Course:FRST370/2021/How indigenous knowledge performs in forest and wildlife conservation in Mangba Village, Yunnan, China.

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Description

Mangba Village

Mangba Village

This village has an area of 0.45 square km, the altitude is 1,100 meters, the annual average temperature is 19.8℃, and the annual precipitation is 954 mm. Mangba is located on a gentle slope in the upper part of a southeast northwest trending ridge with a 1500–1700 m mountain elevation. The valley bottom toward the northeast of the village corresponds to the Mangba River, while the valley toward the south corresponds to the Tanggai River. Toward the west lies the Nuozhadu provincial nature reserve. The village has a population of 206, including 101 males and 105 females. The main industries are planting, breeding, etc. The total sales income of the main industry of the whole village is 337,200 yuan, accounting for 55% of the total income of the rural economy. Plans are underway to vigorously develop aquaculture, tea, and other industries. The future development focus of the village is to consolidate the sugarcane industry, develop the tea industry ecologically, promote the development of aquaculture, and cultivate the transportation industry. The main vegetation types include Simao Pine (Pinus kesiya) and Banyan tree, mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest, and shrubs.

Bulang People

Religion

• The Bulang people's worship of tree (Banyan tree)

The Bulang people's worship of nature is ghosts and gods are combined. They believe that everything in the world, the sun, the moon and the stars, the wind, rain, thunder, lightning, fire, water, mountains and rocks all have souls. The Bulang people's worship of trees is particularly prominent. Every year, the Bulang people hold a two-day ceremony to the mountain gods on a family basis. The ceremony is presided over by a shaman (Bai mo). Rice, wine, tea, meat, meals, chicken and several pairs of wax sticks are used to worship the mountain god, because the mountain god is in charge of the forests and animals. Baimo kills the chickens, lights the incense, burns paper money, say the chants and prays, and sticks paper money stained with chicken blood on the tree as a sign of "dedication." Every year before slash-and-burn cultivation, the Bulang people also hold a ceremony to the "tree soul" to pray for the consent of the tree ghost. If the Bai mo think that the ghosts and gods disagree, the tree must not be cut down, and must make ceremony again to obtain the ghosts and gods' forgiveness.

The extensive and frequent worship affirmed the sacredness of the tree in the hearts of the villagers, and has an impact on the villagers today. The primitive belief forces villagers to protect trees spontaneously instead of cutting down or destroying them. Bulang people generally believe that there are ghosts and gods living on trees, so they are cautious about cutting down trees. Not only the sacred tree cannot be felled, the felling of other trees also requires divination calculations. Sometimes, trees can only be cut down after offering sacrifices to mountain gods or other ghosts and gods

• The Bulang people's worship of birds (Derbyan Parakeet)

The Derbyan Parakeet is a symbol of mysterious power and wisdom. The Derbyan Parakeet (Psittacula derbiana) is also known as Lord Derby's parakeetTales. The species prefers coniferous and mixed pine-oak forests, Rhododendron alpine thickets and cultivated valleys, ranging from 1,250 to 4,000 m. The residents of Mangba discovered that the village's the Derbyan Parakeet never ate rice or stomped on crops, instead they perfer pine seeds when hungry and fly to the nearby river to drink water when thirsty, leading them to assume that these birds are intelligent and friendly. Today the parrot has become a totem of the local Bulang people. Images of parrots are common in house decorations and on the traditional clothing of the Bulang people. The worship of parrots gives the villagers the desire and motivation to protect parrots spontaneously.

Tales

• Orgin of the Bulang people

A man used a banyan tree trunk as a pillow when he slept, and he couldn't fall asleep. He got up and cut the tree trunk into a square pillow, but still couldn't sleep. He cut the square pillow into a round pillow again, and couldn't sleep either. Since he cannot sleep, he gets up and start cuting the wood. He shaved the wood into a human shape, with eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hands, and feet. Soon,he fell asleep leaning on the wooden man. When he woke up, he saw that the huamn-shaped wood had turn into a real woman, sleeping with him. The two eventually became husband and wife. Soon they gave birth to children and the population gradually multiplied, forming today's Bulang community.

In the eyes of the Bulang people, the banyan tree has a sacred meaning.The reason why the banyan tree is regarded as a sacred object by the Bulang people of Mongba is not only related to banyan tree in the tale but also the growth characteristics of the tree. The banyan has many branches and leaves, a large crown, good vitality, and a well-developed root system, often with root systems protruding from the ground, with unique shapes. The villagers believe that the vitality of the banyan tree is strong because of its divinity. They regarded an old banyan tree as a "god." They believe that "when the tree is full, people will become rich; when the tree collapses, people will fall into decline." They connected the growth of the banyan tree with the lifeblood of the village. Therefore, since ancient times, the villagers only planted but did not chop, and even prohibited the harvesting of banyan trees.

• The Derbyan Parakeet saving the Bulang People from disasters

The first time Derbyan Parakeet saving the Bulang people happens in acient time. A plague occurred in the village hundreds of years ago. Just before the population was about to disappear, two Derbyan Parakeet brought a antidote to cure the plague and saved the people of Bulang. This tale leading the Bulang People to believe these birds are intelligent and friendly, and strated their worship of birds.

The second time of the Derbyan Parakeet happens in 1988. In 1988, a severe earthquake occurred in the Pu'er area, where Mangba village is located. On the night of the earthquake, the parrots kept yelling. Although the villagers did not care, the cries of the parrot made it difficult for the villagers to fall asleep. Soon, the ground shook, the frightened parrot flew into the depths of the reserve opposite the stockade, and the villagers fled their homes one after another. Although many houses were damaged, no one was injured. This convinced the villagers that the parrot's call was an early warning system.

Tenure arrangements

The introduction of shared responsibility hills has resulted in increased deforestation and illegal cutting, and a rapid decrease in forest resources, because of insecure forest tenure arrangements. In addition, there have some weaknesses of forest tenure in China. The principle of “ however plants trees own them” was weakened by logging quotas, which make it impossible for benefit rights to be exclusive for all tenure types. Also, policy limits farmers’ practical forest use rights. The strengthening of forest departments’ role in forest resource management has limited local communities’ participation. Government initiatives such as reforestation limit forest owners rights over forest resources.

Administrative arrangements

Administrative arrangements. Describe the management authority and the reporting system.

We did not find enough information about Mangba Village to write this part.

Affected Stakeholders

Bulang people

• Forest and wildlife resources are disappearing
• Human activities have resulted in forest loss, fragmentation, and degradation, resulting in a major decline in biodiversity and homogenization.
• Outsiders must be acknowledged by the majority of the villages in order to obtain the right of residency. Outsiders must seek their parents' permission and agree to their national ideals in order to marry local Bulang people.

Nearby communities

• Reduced biodiversity not only causes major ecological difficulties, but it also jeopardizes rural livelihoods and has negative consequences for adjacent communities' food, energy, and health security. Therefore, that cause a chain reaction in the forest. Land degradation, drop in soil fertility, and loss of tourism potential will all result from a decrease in biodiversity, severely limiting poverty alleviation in rural regions.

Traditional indigenous people

• Their environment is vital to their survival and development, as well as the preservation and long-term viability of biodiversity.
• Indigenous knowledge is growing sensitive to external factors as a result of rapid social and economic advancements; in fact, it has been lost in many regions of the world.
  

Interested Outside Stakeholders

Tourists

• Tourists come visit, benefit from the resources from the forest and leave, they do not get affected by what happens to this forest area.

Logging company

• They profit from the resources that this forest region supplies, but they are unaffected when the resources are depleted or wasted.

Methods of the case study

The main research methods used in this case study were informant interviews, group discussions, participant observation, and secondary data collection. Interviews were the primary sources of data because of their epistemological tenets using which the experiences of the respondents could be understood better through expressed subjective narratives. The study started with a quick interview of the village leaders to collect and document forest and wildlife-related folk stories, religious beliefs, and traditional cultural practices.

The interview questions were divided into three parts, each with a specific goal. The purpose of the first part is to collect the indigenous knowledge aboutforest and wildlife conservation that each respondent knows. The second part aims to analyze the mechanism of indigenous knowledge. The third part asks respondents to express their understanding of why indigenous knowledge can restrain villagers' behaviors.

Discussion

Implication of Bulang Regulation

The Bulang people in Mangba have formed their own body of knowledge about nature and a code of conduct toward animals and plants. They developed specific punishment measures that rely on the moral constraints formed by society and kinship. The punishment/ constraints are effective due to the inconvenience in communication between the village and outside world; the daily lives and work of the villagers revolve around their immediate surroundings and hence their social network is relatively narrow. Once someone violates the values recognized by the villagers, he/she is severely condemned. This reduces the trust imposed by other villagers in this person and affects their normal life, such as weddings, funerals, and other activities.

One violation case occurred in 2010. A young man in Mangba was unable to resist others' enticement and the lure of money. He caught and sold two parrots at the market. His action was condemned and ridiculed by the locals after they learnt of the incident, and he was subjected to corporal punishment by his parents. The young man was forced to return the parrots and release them into the wild due to public pressure.

Bulang Knowledge and the Forest

Their indigenous knowledge constitutes of the social and religious values of the community, which are generally accepted in protecting the environmental system. This popular annual ceremony is attended by everyone in the village. The worship of sacred trees during the ceremony also helps in maintaining the sanctity of banyan trees, ensures the inheritance of indigenous knowledge between generations, and protects biodiversity. The stories and folklore circulated in the village emphasize the relationship between human beings and the natural environment and strongly lean toward protecting biodiversity. Most of the areas in China where the Bulang people live have low productivity and low production technology.They still use the slash-and-burn cultivation method. Therefore, thBulang people's well being are strongly related to the natural condition, which forms the Bulang people’s awe of nature, resulting in nature worship and customs on being close to and protecting nature.

Limitations of Bulang Indigenous Knowledge System

Limation of indigenous knowledge

Indigenous knowledge may indirectly lead to ecosystem imbalance.Bird-watching tourism should take place without artificial interference in the natural conditions of wild birds. However, the villagers believe that feeding birds can increase the bird population as they comply with indigenous knowledge, which goes against the core concept of birdwatching. The indigenous knowledge are close to the embodiment of primitive biodiversity conservation, but lacks the support of modern ecological knowledge.The lack of scientific guidance in indigenous knowledge might damage the ecosystem sustainability.

The limitation of the punishmen/ constrains system

All the Bulang punishmen/ constrains system are based on society and kinship, which means will not be effective outside of a certain range. Dunbar's number indicates that therically the maxium of the effective range of the punishmen/ constrains system is 150 people. Dunbar's number is a suggested cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. In other words, in the face of the migrant population, the rules and regulations in the village become invalid. The Bulang knowledge system will remaining at the customary law level rather than move to the policy making level.

Assessment

Policy Implication

Indigenous knowledge has played an efective role in protecting forests, wild animals, and plants. Under the influence of indigenous knowledge inherited from generation to generation, the Bulang people in Mangba developed a protective attitude toward banyan trees and the Derbyan Parakeet. without specific punishment measures, the local people efectively controlled the use of natural resources through moral constraints, public opinion constraints, and worship rituals. The indigenous laws ensure the diversity of forest resources and wildlife resources through villagers spontaneous protection in poor rural areas and areas not yet touched by modern scientific means. Villagers have gained real in the development of birdwatching tourism, which will further promote the positive ecological impact of these areas and will provide a example for other poor groups in the terriory who are in similar situations.

Challenges

One of the most urgent challenge the protection of the traditional culture of the minorities with a small population in Yunnan in the context of globalization. Ethnic regions with small populations face the dilemma of not only accelerating economic development but also protecting traditional culture. On the one hand, they are eager for rapid economic development and realize modernization as soon as possible; on the other hand, they hope to retain their national traditional culture for a long time, worrying about the disappearance of national traditional culture.

The other challenges is that the cultural habitat is constantly being destroyed. Ethnic groups with a small population in Yunnan have long lived along the border or remote mountainous areas with inconvenient transportation, blocked information, but beautiful ecology, and thus have been able to retain a relatively rich and diverse ethnic traditional culture. However, the consequence of globalization and modernization is that on the one hand, rich and colorful foreign material and spiritual cultures continue to infiltrate the lives of local residents, leading to the homogenization of certain cultural characteristics by the influx of foreign cultures, on the other hand It is a major change in livelihoods in many ethnic areas with small populations, and many traditional farming techniques have gradually disappeared, which has led to the destruction of the cultural habitat for the protection and inheritance of ethnic culture in ethnic areas with small populations. The values of the minority nationalities are gradually changing. With more frequent contact with the outside world, major changes have taken place in the values and life goals of ethnic minorities, which to a large extent affects the inheritance of ethnic culture. There is a fault in the inheritors of the intangible cultural heritage of ethnic minorities in Yunnan. Since most ethnic groups with a small population only have language and no written language, their traditional culture has been passed on from generation to generation mainly by ethnic and folk artists for a long time.

Conclusion

Limitations of the Case Study

The Limitation of this case study is related to its method of interviewing. The most common approach of interview is to choose the participants randomly. However, due to the different personaility of particanpants, the ramdomness of the interview cannot be fully reached. The nature of interviews means that a large number of interviews is not anticipated. Consequently, it is difficult to employ a random approach. The way questions are delivered also may affect the answers given. The interviewer's attitude or their ways of expressing the question may have an impact on the interpretation of the interviewee's responses as well.

Future Research

Due to the vulnerability of indigenous knowledge-based practices, they face marginalization, dilution, transformation, or even being forgotten in rural communities in many lands. Therefore, it is necessary to record indigenous knowledge, analyze its mechanism of action, and ensure their inheritance and development. However, indigenous knowledge have limiataion that may indirectly lead to ecosystem imbalance. Therefore, bringing indigenous knowledge and modern science together to achieve the effective protection of biodiversity is a direction that needs more researches.