After the rubber boom: good news and bad news for biodiversity in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China

Zhang, Jiaqi; Corlett, Richard T.; Zhai, De‐Li

doi:10.1007/s10113-019-01509-4

Cited by 55 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…Most of the larger forest areas in Xishuangbanna will be protected under this new policy, but it will not apply to small forest fragments on private land. In view of the potential value of these fragments as habitats for plants and small animals [1,12], as stepping stones for the movement of birds and mammals between larger forest patches [14], and for the provision of ecosystem services, new policies are needed to encourage their retention. Currently, their existence reflects a balance between the value of their continued use as forests and the value of the crops that could replace them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The climate is monsoonal, with a hot wet season from June to October and a cooler dry season from November to Although all the largest forest patches in Xishuangbanna will now be protected by ecological redlines, thousands of smaller forest remnants of various shapes and sizes still persist on collective and household land. We will refer to all these forest patches as 'fragments', following the local and global literature [12], although a time series of remote-sensing images showed that they are a mixture of primary forest patches, disturbed to varying extents, and secondary regrowth of various ages [1]. There is no accessible land-tenure map of the prefecture, but interviews with a variety of stakeholders suggested that the largest remaining fragments (> 1000 ha) are all on state-owned land, the fragments of intermediate size are under collective or government tenure, and most of the smallest fragments (< 1 ha) are on land assigned to individual households [1].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We will refer to all these forest patches as 'fragments', following the local and global literature [12], although a time series of remote-sensing images showed that they are a mixture of primary forest patches, disturbed to varying extents, and secondary regrowth of various ages [1]. There is no accessible land-tenure map of the prefecture, but interviews with a variety of stakeholders suggested that the largest remaining fragments (> 1000 ha) are all on state-owned land, the fragments of intermediate size are under collective or government tenure, and most of the smallest fragments (< 1 ha) are on land assigned to individual households [1]. Forest fragments < 100 ha in area make up only 6.5% of the total forest area and have little value as breeding habitats for most vertebrates, but research in Xishuangbanna and elsewhere has shown their importance for conservation of plants and smaller animals [12,13] and as stepping-stones for birds and mammals moving between larger fragments of forest [14].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the last 20 years, however, the expansion of cash crops, particularly rubber (Hevea brasiliensis Müll.Arg.) below 900 m above sea-level and tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) at higher altitudes, has replaced shifting cultivation and an increasing proportion of the forest, reducing the remaining forest to scattered fragments of various sizes [1,12]. Rubber occupied 4.5% of the total land area of Xishuangbanna in 1999, 9.9% in 2002, and 24% in 2014, while forest cover declined from 71% to 52% over the same period [1].…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…below 900 m above sea-level and tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze) at higher altitudes, has replaced shifting cultivation and an increasing proportion of the forest, reducing the remaining forest to scattered fragments of various sizes [1,12]. Rubber occupied 4.5% of the total land area of Xishuangbanna in 1999, 9.9% in 2002, and 24% in 2014, while forest cover declined from 71% to 52% over the same period [1]. A sharp decline in the rubber price since 2011 has halted and partly reversed the rubber expansion, but a natural forest is still being cleared for other crops, although at a slower rate.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reasons for the Survival of Tropical Forest Fragments in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

Zhang

Mammides

Corlett

2020

Forests

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Research Highlights: The reasons for persistence of forest fragments in human-dominated landscapes have rarely been examined, despite their importance in biodiversity and ecosystem services. We determined these reasons for forest fragments on collective land in Xishuangbanna prefecture, southwest China. Background and Objectives: Reconciling economic development with biodiversity conservation has been a major challenge in China’s small tropical land area, where local realities have often been in conflict with national policies. In Xishuangbanna, much of China’s most biodiverse forest area has been replaced by cash crops in recent decades, but numerous small forest fragments remain on collective land. Our objective was to find out why these fragments have not been cleared. Methods: We used a combination of semi-structured interviews with 600 households in 69 villages representing nine ethnic groups and information from key informants. Results: Overall, 64% of individual households retained forest fragments on the land allocated to them, and 93% of villages retained larger areas managed as a collective forest. Most (71%) interviewees said that fragments on their own land were on sites of low agricultural value and were retained as fuelwood sources. They were also often (33%) underplanted with crops and supplied other forest products. All interviewees attributed the retention of collective forests to policy restrictions on clearance, with most (96%) mentioning cultural and religious uses and many recognizing environmental benefits. Most were also used as sources of wild edible plants (61%) and other forest products. Many said these collective forests had shrunk over time, particularly in areas suitable for profitable cultivation. Conclusions: China’s new ecological redline policy will protect most larger patches of forest in Xishuangbanna, but the smaller fragments on land allocated to individual households are also of conservation value, particularly in areas with no other forest. Some form of compensation scheme is needed to encourage their continued retention.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Reasons for the Survival of Tropical Forest Fragments in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

Zhang

Mammides

Corlett

2020

Forests

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Can tropical nature reserves provide and protect cultural ecosystem services? A case study in Xishuangbanna, China

Liu,

Li,

et al. 2023

Integrative Conservation

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Cultural ecosystem services (CES) play a pivotal role in local natural conservation and management; however, they frequently remain overlooked by policymakers due to challenges in their definition and quantification. These services are particularly relevant to Asia's indigenous populations. Shangyong and Mengla, two tropical forest reserves in the Xishuangbanna region of Yunnan province, China, were selected for an in‐depth study of CES in this area. Through village interviews and questionnaire surveys, the varieties of CES and their significance were identified and catalogued. Subsequently, the distributions of different CES types were mapped and modelled based on environmental drivers and hotspots. A conservation priority indicator was then formulated to identify the most critical CES necessitating conservation, as these are susceptible to human disturbances in the absence of protected nature reserves. Our findings indicated that the most commonly recognised CES included wildlife, leisure and recreational, folk and custom, and sense of place and identity. Benefits derived from leisure and recreational, and wildlife CES were predominantly safeguarded by nature reserves. In contrast, folk and custom CES and spiritual and religious CES were less reliant on these reserves due to intrinsic community‐based protection. Consequently, while the two tropical forest reserves in Xishuangbanna offer a range of CES, there is a need for differentiated management strategies to foster local support for conservation management decision‐making. The inherent conservation initiatives for spiritual and religious CES and folk and custom CES should be leveraged by incorporating or co‐managing these sacred sites within our protected area system. Conversely, CES with a higher conservation priority index, such as leisure and recreational CES and wildlife CES, require government‐led conservation to safeguard the cultural well‐being of local communities. In conclusion, incorporating CES into nature reserve management strategies is crucial across various conservation contexts.

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Rubber plantation size and global rubber price are linked to forest loss and degradation in Jambi, Sumatra

Jayathilake,

Wei,

Tan

et al. 2024

Integrative Conservation

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Natural rubber cultivation is one of the main drivers of tropical deforestation and biodiversity loss. This study examines regulatory and socio‐economic conditions that increase the susceptibility of rubber plantations to deforestation and degradation, aiming to support zero‐deforestation pledges and sustainability commitments made by the natural rubber industry. By combining bottom‐up socio‐economic survey data from rubber smallholder farmers in Indonesia with top‐down spatial datasets on forest loss and degradation, this study identifies factors associated with deforestation, tree cover loss, and degradation of high‐risk plantations. In Jambi Province, Indonesia, from 1991 to 2018, the overall tree cover loss in areas adjacent to rubber plantations was positively correlated to plantation size, remoteness (travel time to cities), and distance to the nearest protected areas, indicating that larger, remotely located plantations likely expanded more into forests between 2000 and 2018. Similarly, tropical forest degradation was positively associated with plantation size, travel time to cities, and distance to protected areas. A higher rubber price in the preceding year correlated with increased annual deforestation and forest degradation, whereas lower prices had the opposite effect. These results suggest that monitoring price changes and identifying plantations that are near non‐protected forest frontiers could enable early detection and potential mitigation of deforestation threats.

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After the rubber boom: good news and bad news for biodiversity in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China

Cited by 55 publications

References 62 publications

Reasons for the Survival of Tropical Forest Fragments in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

Reasons for the Survival of Tropical Forest Fragments in Xishuangbanna, Southwest China

Can tropical nature reserves provide and protect cultural ecosystem services? A case study in Xishuangbanna, China

Rubber plantation size and global rubber price are linked to forest loss and degradation in Jambi, Sumatra

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