Why do you want to change places in several famous pastoral areas in China?

Macun, near Yeniugou Township, is 50 kilometers away from Qilian County, Qinghai Province. The only road that passes here is the provincial highway S2 15, also known as "Erga Highway", which extends from the No.1 Gahai Highway on the shore of Qinghai Lake to the northwest and reaches the second finger of Qilian Mountain at an altitude of 4,300 meters-Halashan Pass.

"Bison" and "Border Horse", one is the most common wild animal wild yak on the grassland, and the other is the forage jinlumei which cattle and sheep like to eat. This is a traditional pastoral area at the southern foot of Qilian Mountain. Most of the year, the Erga Highway is deserted, but July is very lively. During the tourist season, cars in go on road trip are often blocked in the middle of the road by flocks of cattle and sheep. This is the "transitional season" in which the herdsmen in Macun are concentrated. 100 Many herders need to drive their cattle and sheep along the road for dozens of kilometers.

On July 7th, 20 19, cattle and sheep were in transition in Macun, near Yeniugou Township, Qilian County, Qinghai Province. (The pictures in this article are all from Shiben. Photo editing week)

The local people call the grasslands in different seasons "nests", and the transition in July is from "winter nests" to "autumn nests". In Macun, Dongwozi is the base camp, with low altitude, fertile soil and plenty of grass. Cattle and sheep can spend a long winter on the plateau. Qiuwozi has a high altitude and is mainly used for rotational grazing. Every summer, people, cattle and sheep will stay there for a month and a half, leaving enough time for the grassland in winter to restore animal power.

On July 8, 20 19, the herdsmen in Macun near Yeniugou Township, Qilian County, Qinghai Province were "changing places". Every July, they will move from their respective winter pastures to autumn pastures, which is a traditional way of rotational grazing.

This is the traditional wisdom of grassland. "Always eat in one place, grass is not enough, sheep are not fat, and children cannot be born." Ma Jingui, 34, is the head of Ma Village. His ancestors fled from Huangzhong County in Xining City to Macun in his early years, leaving him a pasture to raise cattle and sheep. Up to now, he is the third generation.

Ma Jingui, a 34-year-old village head of Macun, will lie on the grass and brush Tik Tok during the transition break.

Ma Jingui can't remember how many times he has embarked on the road of transformation. 14-year-old son just graduated from primary school this year, and was also pulled into the big army in July. I hope he can "eat well so that he can study hard and change his destiny when he goes back."

In recent years, Ma Jingui has smelled signs of change. In 20 17, Gansu and Qinghai provinces announced that 50,200 square kilometers of land would be included in the pilot project of Qilian Mountain National Park, and the border area of Macun was also included. The question before Ma Jingui is, can we continue grazing?

2065438+July 8, 2009, it usually takes three to five days for herders to set up tents during the transition. On the way, herders had to set up temporary tents on the roadside and continue their journey the next day.

"Little Hong Kong" in the ravine

Bianma Village belongs to Qilian County, which was the pasture of Qiang people before the Han Dynasty. In the second half of last century, in addition to the traditional nomadic life, another narrative line was intertwined with the people in Bianma Village.

Qilian county is a county rich in resources, with more than 40 kinds of proven mineral resources. Metal minerals include iron, manganese, chromium, lead, copper and placer gold. Non-metallic minerals also include asbestos, graphite, dolomite, limestone, clay, gypsum and marble. In the 1980s, Qilian County once achieved financial self-sufficiency.

"In the 1990s, the outside world called it Little Hong Kong. The canyon is full of mines. Ma is the stationmaster of the management and protection station of Yeniugou. 1990 troops were assigned to the forest farm here after they retired. ..

2065438+On July 7, 2009, the management personnel of the Qilian Mountain National Park Management and Protection Station were patrolling the mountain.

When I was young, horses also fished for gold in this river. When Little Hong Kong is busiest, foreigners, foreign bosses, foreign miners and large and small mines gather in the upper reaches. Gravel often flows down the river, and local villagers "catch up" by the river. "When the cattle and sheep couldn't sell the price, you earned it by picking up a piece."

Most villagers have mixed feelings about the mine. "In the beginning, I thought (mining) was a good thing. Mines are generally in the mountains and do not occupy my grassland. There are more foreigners, so you can sell more specialties and earn some money. But it was later found to be broken. "

At first it was air pollution. For a time, asbestos fibers floated in the air. "When I smelled it, I knew that the asbestos factory had started." In addition, there were water pollution and soil erosion. This grassland was scarred by mining, power generation interception and overgrazing.

The most important river flowing through Qilian County is Heihe River, and its birthplace is "Bayi Glacier" located in Yeniugou Township. Heihe River is the second largest inland river in China and the "mother river" of Hexi Corridor. Heihe river was called "weak water" in ancient times, and it was cut off many times, mainly due to excessive reclamation in the upper and middle reaches and mining along the line to destroy the mountain.

In 200 1 year, the ecological emergency control project at the source of Heihe River began, and Qinghai Province carried out desertification grassland control, artificial afforestation, grassland enclosure, river regulation and tailings recovery.

But it was not until recent years that the mine completely withdrew from the scope of today's national parks. 20 14, Tian Li coal mine in Linxian county was reported. Muli Town, Tianjun County has proven coal reserves of 3.5 billion tons, and has quickly become a coal base in more than ten years. Open-pit mining seriously damages the surface, causing water pollution, soil erosion and air pollution, and squeezing the ecology of pastoral areas.

After the establishment of the pilot area of Qilian Mountain National Park, Qinghai has retired the mines within its scope. Zhang Yu, director of Qinghai Provincial Management Office of Qilian Mountain National Park Administration, said in an interview with the newspaper that the complexity of mine clearance lies in the problems left over from history. Many mines are still "legal", with complete licenses and expired leases. At present, Qinghai province is formulating specific compensation measures for mine clearance.

After bidding farewell to the hustle and bustle of the "Little Hong Kong" era, Macun returned to calm. As the stationmaster of the management and protection station, Ma has to "keep an eye on the river" every day to prevent someone from stealing ore.

2065438+On July 7, 2009, the managers of Qilian Mountain National Park Management and Protection Station were having a meeting before their daily patrol. The main tasks of patrol include fire prevention, garbage collection and prevention of poaching and theft.

"The rock sheep ate my grass. What about my sheep? "

After several ecological restoration and management projects, including the Heiheyuan ecological emergency management project, the environment in Macun has become better.

Ma Jingui said that the most direct change is wildlife. "When tourists see Shiyang, they have to get off and take pictures. We are used to it. Rock sheep, Tibetan wild donkeys, deer ... "

He has never seen snow leopard, which is the flagship species of Qilian Mountain National Park and usually lives above the snow line. However, in May, 2065438+2008, five snow leopards were photographed in the same frame by an infrared camera, which was close to Macun water hyacinth management station.

With the increase of wild animals, there are more and more conflicts between people and animals, and almost every national park faces similar problems. Some villagers once asked Ma Jingui what a national park was. "I couldn't answer at first, I could only say that killing animals is not allowed."

Generations of nomads, people in Bianma Village have experience in dealing with wild animals, such as "wolf harm" and "bear harm". In winter, when there is not enough food on the mountain, wolves will go down the mountain, break into herders' homes and attack domestic sheep.

"The wolf's favorite food is internal organs, but they are terrible. It's not enough to dig out a sheep's stomach, many of them will be killed. Bears will also run into herdsmen's homes when people are unprepared, drink their ghee, eat ghee and sleep in other people's beds. "

2065438+On July 7th, 2009, the management personnel of Qilian Mountain National Park Management and Protection Station were gathering before daily patrol, which mainly included fire prevention, garbage collection, prevention of poaching and theft, etc.

In the early years, Ma Jingui's ancestors joined hands with a number of herders to form a "wolf team" spontaneously, but not long after, with the collection and control of firearms and the emphasis on wildlife protection, the wolf team was dissolved.

Ma Jingui recalled that there was a time when wolves couldn't fight, so people could only watch and then take the rest of the meat away. Then there is a compensation policy. 20 12 according to the wildlife protection law, Qinghai province promulgated the compensation measures for personal and property losses caused by key protected terrestrial wildlife in Qinghai province. Herdsmen injured by wolves and bears can report to the forest police and assess the losses. According to the market price of cattle and sheep, the provincial finance bears 50% compensation.

But these compensations still can't cover some fuzzy areas. Part of the border area of Macun has been included in Qilian Mountain National Park, which has both core area and general control area. Some herders' pastures are located in the depths of Shandagou, and wild rock sheep often "invade" herders' pastures in droves.

"The rock sheep ate my grass. What about my sheep? " Some villagers asked Ma Jingui, the village chief. As a national second-class protected wild animal, people can't kill rock sheep, and it's meaningless to drive them away-"The grassland is there, you drive it away today, and they will come again tomorrow and the day after tomorrow."

Rock sheep live in the mountains and have strong jumping ability, so it is easy to climb over the net fence. In recent years, in order to leave migration channels for wild animals, the national park pilot work requires the removal of net fences. Some herdsmen's grasslands have been "occupied" by rock sheep in disguise.

If the wolf damage and the bear damage can be calculated by the number of dead and injured cattle and sheep, then it is difficult to quantify the losses caused by the "invasion" of rock sheep.

Most of the affected grasslands are herders' "autumn nests", and cattle and sheep spend less than two months here every year. Although the time is short, it is extremely necessary for grassland to restore animal power in winter.

"The rock sheep will go after eating, and there will be no change in a short time. Grass or grass? But there is less grass left for domestic sheep to eat, which will affect lamb production. " Ma Jingui calculated an account, assuming that 200 ewes can produce 150 lambs. Because of the influence of blue sheep, they can only produce less than 65,438+000 lambs now. Many ewes don't have enough milk and their survival rate is not high.

Wild animals have caused incalculable losses to livestock, and Macun is not a case. National parks are divided into core areas and general control areas, which are generally located in areas where human and wildlife activities overlap.

Qilian Mountain National Park

In May this year, the Institute of Global Environment (GEI) conducted a survey in Qilian Mountain National Park, Qinghai Province. Peng Kui, the project leader, said that many villages in Qinghai Province have encountered similar troubles. Some herders said that they hope to "transfer" their pasture invaded by rock sheep to the core area of the national park.

Peng Kui said: "This is of course the simple idea of herders. The regional delineation of national parks has its ecological basis, but national parks should make corresponding ecological compensation for these herders. "

For those losses that are difficult to quantify, Qilian Mountain, like other national park pilots, is trying to make ecological compensation through other channels. For example, when recruiting ecological managers, give priority to these herdsmen whose interests have been damaged and let them become the staff of national parks.

Whether ecological compensation can only be classified according to the scope of national parks, according to the core area, general control area and outside the park is also a problem. Zhang Wei said: "Wild animals don't know the boundary markers. They are mobile and will run out. If only the villages in the park are compensated, what about the neighboring villages outside the park? "

Zhang Yu said that at present, Qilian Mountain National Park is still refining specific ecological compensation methods.

"grazing prohibition" in the core area

In addition to the intrusion of rock sheep, other factors also worry Ma Jingui whether the sheep whip can continue to be taken down.

Part of the border area of Macun has been included in the national park, part in the core area and part in the general control area. According to the national park pilot policy, in principle, human activities are prohibited in the core area and restricted in the general control area. The original residents of the core area need to move, but this has encountered difficulties.

Some herdsmen's homes and grasslands have been included in the core area. Many people told Ma Jingui that they wanted to move out of the core area, but they wanted to stay there and graze. If grazing is completely banned, they don't know where to go.

In addition, many grasslands have complex ownership and need more detailed resettlement compensation methods. Liu Yihua, deputy director of Qinghai Provincial Management Office of Qilian Mountain National Park Administration, said that in some villages, collective grasslands were included in the core areas. Its ownership belongs to the village collective, but it involves a wide population. If compensation is made only according to ownership, these herders can get little compensation. Some villages are classified as grassland for rotational grazing. If rotational grazing cannot be implemented, the grassland may be further degraded.

Unlike national parks in the United States, Indians were expelled long ago, leaving endless wilderness. But in China, the national park was occupied from the beginning. In Malik village, a traditional pastoral area, the older generation of herders rarely receive modern education and have no other labor skills except grazing.

Is there any other plan besides strictly prohibiting grazing in the core area across the board?

Peng Kui said that after generations of human activities, pastoralists in pastoral areas have formed a whole system with nature, and moderate human activities will not cause damage to the ecology. Over the years, "determining livestock by grass, guiding by classification, adapting to local conditions and preventing overgrazing" has been the red line of grassland green development.

"If the cattle and sheep are removed, the grass will grow too high and there may be a fire hazard." Before becoming a stationmaster, Ma worked in a state-owned forest farm. The edge of the forest farm meets the grassland. In order to protect the forest land from being destroyed by livestock, people use a mesh fence to separate the forest land from the neighboring herders.

But if the grass grows too high, it is easy to cause fires or even forest fires in the dry season. Facing the strict forest farm protection policy, farmer Ma found some compromise solutions. Herdsmen can enter the forest land, mow the grass manually, and supplement forage for livestock free of charge.

"We don't want to see man-made' no man's land' in the national park pilot project in China," Peng Kui said.

However, if a certain degree of human activities are allowed to continue, detailed and strict restrictions need to be put forward. This includes a series of questions: what is the maximum carrying capacity of grassland? If you don't move out of the population, do you need to set a population ceiling for the core area? How do herders graze? Can new facilities be built and how to deal with aging facilities?

At present, people in Bianma Village have encountered problems in their production and life. In order to avoid the damage and pollution caused by the construction project to the grassland, all kinds of construction activities were temporarily stopped here, and the sheep shed could not be renovated and the dangerous house could not be rebuilt, which affected dozens of households. Sheep sheds and dangerous houses are just appearances. Peng Kui said that behind this is the demand for nature from population growth. "Not only the increase of population, but also the change of demand. Tents will be added at first, and then the family will be separated. Sheep sheds and winter nests will also increase accordingly. In the later stage of development, factories will be required to start construction, engage in water conservancy and develop tourism. The demand for growth and development is twofold. "

At present, the Global Environment Institute is cooperating with Qinghai area of Qilian Mountain National Park to study the possibility of agreement protection. Previously, the newspaper reported on the pilot project of the Giant Panda National Park. The Shanshui Nature Reserve signed a "protection agreement" with the local community, which strictly restricted the behavior of the villagers and rewarded them according to the agreement.

Peng Kui said that by drawing up the agreement, the community will be included and become a partner of the national park, and people will also form a new code of conduct.

The possibility of surpassing the sheep whip

It may be easy to live in another place, but it is difficult to change the mode of production handed down from generation to generation. Similar to the "farmers going upstairs" in the mainland, herders in traditional pastoral areas are facing the problem of changing jobs.

Before the establishment of the national park, there were "ecological immigrants" in Macun, mainly from agricultural and livestock teams. In the early years, some villagers could not get grassland, so they were incorporated into agricultural and livestock teams to cultivate pasture and sell it to farmers in need. Others dig cordyceps, do small business in the county, or go to work in other places.

On July 8, 20 19, Ma Jingui's son, 14 years old, just graduated from primary school. During the summer vacation, he returned to the village from the county seat to help his family transition together. This is the second transformation he participated in. Ma Jingui said that three generations of his family are herders, and he hopes that his son will study hard and walk out of this grassland in the future.

After 20 14 years, with the development of tourism in Qilian county and the introduction of precise poverty alleviation policies, some people moved to towns and counties to work as forest farm managers, parking lot managers, supermarket cashiers or sold tickets in scenic spots. Those who didn't get land in those years learned the skills to make a living in those years of "doing odd jobs", but herders were worried about sudden changes.

For the herdsmen of the older generation, it is extremely difficult to adapt to change. Zhang Yu said that it was a difficult leap for them to put down the sheep whip and pick up the sickle, let alone enter the tertiary industry and engage in the service industry. "If you want to develop tourism, catering, accommodation and reception, these seemingly insignificant skills can't be learned in one or two trainings."

In order to help the poor, Qilian County organized retraining courses such as tailor classes and chef classes, but Peng Kui said that these sporadic training courses are often a mere formality. "After one or two trainings, the activity funds will be used up. There is no such thing. Can you really train a chef? The locals don't believe it. "

The younger generation Malik Jingui tried to look for possibilities outside the sheep whip.

Nature education is one of them. In some pilot villages, Qinghai Forestry and Grassland Bureau cooperated with village committees and village branches. They have compiled ecological classroom courses and carried out nature education in some primary and secondary schools. Wang Enguang, deputy director of the Forestry and Grass Bureau of Qinghai Province, said that the "last mile" of effective ecological protection can be opened through the "village two committees+"model.

Ecotourism is another way of thinking. 20 14 The tourism industry in Qilian County is developing gradually. Because of the landscape of snow-capped mountains and meadows, it even won the title of "Little Switzerland in the East". The local products store in the county sells yellow mushrooms and beef and mutton to tourists, and Ma Jingui's purchase price of beef and mutton has also increased a lot.

Young people in many villages have begun to develop tourist routes, such as the Baili Flower Sea in Menyuan, Linxian County, the Donghaigou Grand Canyon in Laolongwan Village, and the Zhuoer Scenic Area in Qilian County. These scenic spots are connected with the road trip route of Qinghai Lake, and the number of foreign vehicles on the Ergun Highway also increases in July and August every year.

However, Peng Kui said that the existing tourism format is still very traditional.

"When it comes to tourism, people think of surrounding, doing scenic spots and selling tickets, that is, repairing homestays and plank roads. But why repair these facilities? Who is your customer base? No one is sure where they want to attract people. So you can see plank roads and long corridors, which appear on the plateau grass and are very abrupt. This is a direct copy of the city. Is it really attractive? "

Compared with plank roads, exhibition halls and other hardware facilities, many local governments are not clear about how ecotourism should be operated. How to set hiking routes, how to design the content of nature observation, how to train local people to be commentators, and how to design codes of conduct for tourists … these "invisible" tasks need long-term investment.

At present, the Institute of Global Environment is cooperating with Qinghai District of Qilian Mountain National Park. Miguo Village in Qilian County and Laolongwan Village in Menyuan County have been selected as pilot projects, where they will explore the agreed protection with the community, as well as eco-tourism planning, and build the entrance community of the national park.

"The superficial poverty alleviation seems to be effective quickly, but is it really effective?" Peng Kui said that in order to have a long-term effect, it is necessary to change the system and concept.