INTRODUCTION
The Peoples Republic of China is rich in cultural and natural diversity. and is listed by biologists as a ‘megadiversity
country'. Since 1950, when China embraced modernity, the forests have been indiscriminately felled reducing forest cover.
This has threatened biodiversity, causing drastic declines of mammal and bird counts, recurrent flooding and erosion, and
recurrent snow disasters. These not only threaten global climate, but undermine the livelihood of the local people and great
loss of life and damage downstream. In South West China the government has promoted ambitious plans for forest
conservation and reforestation, culminating in a felling ban and the closure of grazing lands. This Comment draws attention to
the new environmental activism emerging in the country and discusses prospects for successful implementation of the new
policies
SW CHINA: GEOGRAPHICAL BACKGROUND
“South West” China encompasses an area known by Westerners as “East Tibet”, by the indigenous Tibetan people as
Kham, and by the Republic of China as “Xikang”. It is deeply dissected by four of Asias largest rivers (Bramaputra,
Salween, Mekong and Yangtze), which flow in a SE course through deep limestone and sandstone gorges. Elevation
ranges from 2000m to more than 7000 m and the area is dominated in the east by Minyak Gangkar (7590m) (Ch. Gongga
Shan). The steep slopes are mostly covered by coniferous forest, and the region contains China's largest forest resource.
Nowadays this vast region, is divided for political and historical reasons between four Chinese provinces and comprises 47
counties . The region was characterised by its very rich biodiversity and in a few locations the untouched ecosystems are
among the most diverse living assemblies in Asia (Ogilvie 1996 Smil 1984). There are still believed to be over 1500 species
of higher plant, more than 90 mammal species, more than 350 bird species, and more than 25 reptile and amphibian species.
CULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT
China is the nation with the longest continuous culture on earth, and from the earliest times (The Shang Dynasty 1766
BC-1122 BC) there is evidence of both a conservation ethic and an understanding of environmental processes.
Environmental consciousness used to be reinforced not only by rulers but through Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism but
it appears to have been retained mostly as an ideal which was gradually subsumed by modernity (Edmonds 1994, Needham
1956, 1986, Schafer 1962, Smil 1984)). Although the recorded history of SW China is not as old as Han China there is
evidence that the people have lived sustainably with their fragile world for 2,000 years, and still today exhibit a conservation
He delves into the history of the word “environmental” as well as the history of environmental activism. He pinpoints the beginning of the movement to Rachel Carson. According to Quammen, she began the revolution by publishing her book Silent Spring. He says the negative connotations of the word began with her book, pairing “environment” and “the survival of humankind” as if they go hand in hand. This played a major role in the distortion of the word and the intentions of environmentalists.
One important study that had been done was on the topic of small populations and how different factors will affect the population by scientists Zhihua Zhou and Wenshi Pan. It was important to discover whether these small Giant Panda populations would go extinct or persist, because the data would help to determine the future of the animal, especially since habitats are fragmented (Zhou and Pan 363). The study was conducted on the Qinling Mountain, where scientist caught and radio collared the Giant Pandas living there. Results shown that under current conditions, without considering factors such as immigration and poaching, the population was fairly stable and would persist for at least 200 more years. Also if the environmental capacity (the number of animals that the environment is able to support) doubles then the population would also increase. That was also the case if immigration increased. However, if emigration increased, then the population would decrease. This study had shown that to increase the population, one needed to increase the environmental carrying capacity so that more Giant Pandas could live in the same
Ancient China was split into two principle regions, Inner and Outer China. The land of Inner China contained fertile land and could sustain a larger population than could the land of Outer China. Most of the population of China settled here for that reason. These regions then were each divided into five sub regions. Outer China contained three of these regions, the Tibet- Qinghai Plateau, the Northwestern Deserts, and the Northeastern Plain. Inner China held the remaining two, the North China Plain and the Chang Jiang Basins. Each of the regions had their own reasons why they were desirable or not to the nomads passing though China. The Tibet- Qinghai Plateau was an unwanted area of land because of many geographic factors that were stacked against it. One such reason was that the Plateau was very rocky and mountainous which discou...
the west, to the provinces of Manchuria and Ula in the east, north across the Gobi to the
China emergence as a civilization is accomplished with little no contact with other empires due to its geographical isolation. This is evident by the lack of new people and languages. The term China during this period does not refer to the same geographical entity as commonly believed. China during this period is approximately one thousand miles north to South and East to West, occupying much of the temperate zone of East Asia. The land to the North is well suited for crops like Grain due to Loess: a fine wind-driven soil that is fertile and easy to toil with primitive tools. The region to the South is warmer, wetter and more suited to rice cultivation and double cropping. China is isolated from other civilizations by mountains, deserts and grasslands. The Bronze Age is marked by the Shang dynasty in their capitol of Anyang. Shang kings ruled for over two centuries. The royal tomb at Anyang was sixty feet deep and three hundred feet long. A tomb this size would have taken thousands of laborers and the advanced technology was evident as t...
Discerning the spatial patterns of biodiversity and understanding their ultimate (why) and proximate (how) causes is very dear to biogeography and is one of the key concepts of Macro ecology. Some places on earth contain more species as compared to others. All species occurring at a given space and time either originated (speciated) there or dispersed and arrived from another place and settled there. Biogeographers try to understand the past and current distributions of species by incorporating historical, evolutionary and ecological factors. Earlier biogeographers or the ‘naturalists’ in their sacred quest to serve ‘the creator’, travelled to various parts of the world and imparted valuable knowledge about the diverse patterns and processes of nature. Linnaeus (1743), on the one hand, hypothesized that early Earth was filled with water except for it’s highest mountain top i.e., Mount Ararat which was known to be the site of paradise and as the sea level dropped the exposed land was colonized by plants and animals that migrated down from high elevational zones of Mount Ararat whereas Willdenow (1805) hypothesized that within each geographical region of the earth, plants and animals were first placed and later survived the great flood on many mountain ranges (Lomolino,2001). Von Humboldt and Darwin in the South American Andes and Wallace Southeast Asian islands noticed the decreasing trend in elevational species richness patterns (McCain and Grytnes, 2010). Later work done by Grinnell (1917), Whittaker (1952), Terborgh (1977, 1985) on elevational species richness became accepted and set a established pattern for all species for more than two decades (McCain and Grytnes, 2010). However current researches on elevational gradients are...
The Yangtze River is the third largest river in the world, spanning a length of 6,300 kilometers. Construction of this dam would be along a 200 kilometer stretch in the upper reaches of the river known as Three Gorges. The Xiling, Wu, and Qutang Gorges, collectively called the Three Gorges, contain some off the most scenic and beautiful landscape in the world. However, with the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, most of this awe-inspiring scenery would be submerged and lost forever.
Ancient China was one of the earliest places of human civilization. The country’s history could be described as a series of dynasties each ruled by emperors. The Han dynasty set the pattern for Chinese history by causing growth in the economy and the promotion of Confucianism as the state philosophy. The Qing dynasty was ruled by Empress Wu, but a rebellion during this dynasty ended the dynasty reign. This led to China in the 20th century which includes the Treaty of Versailles, the People’s Republic of China, and, most importantly, Communism. Sun Yat-Sen, who created the Republic of China in 1912, entered alliance with the new Comm...
Morris, D., 2009. Feeding China. In: T. O. University, ed. U116 Environment: journeys through a changing world, Block 5, 'Changing China'. Milton Keynes: The Open University.
Pimm, Stuart “Opinion: The Case of Species Revival”, news.nationalgeographic.com, 13 March 2013, 20 May 2014
China is a culturally vibrant country, full of unique costumes and traditions, religions, accustomed social organizations, beautiful arts and literature, and interesting language that make up its diverse culture. It’s a beautiful country to venture and explore getting a taste of their delicious traditional foods and getting to know their people.
...olyandry: Kinship, Domesticity, and Population on the Tibetan Border. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
“Unless humanity is suicidal, it should want to preserve, at the minimum, the natural life-support systems and processes required to sustain its own existence” (Daily p.365). I agree with scientist Gretchen Daily that drastic action is needed now to prevent environmental disaster. Immediate action and changes in attitude are not only necessary for survival but are also morally required. In this paper, I will approach the topic of environmental ethics from several related sides. I will discuss why the environment is a morally significant concern, how an environmental ethic can be developed, and what actions such an ethic would require to maintain and protect the environment.
When people take down forest so there is nothing left is called deforestation. People do
The single biggest direct cause of tropical deforestation is conversion to cropland and pasture, mostly for subsistence, which is growing crops or raising livestock to meet daily needs. The conversion to agricultural land usually results from multiple direct factors. For example, countries build roads into remote areas to improve overland transportation of goods. The road development itself causes a limited amount of deforestation. But roads also provide entry to previously inaccessible—and often unclaimed—land. Logging, both legal and illegal, often follows road expansion (and in some cases is the reason for the road expansion). When loggers have harvested an area’s valuable timber, they move on. The roads and the logged areas become a magnet for settlers—farmers and ranchers who slash and burn the remaining forest for cropland or cattle pasture, completing the deforestation chain that began with road building. In other cases, forests that have been degraded by logging become fire-prone and are eventually deforested by repeated accidental fires from adjacent farms or pastures.