Great Rivers Project, has been andcontinues to organize the structure of the relationship between communities andtourism officials and conducting studies throughout northern Yunnan and in the gorgeon how these communities can develop without being economically exploited or theirculture and environment being commercialized. This project continues to advocateslow infrastructural development in the gorge, and specifically, only light trekking inand around the gorge. The road(s) are a reality, and continue to bus tremendousnumbers of tourists in and around the base of the gorge, but the contemporary projectgoals seek to better protect the higher, and comparatively less impacted upper reachesof the gorge slopes.

Some of the first environmental assessment plans are being made in northernYunnan in the gorge. Botanists, zoologists, economists, and socio-cultural specialistslike Peters are finally conducting overdue research which they hope will help themaddress infrastructure and environmental problems in places that have poorly handledthe tourist boom, and also help prepare other places for sustainable tourism to preventless impacted ecosystems from further or greater degradation.

Conclusions

The natural environment and scenic areas of China are and have been subject to rapidmultiple changes—natural erosive and climatic processes that change the lay of theland, settlement and rapid population growth, small and large scale agricultural andtransportation projects, the establishment of ecological reserves and scenic areas byprovincial and national interests, and changing policies towards environmentalassessment and economic development. As tourism is booming in China, andecotourism is beginning to be viewed as a major tool for economic development withless devastating impacts than other industries, tourism is slated to be the primarymoney maker for the gorge and its inhabitants. A three month study by the GreatRivers Project also recommends flowers, pharmaceuticals, and carefully planned

JACK PATRICK HAYES

514

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

agriculture and animal husbandry as compatible industries. People will continue tolive in and develop the gorge for their own purposes. This is under threat byhydropower development, but it remains to be seen if the Tiger Leaping Gorge damwill actually be built given current local, regional and international input on itsimpact on the gorge. The provincial and prefecture governments that control thegorge, not to mention local entrepreneurs, continue to hunger for immediate financialgrowth, and when it comes down to it the government is in charge and the NGOs areguests and outside commentary is muted next to local and regional concerns. Currentprojects and rising environmental awareness bring hope that the natural environmentof the gorge, the thing that brings so many people to view its wonders, will not be lostto excessive or sloppy development.

This paper has shown that the environmental history of Tiger Leaping Gorge canbe separated into four distinct time periods that demonstrate increasingenvironmental deterioration and increasing action to develop the gorge along theselines and reveal the following pattern of interaction among these above listedchanges. Historically and socially speaking, population growth and increasinglyheavy land and natural resource use, increasing administrative (not local) control andinfrastructure development, and increasing local and non-local tensions over how thelocal environment is treated, especially regarding tourism, in this process oftransformation have all had a huge impact on the gorge environment. Patterns ofvegetation, soil and water degradation all bear these human and social processes outand highlight that the gorge environment is a resilient but limited system in the faceof external pressures.

The links between production systems, land use management, population pressuresand ecological change have been spelled out in numerous environmental historystudies.36 Patterns in environmental degradation in Tiger Leaping Gorge are based onboth natural and human made problems—and depend on both the time period andsocial value placed on natural resources and scenic beauty inherent to the region, aswell as the growth in local population. Problems with vegetation, water, and soildegradation in the gorge can be linked to increasing development of the northern sideof the gorge wall. This is most obvious with the early degradation of the regionaround the upper road and villages, and later, the massive vegetation degradation andsoil movements around the lower road during the 1990s. Furthermore, the exact sameproblems are now being felt and observed along the southern side of the gorge as anew road is being punched through to Daju to eventually link up with Lijiang.

Under the prevailing circumstances of geology, hydrology, and climate, the TigerLeaping Gorge and Jinsha River have a very unstable environment. This environmentis particularly easily degraded and has historically faced greater and greaterchallenges by human impact that on flat or gently sloping land would cause much lessdamage. Under natural conditions, and with natural erosion, the gorge is able to keepits environment in a relative state of equilibrium through patterns of well-establishedsoil and vegetation cover. These natural patterns have been disturbed and evendestroyed over the past 60 years by increased human activity that has little chance

36. See, for instance, the work of William Cronon on shifting agricultural systems in the northeastern US underNative Americans and early Europeans among others. William Cronon, Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists, andthe Ecology of New England (New York: Hill and Wang, 1983).

THE ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF TIGER LEAPING GORGE

515

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4

of decreasing in the short-term future. The increasing challenges are based most,perhaps, on population growth, economic demand, and increased infrastructuredevelopment in the lower reaches and on both sides of the gorge.

However, despite increasing challenges in the face of various developmentschemes, some recent environmental practices have succeeded in helping tominimize elements of local soil and vegetation degradation. There is a conservationvalue ascribed to Tiger Leaping Gorge based on its shrinking biological diversity,unusual geology and landscape, long ethnic historical significance, and great scenicbeauty. National, regional and local development strategies have taken into account,to some degree, the nature of the gorge, its fragility, and attempted to mitigate someproblems while continuing to expand the local economy for the betterment not just oflocal people, but the region as a whole. The whole region is nominally governed byconservation managers in the provincial government and has and will continue toreceive monetary support for conservation of its unique environment (and to heightenits tourist activities). In addition, with the proposed dam development going through,coalitions of NGOs, local activists, and even the international community aresucceeding in getting their message across to the Chinese government in a positiveand action-oriented manner. If Wen Jiabao can suspend dam-building and work withSEPA to draft new plans for other parts of Yunnan, there is always hope that he,SEPA, and other elements of the national and provincial Chinese government canwork together, and with local inhabitants of the gorge, to both face the challenges ofenvironmental degradation and preserve Tiger Leaping Gorge. The gorge in factreflects changes in attitude toward conservation and environmental management inwestern China. It remains to be seen what effect changing attitudes will have, but theydo exist, locally and nationally, as more and more tourists visit the gorge to view itswonders.

The various local, regional, and provincial projects linked to environmentalmanagement that face the problems of local degradation, and seek to expand the localand regional economy, signal the continued need to act ethically and in anenvironmentally responsible manner in Tiger Leaping Gorge. It is a location thatcontinues to draw foreign tourists and trekkers and an increasing number of domestictourists that can showcase the economic benefits of ecotourism as well as the value ofpreserving biodiversity. If properly managed, its value in education about bothenvironmental issues and local culture should not be underestimated. The role ofecotourism as the primary industry in the gorge is instrumental. The situation of TigerLeaping Gorge, with its rich history of local development, both positive and negative,is relevant beyond its physical boundaries.

Environmental degradation due to population growth, uncontrolled or over-determined economic development, and massive infrastructure edifices like the damin a fragile environmental locale of tremendous biodiversity is relevant not just to thisone place in northern Yunnan, but all large river valleys and equally fragileenvironments of the Tibetan Plateau and western China. Furthermore, there are manyareas on every continent that have rich environments and cultural heritages that arefacing exploitation and extermination at the hands of unwise unsustainable economicdevelopment and tourism. How ecotourism in Tiger Leaping Gorge plays out willhave effects that will resonate around the world.

JACK PATRICK HAYES

516

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Tul

ane

Uni

vers

ity]

at 0

1:28

11

Oct

ober

201

4