Man vs nature
By Qiu Lin and Li Huaiyan of China (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-02-10 10:16
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A farmer who shot a rare tiger has been made a scapegoat for environmental protection, highlighting the difficulties faced by those who live near nature reserves, Qiu Lin and Li Huaiyan of China Features report
Kang Wannian, a farmer in Yunnan province, never expected there would be serious consequences after shooting a tiger in "self-defense" and eating it.
It all happened in February, 2008, when the 37 year old from Mengla county, Xishuangbanna prefecture, went foraging for clams with a fellow villager in Shangyong National Nature Reserve, stretching along China's border with Laos.
As they were picking their way downstream after dark, Kang saw an animal halfway up the hill, some 30 m across the river, staring in their direction and growling. Using his hunting rifle, Kang shot the beast, which was later identified as a rare Indochinese tiger that had been tracked by forestry staff for over two years.
Kang fled the scene in fright when he found out it was a tiger, but another villager, Gao Zuqiao, returned the next day with six others. They cut away the meat and headed home to eat it.
At the end of 2008, Mengla county court found Kang guilty on multiple counts, of illegal possession of a firearm, and poaching endangering wildlife. They sentenced Kang to 12 years in jail and he was fined 100,000 yuan ($14,700), plus 480,000 yuan in compensation to the State.
Kang Fuyong, the county's deputy prosecutor, explained that since there is no market price for reference, the compensation amount was based on criteria from the State Forestry Administration on endangered wildlife.
Kang appealed the verdict, arguing that he had killed the big cat in self-defense, as opposed to deliberately hunting an endangered species.
"How can they come up with such a huge sum?" asked Yang Mei, Kang's wife. "All our assets together don't add up to 48,000 yuan."
The family lives on a small plot of rice paddy at Dachoushui village. They have an 11-year-old son and earn just 2,000 yuan a year.
Dachoushui is close to the 31,000-hectare Shangyong nature reserve. To accommodate government efforts in setting up the greater Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve in 1980, Yang and his fellow villagers were moved to Dachoushui, on the edge of the reserve, encircled on three sides by the protected areas.
Chen Naibin, a villager who shared the tiger meat, used to be the village accountant.
"There were about 40 households then. Each of the household was given 3,500 yuan to build a house, while 300 yuan was for moving expenses," he recalled.
The villagers, from the ethnic Hani minority, were left with little arable land and often resorted to searching for wild vegetables inside the reserve to augment their food supplies.
"In fact," Chen said, "we are now worse off than in the old days when we lived inside the reserve. All the crops the villagers grew in the reserve - rice, sugar cane, beans, and corn - have been damaged by wild animals."
The Xishuangbanna nature reserve is home to rare wildlife, including Asian elephants, gaurs and Indochinese tigers. There are 756 wildlife species, a quarter of all the wildlife species in China. Among them, 129 are categorized as first- and second-grade species under State protection.
With logging over the last two decades, primarily to create rubber plantations, the virgin forest in Yunnan has shrunk. An overlap in the settled areas and natural wilderness has led to clashes between man and beast. Elephants, bears and wild boars frequent farmlands for food, attacking people when annoyed.
Kang's appeal, therefore, also involves the problems that his family has living in these circumstances.
In 1979, his father was attacked by a black bear when he was guarding the village cornfield. He lost the right half of his face, nose and mouth. He survives by taking fluids every day.
"I was only bitten like this because I was on duty. But I never received any subsidies from the government," he said. Sixteen years later, Kang's uncle was trampled to death by a wild elephant when he was herding cattle. This time, the family got 600 yuan in compensation from the local government.
In 2007, Kang's cousin was bitten by a wild boar in the leg, but he received no compensation.
"Conflicts between man and wildlife are one of the major challenges facing rainforest protection," said Yang Songhai, director of the Administration of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve.
The 20,000 plus residents in 122 villages around the reserve are often attacked by wild animals. In 1993, 645 people were hurt by wildlife. The number jumped to 4,098 in 2003. Over 130 local residents have died because of attacks since 1991.
The local government spends 570,000 yuan each year to compensate for casualties caused by wild elephants. Before 2007, the amount of compensation from central and provincial governments was between 800,000 yuan and 1.2 million yuan.
Although the central government has allocated 5 million yuan a year for compensation because of animal attacks, since 2007, it is far less than the 30 million yuan for crop losses. Compensation is made for human death, injury, and then cash crops lost, in that order. Even when villagers do get compensation, it's minimal.
Compensation of 2 cents for 1 kg of corn or rice, and 4 cents for a $7 rubber tree, is insufficient.
"In 2006, four buffaloes in the village were killed by animals. Each had a market price of at least 4,000 yuan. But compensation for the biggest one was only 80 yuan," villager Zhou Ziyong said.
Placing a claim for compensation incurs costs too. Usually, traveling expenses to collect compensation exceeds the compensation itself. A villager in Mengla county spent more than 50 yuan on transport to get just 8 yuan in compensation.
Due to lack of evidence, many villagers who have lost their cattle to wild animals are not compensated.
"About 13,000 households - about 60,000 people - in the Xishuangbanna prefecture are affected each year by wild animals," said Li Zhiyong, director of the forest police bureau.
In his view, although compensation is growing in absolute terms year-on-year, it still lags behind resident's expectations.
In January, last year, the Xishuangbanna reserve started to explore a new compensation mechanism by introducing commercial insurance, so as to better protect villagers' interests. This year, Pacific Insurance will compensate for casualties or damages caused by Asian elephants in the prefecture, with 200,000 yuan being the highest amount for a human death.
"As for losses incurred by other wild animals, we still have to adhere to the old practice," Li said.
But Qian Jie, from Kunming Institute of Botany under the China Academy of Sciences, believes that government authorities are responsible for guiding the public on the track of sustainable development, so the latter will voluntarily become the guardians, not destroyers, of the wilderness.
"We don't have much schooling, but we have been living with these natural resources since the times of our forefathers. Now we can't touch them. Farming harms the rainforest, and rubber planting is not allowed. How are we supposed to live?" asked Chen Naibin.
Jiang Pusheng, Party secretary of the Xishuangbanna prefecture, said: "Ecological compensation is vital if we want the villagers to take the initiative in conservation."
He suggested that not only should villagers be compensated for their losses, but that communities that protect the rainforest should also be rewarded. More importantly, the villagers should reap economic benefits from ecological protection.
The local government plans to set up a rainforest fund, with revenues collected from businesses profiting from the use of ecological resources, if it can get the go-ahead from the central government.
As for Kang Wannian in Mengla county, he is still waiting for the verdict from his appeal, pinning his hopes on a fine that he can afford.