March 21, 2022 is International Day of Forests. Open the world vegetation type map, most of the land near the Tropic of Cancer is covered by deserts and savannas, while in southwest China, Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, because of its tropical rainforest ecosystem, is like a bright emerald inlaid in this "return". Desert Belt".

Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture has the well-preserved and largest tropical rainforest ecosystem in the desert belt of the return to the north, and is a biodiversity hotspot related to the ecological security barrier in southwest my country. This piece of land occupies only one-fifth of the country's land area, and shelters one-fourth of the country's wild animals and one-fifth of the higher plant species resources.

Today, Xishuangbanna is making every effort to protect and restore rainforests. In practicing the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets", it continues to explore and polish the "emerald on the desert belt of the return to the north".

The rainforest home of thousands of creatures

In 2021, a group of wild Asian elephants from Xishuangbanna headed north all the way, and returned to their original habitats safely under the careful care of human beings, so that these "land giants" and their homeland, the Xishuangbanna tropical rain forest, once again attracted the whole world. eyes of the world.

"Elephant herds that have moved from the north to the south have returned to their original habitat on December 9, 2021, and have been stably operating in the Mengyang area of Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve. They have been in the forest almost all winter, and occasionally enter the wild. Elephant Valley drinking water, bathing in sand." Guo Xianming, director of the Institute of Science in Xishuangbanna National Nature Reserve, Yunnan, said that according to monitoring and analysis, after returning to the "hometown", the elephant herd was in good condition with no abnormality, and the three young elephants were also fat. After a circle, "It can be said that the reserve has sufficient water and food."

This is the core area of the Naban River Basin National Nature Reserve

Globally, due to illegal hunting and habitat loss, the number of Asian elephants has shown an overall downward trend. Fortunately, through years of protection, the number of wild Asian elephants in my country has grown from about 150 in the 1970s and 1980s to more than 300 at present.

Asian elephants are the largest and most representative terrestrial vertebrates in Asia, and they are also "engineers" that maintain forest ecosystems. These behemoths traverse the rainforest, carving out "highways" for other small animals. Elephants trampling and knocking down some plants will open the forest windows in the dense rainforest, allowing sunlight to pass through the canopy of tall trees, creating a living space for the plants under the forest; the seeds of some plants can be attached to the elephant's skin, Or hide in its feces and spread to further distances.

"Elephants cannot do without forests, and forests cannot do without elephants." Guo Xianming said that protecting tropical rain forests and protecting elephants complement each other.

However, just before the 1970s, China was considered by the international academic community as a country with "no tropical rainforest distribution" due to the absence of the indicator species Dipterocarpaceae in tropical rainforest areas.

In July 1975, during the midsummer rainy season, a plant investigation team went deep into the tropical jungle in the east of Xishuangbanna. There are inspection tools on the accompanying horses, and the team members walk forward with dry food on their backs in a high temperature and high humidity environment...

After experiencing the tests of landslides, miasma and getting lost, the team reached the edge of a ravine that was inaccessible and found an endless community of tall tree canopies. The experience of plant research told them that this is a rare tropical rainforest tree species. After careful research by the team, it was confirmed that this is the first Dipterocarpaceae plant discovered in my country.

On March 16, 2022, tea farmers picked tea leaves at the Tea Garden Forest Transformation Demonstration Base in Dadugang Township, Jinghong City

Wangtianshu, a national first-class protected plant, is called "Buigangzhuan" in Dai language, which means "you can only see the top of the tree when you look up at the sky". A 70-year-old Wangtian tree is more than 50 meters high, and some are even more than 80 meters high.

"Who said that China has no tropics, and the great rivers and mountains are full of gold and silver." Ethnobotanist Pei Shengji talked about the past, and he introduced that in order to prove that a region is a tropical rainforest region, two conditions must be met: one is the presence of borneol A large number of individuals of the fragrant family are naturally distributed; secondly, the dipterocarpaceae should form a dominant forest in the forest community, which can realize the natural generation replacement.

The discovery of Wangtianshu provides key evidence for the existence of tropical rain forests in China. In addition to Asian elephants and Wangtianshu, this "emerald in the desert of the return to the north" also shelters more than 750 species of wild animals such as mouse deer and hummingbirds, and more than 5,000 species of higher plants such as Banna green plum and white flag.

Let green be the base color

Due to the blocking of the cold air in the north by the Himalayas, the special topography and landforms of Xishuangbanna's east, north and west sides have created a special tropical humid climate and this "emerald on the desert belt of the return to the north".

Xishuangbanna's tropical rain forest is rich in resources and is also a key area for tea and rubber cultivation. Rainforest protection is faced with a series of challenges, such as the difficulty of cross-border protection, and economic crops such as rubber forests and tea gardens crowding the rainforest space.

According to Zheng Yi, Secretary of the Xishuangbanna Prefecture Party Committee, in recent years, Xishuangbanna has severely cracked down on activities that destroy forest resources such as planting and deforestation, and issued "Ten Rules" to consolidate the results of tea planting and deforestation and strengthen the protection of forest resources. Joint protection of borders and cross-regional joint crackdown on illegal and criminal activities, and exploration of new paths for national co-protection and sharing, public participation in public welfare, and cross-state, cross-border and cross-basin protection.

On March 14, 2022, wild elephant monitors search for wild Asian elephants in the jungle near National Road 213 in Dadugang Township, Jinghong City

Xishuangbanna is inhabited by the Dai, Hani, Blang, Lahu, Jino and other ethnic minorities. These ethnic minorities have long been interdependent, influenced and interacted with tropical rainforests and their animals and plants. In the process of identifying, utilizing and protecting forests, they have developed the traditional concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

Mandian Village, Gasa Town, Jinghong City is adjacent to the Naban River Basin National Nature Reserve, the first protected area in my country based on the small watershed biosphere, which mainly protects the forest ecosystem and rare wild animals and plants with tropical rain forests as the main . Inheriting the ancestors' reverence and wisdom for nature, local villagers and conservation managers have explored the way of "community co-management", and villagers have participated in and benefited from the conservation.

"Zhujiao can cure stomach pain, and sea boats can clear fire and detoxify..." The villagers of Mandian Village, Yanqiang, have traditional Dai medicines supported by the government in front of and behind their houses. He said: "These plants are both beautiful and medicinal. If you have minor illnesses or pains, you can use it at your fingertips.”

In addition, the government supports the interplanting of large-leaf chinensis and Rauwolfia under the rubber forest, and planting agarwood and yellow sandalwood in villages and around roads. It also established a Dai medicine protection team in the village to collect about 50 mu of natural forest in the village. It is designated as the "Medicinal Plant Protection Area" in the village. The income of the villagers has been increased accordingly, and the enthusiasm for protecting the forest has become higher. The local people have changed their ideas, changed their way of life, and together with the management, they have become the guardians of this kingdom of animals and plants.

The whole people participate in the protection, realize the transformation of ecological environmental protection from the single action of functional departments to group protection and joint protection, the transformation of animal habitats from passive protection to active restoration, and the transformation of population patrols from mainly air defense to a combination of air defense and technical defense, rare and endangered Species have changed from shelter and rescue to breeding and release, and the handling of wild animal accidents has changed from single compensation to both prevention and compensation, effectively protecting wild animal and plant resources and their habitats.

Up to now, Xishuangbanna Prefecture has a land area of 19,100 square kilometers, with a forest coverage rate of 81.3%, an ecological red line area of 42%, and a national, provincial, state and county-level nature reserves of 22%. "Green has become the background color of Xishuangbanna, ecology has become the true color of Xishuangbanna, and protection has become the characteristic of Xishuangbanna." Zheng Yi said.

Let the rainforest no longer be lonely

"Almost all tropical rainforests in the world are distributed in developing countries, and they are faced with the contradiction between protection and development, the transformation of land use, and the isolation of rainforests," said Yang Yongping, director of the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Rainforests guard thousands of species. , Protecting the scarce tropical rainforest and its ecosystem is to protect human beings themselves.

Affected by factors such as geography, climate and economic development, the ecosystem of Xishuangbanna has the characteristics of richness, uniqueness, sensitivity and vulnerability. Although there are tropical rain forests in Xishuangbanna, not all vegetation is tropical rain forests, and tropical rain forests are its components and distributed in sheets.

Manlu Village Group, Mandian Village Committee, Gasa Town, Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture

The geographical conditions of Xishuangbanna are complex and diverse, and there are great differences between different habitat types in the same area, which is not conducive to the growth and spread of species populations; although there are good conditions for species differentiation and new species formation, the population is small and the number is small, and species are prone to endangered Or extinction; the ecosystem space is small, and it is easy to form highly specialized and small-ranging system components and structures, and the anti-interference ability is weak.

Yang Yongping said that the tropical rainforest-based ecosystem has a high degree of interdependence between different species in the same area. Once the local ecology is destroyed, it will cause a "domino" chain reaction to the regional biodiversity.

Taking the planning and construction of Xishuangbanna Tropical Rainforest (Asian Elephant) National Park as an opportunity to do a good job in ecological restoration has become a consensus reached by rainforest protection managers and scientific research experts. Under this consensus, Xishuangbanna plans to integrate various types of protected areas, establish a unified and efficient management system, and restore the rainforest in accordance with the natural habitat of the rainforest in accordance with natural restoration and artificial restoration, so as to maximize the realization of the tropical rainforest ecosystem. The authenticity and integrity of the rainforest are protected, the ecological corridor is constructed, and the connectivity of the rainforest is improved.

Local residents water the bananas planted around their houses

"Plants are restored under forests, and rain forests and wetlands are restored in valleys." Liu Shaoxiong, chief of the Ecological Protection and Restoration Section of Xishuangbanna Forestry and Grassland Bureau, said that Xishuangbanna is implementing three major actions of rainforest protection, restoration and return, targeting the existence of traditional pillar industries such as rubber and tea. Due to serious soil erosion, single species, serious diseases and insect pests, and the impact on rain forests, it is planned to complete the ecological restoration of 543,000 mu of tea gardens and rubber plantations during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, and carry out the restoration of tea plantations and the construction of biodiversity rubber plantations. At the same time, the existing low-yield and low-efficiency rubber plantations with super-altitude, super-slope and super-range are withdrawn and planted with other mixed forests with higher ecological benefits.

"Rain forest protection and biodiversity protection gradually shift from government-led to national participation is the key to sustainable protection in the future, and it is also the key to solving the contradiction between development and protection." Yang Yongping said that the government was the first to set up protected areas and draw clear boundaries to strictly enforce strict regulations. "Rescue protection" is implemented, and now it is transferred to "restorative protection" based on natural restoration and artificial restoration.

"In the end, it will lead to the harmony between people and the rainforest. All things can live in harmony with each other, and each can be nurtured in its own way," he said.Editor/Ma Xue