Guizhou residents protect cedar forest

For 18 generations, people in Denglu village in Taijiang county, Guizhou province, have kept their ancestor's oath to guard a primeval forest of Chinese cedar trees.

The large, slow-growing evergreens were the precious timber used to build imperial palaces, such as Beijing's Forbidden City, and to furnish imperial houses. However, overcutting has driven the plant species to near extinction in China.

Denglu, secluded in a cedar forest about 11 kilometers from a county-level town, has 140 households, many in wooden houses supported by sturdy trunks.