SOCIALLY BENEFICIAL FOREST MANAGEMENT IN DUNHUA COUNTY: A

BACKGROUND PAPER

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) promotes responsible management of the world’s forests

both environmentally and socially. Socially beneficial forest management helps both “local

people”1 and society at large to enjoy long term benefits and also provides strong incentives to

local people to sustain the forest resources and adhere to long-term forest care.

The purpose of this paper is to provide background information so that the compliance targets of

socially beneficial forestry care in Dunhua County can be fully evaluated. It will consider:-

Indigenous and local people in Jilin Province and Dunhua County Forest use and access by local people Community relations between forest farms and local people The benefit of the forest to local people

1.0 INDIGENOUS AND LOCAL PEOPLE

Jilin Province

There is 2,453,400 minorities in Jilin Province comprising (9.15%)2. The minority population of

Jilin Province comprises 48 groups of which 91% include 5 groups: - Korean. Man. Mong. Hui

and Xibo

90 % of the population are Hun

4.2 % are Korean

3.7 % are Manzu

0. 64 % are Mongzu

0. 47 % are Hui

0.07 % Xibo and other

There are 189.000 Xibo living in China in 2 areas Xinjiang and Dongbei (Heilongjiang and Jilin)

but the exact population in Jilin Province in unknown. There are 130,000 Da wu er in China but

1 See Discussion 4.1 - 4.42 2003 Source: Minorities department of the Yanbian KAP government

the exact population in Jilin Province in unknown

Minority Administrations in Jilin Province

1 prefecture (Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture (KAP))

3 counties (Qian Guo Er Luo Si Menggu, Chang Bai Korean, Yitong Manchu)

33 minzu villages

Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture

800,000 Koreans

Manzu 60,000

Hui 6,600

Mong 2,200

There are two ethnic villages in Yanbian KAP that are Manzu

Dunhua city

Koreans 23,000

Hui 3,000

Man 9,200

Dunhua Forest Bureau

Korean 324

Hui 34

Man 76

The Han and the Manchu (Manzu)

On several occasions I was told that “there was no difference between the Han and the Manchu

(Manzu)” in Dunhua County which would appear to be politically expedient (Rhoads 2003)

although highly questionable ethno-linguistically, culturally and on the basis of DNA analysis

(Xue Y, et al 2005). It is important to recognise the aspirations of each ethnic group and not

conflate them

Indigenous Peoples

The following ethnic minorities (mizu) in Jilin Province might legitimately be considered as

indigenous3:- Man, Mong, Korean, Hui, Xibe and Daur. Some caution is required because:-

Ethnic minority (minzu) is a political construct4

Minzu it is not based on an ethno-linguistic criteria or an autonym5

The term indigenous has been discursively engineered6

The people of southern Dunhua may be considered as indigenous as they can trace their history back to the Manchu dynasty, but they are not forest farm stakeholders.

The people who live around the DFB Forest Farms are mostly Hanzu who typically migrated from Shen Dong province around 1941 to join the Japanese occupation (1941-1945)and remained after the war

Others (mostly Han) arrived later during Mao’s 1968 “go to the countryside campaign” (shangshan xiaxiang movement) or later still as economic migrants.

Given the facts it is not possible to consider an indigenous entity for the purpose of this audit but efforts should be made to address the aspirations of minority and rural stakeholders (who represent an alternative sub-culture7) and not conflate them

3 See Discussion 4.54 See Discussion 4.45 the self-assigned name of an ethnic group6 See Dicussion 4.57 See Discussion 4.2

2.0 FOREST USE AND ACCESS

Local Villagers8 and forest farm workers9 who live close to Dunhua Forest Bureau Farms collect up to

15 species of mushrooms 30 species of wild vegetables 1300 species of medicinal plants 5 species of nuts 10 species of fruits Grass fodder Acorns for pigs Fish Honey Water

They reported that there are no restrictions on access or quantity collected except during the fire season when they had to register before they enter the forest.

They consider that their current levels of gathering are sustainable and did not report that they had to travel further, or spend more time collecting certain products. This is impossible to assess without a baseline study, monitoring and evaluation and guidelines.

3.0 COMMUNITY RELATIONS

Community relations appear to be predicated on top-down negotiation “through official channels”

and the law. The concept of bottom-up participatory approaches appeared to be alien to FF staff

and pragmatic answers to the repeated and justifiable break-down in community relations were not

readily sought. The importance and benefit of the forest to local communities did not appear to be

well understood with the exception of a few forest products.

In some parts of China organizations such as the Ford Foundation10 and DFID have provided

capacity building in bottom-up participatory approaches. This, however, requires political will

from the centre and knowledge equity between all stakeholders (peasants, minorities, and

indigenous people). I was able to find a pragmatic solution to the breakdown of community

relations (over forest access) in Yunnan by transferring burnt forest land (and legal title) to local

people as community forest.

4.0 FOREST BENEFIT8 10 villagers from Ya Cha and 8 from Long Cai He9 A Han couple, a Manchu couple & a Korean lady10 I understand that Ford Foundation is longer working in China because of CIA links

The benefit of forests to local people is gaining international recognition as its importance for

forest audits that include a social dimension11.

4.1 Methodology

Although no internationally agreed typology of forest benefits exists, coalescing under the aegis of a

'post-modern' forestry paradigm (McCay 2000, Schelhas 2003) there appears to be a set of fifteen

forest benefits which are important to many indigenous peoples and local communities (Brown &

Reed 2000).

Table 1 : Forest BenefitsNo. Value Narrative1 Aesthetic I/we value the forest because we enjoy the forest scenery, sights,

sounds, smells, etc.2 Commercial12 I/we value the forest because it provides income from timber,

fisheries, minerals and tourism.3 Recreation I/we value the forest because it provides a place for outdoor activities.4 Life sustaining I/we value the forest because it helps produce, preserve, clean, and

renew air, soil and water.5 Learning value I/we value the forest because we can learn about the environment

through observation or experimentation.6 Biological diversity I/we value the forest because it provides a variety of fish, wildlife,

plant life, etc.7 Spiritual I/we value the forest because it is a sacred, religious, or spiritually

special place to us or because we feel reverence and respect for nature

8 Intrinsic I/we value the forest in and of itself for its existence, no matter what others think about it.

9 Historic I/we value the forest because it has places and things of natural and human history that matter to us.

10 Future I/we value the forest because it allows future generations to benefit from the forest.

11 Subsistence I/we value the forest because it provides necessary food and supplies to sustain our lives.

12 Therapeutic I/we value the forest because it makes us feel better, physically and/or mentally.

13 Cultural I/we value the forest because it is a place for us to continue and pass down the wisdom, knowledge and trusteeship from our ancestors

14 Identity13 I/we value the forest because of its historic and cultural links with our community] identity.

15 Place attachment' I/we value the forest or parts of it because we feel an emotional, spiritual or psychological attachment.

For the present study, in Dunhua, it was decided to scale forest benefits by asking focus groups

to allocate 100 curtain rings (representing the sum total of forest benefit to their community) 11 http://www.pefc.org/internet/html/news/4_1154_65/5_1105_1263.htm12 Note that “economic value” was changed for the purposes of the present study to reflect the distinction between commercial (financial) use benefits (which provide opportunities for the subjects to generate cash incomes), and subsistence use benefits which do not generate cash.13 A further two sources of benefit were also anticipated a priori; these were place attachment, (14) and identity (15)

between a set of 15 forest benefits. This would produce a scale between 0-100 for each benefit, a

% and a rank order based on scale magnitude. Two focus groups were organized and meetings

conducted in the following villages:

Table 2: Dunhua focus groups

Village Ethnic Group All Male Participants Female Participants

Ya Cha Han 10 6 4Long Cai He Han 8 5 3

At the start of each focus group meeting, the purpose of the study was explained. The forest

benefits were presented and a narrative summary with relevant examples provided to clarify each

benefit. Each of the forest benefits was written (in Chinese) onto a coloured circle and placed in

order (for ease of recording) in front of the participants. Once the benefits had been explained and

described, 100 curtain rings were made available to the participants who were then asked as a group

to distribute all 100 rings across the different forest benefits according to their relative importance

to the community (See Fig 1). It was made clear that they did not have to place rings on all the circles

and that they could also add any benefits that they thought were missing from the presented typology.

Once all the rings had been allocated, the group was asked if they were all satisfied with the

resulting allocation and whether they could think of any additional benefits not included in the

typology so far presented. In most cases, there were few changes or additions and then the

number of rings on each circle was counted.

The number of curtain rings on each circle represented a relative scale and rank order for each

forest benefit.

This methodology can be easily replicated, and could also be extended (with slightly increased

resource implications) to incorporate derivation of cash values for forest benefits, using a

common numeraire or unit.

Figure 1 : Ring allocation of forest benefit by Han villagers in Ya Cha

In order to test for concordance (agreement) between forest benefit data at Dunhua and with

similar studies (Lugu & Alaska) a non-parametric test, Kendall’s Coefficient of Correlation (W),

was adopted. (See Tables 4-6)

4.2 ResultsPlot 1: Forest Benefit by Village

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

1 Aesthetic

2 Commercial

3 Recreational

4 Life sustaining

5 Learning

6 Biodiversity

7 Spiritual

8 Intrinsic

9 Historical

10 Future

11 Subsistence

12 Therapeutic

13 Cultural

14 Identity

15 Attachment

Rings (Max 200)

Ya ChaLomg Cai He

Although 15 benefits were scaled only 13 were used for comparison with other studies

Table 3: Forest benefits in rank order (with a comparison with 2 other studies)

Rank Dunhua Lugu (Rowcroft, Studley & Ward 2006)

Alaska (Brown & Reed2000)

1 Commercial Life sustaining Aesthetic2 Future Intrinsic Recreational3 Life sustaining Subsistence Life sustaining4 Aesthetic Aesthetic Biodiversity5 Recreational Therapeutic Future6 Biodiversity Future Subsistence7 Cultural Learning Therapeutic8 Learning Biodiversity Commercial9 Intrinsic Commercial Learning10 Subsistence Spiritual Intrinsic11 Spiritual Cultural Historical12 Historical Historical Spiritual13 Therapeutic Recreational Cultural

Table 4: Comparison between Dunhua Lugu and Alaska

N 3Degrees Of Freedom 12

Chi-square 19.658402 p-level 0.0738301Kendall Coeff. of Concordance (W) 0.5460667

Average rank 0.3191001

Average rank

Sum of Ranks Mean

Aesthetic 11 33 241Commercial 7.8333333 23.5 156.66667Recreational 7.3333333 22 225.33333Life sustaining 11.666667 35 248Learning 6 18 150Biodiversity 8 24 224Spiritual 2.8333333 8.5 112.33333Intrinsic 7.1666667 21.5 151Historical 2.3333333 7 115.33333Future 9.6666667 29 209Subsistence 7.6666667 23 161Therapeutic 5.6666667 17 154.66667Cultural 3.8333333 11.5 83.333333

If W=1 there is total agreement and if W=0 there is no agreement.

Table 5: Comparison between Dunhua and Alaska

N 2 Degrees Of 12

Freedom Chi-square 18.066116 p-level 0.1136977Kendall Coeff. of Concordance (W) 0.7527548

Average rank 0.5055096

Average rank

Sum of Ranks Mean

Aesthetic 11.5 23 328.5Commercial 9.25 18.5 216.5Recreational 10.5 21 326Life sustaining 11 22 322.5Learning 5.5 11 197.5Biodiversity 9 18 312.5Spiritual 2.5 5 153Intrinsic 4.75 9.5 187Historical 2.5 5 158Future 10.5 21 282Subsistence 6 12 205Therapeutic 4 8 199.5Cultural 4 8 109.5

If W=1 there is total agreement and if W=0 there is no agreement.

Table 6: Comparison between Dunhua and Lugu

N 2Degrees Of Freedom 12

Chi-square 13.355372 p-level 0.3437485Kendall Coeff. of Concordance (W) 0.5564738

Average rank 0.1129477

Average rank

Sum of Ranks Mean

Aesthetic 10 20 41Commercial 9 18 42Recreational 5 10 18Life sustaining 12 24 58.5Learning 6.25 12.5 32Biodiversity 7 14 29Spiritual 3.25 6.5 19Intrinsic 8.75 17.5 44Historical 2 4 17.5Future 10 20 44Subsistence 7.5 15 40.5Therapeutic 5 10 33Cultural 5.25 10.5 20.5

If W=1 there is total agreement and if W=0 there is no agreement.

4.3 Comments

Commercial benefit ranked 1st out of 13 forest (or 24% of total benefit) among respondents in Dunhua which is considered much more important than a similar study at Lugu Lake and Alaska

(Brown and Reed 2000). Clearly some care must be taken not to over-interpret these results, but overall they do suggest that forestry projects that typically use commercial or market benefits only capture a part of the total benefit of the forest to local people. Until recently, forests were seen as only having economic importance in so far as they could support commercial timber or wood extraction. Ultimately, unless the results of valuation are geared towards changing the economic trade-offs that are involved in sustainable forest management in the real world and capturing forest benefits as real values for local people, there is a real danger that the source of much of the world's economic life, will disappear altogether (Brown and Reed 2000).

Recreational benefits are recognized in Dunhua where they ranked 5 th out of 13, although they were not elaborated on.

The life sustaining benefit of forests are recognized in the region where they ranked 3rd out of 13 benefits in Dunhua, but were not articulated, but are assumed to be typical of rural people in China. The western mindset incorrectly assumes that many life-support services were largely independent of human agency, but from research in the region (Studley 2005) suggests that local people often saw every living and non-living thing in the world as being interrelated and interdependent and, typically, they embed nature in society (Raven Sinclair 2003 ).

The Learning benefit of forests include all the modes of knowing that people use to elicit knowledge about and from the forest on the basis of cognition, epistemology and perception. It ranked 8th out of 13 among the people of Dunhua. This concept can be challenging for natural resource managers because they are part of a holistic and spiritual process that "gathers information from the mental, physical, spiritual, social, cultural, and historical realms" (Colorado 1989 page 52). The research tools (Raven Sinclair 2003) employed to investigate such benefits are often metaphysical and polyphasic14 and may include feelings, history, prayer relations, spirit

helpers15 and dreams (Wayman 1967) as well as activities which may mirror western methods of knowledge gathering and learning.

14 polyphasic cultures recognize that these other states of consciousness offer valid, valuable and complementary modes of knowing and types of knowledge that are not adequately addressed in our usual waking state alone (Walsh and Vaughan 1993)

15 The spirit helpers, for some people, are a conduit of information and knowing and dreams are a very important means of acquiring information, including knowledge of plants, songs and events of the future (Ankerberg and Weldon 2005)

Biodiversity and conservation benefits only ranked 6th out of 13 in Dunhua although this is

often a classic State/official technical rationale for forest-based interventions. For many rural people

in China the spiritual significance of conservation appeared more important than the ecological

significance. This response is similar to that of some other rural people (Callicott 1982), in that

they are not deliberate conservationists or ecologists, but they manifest an ethical attitude16. From

the perspective of the local people who have their own epistemologies and cosmologies of nature,

species occupy special places and are protected, but not as species that should be 'conserved '.

Discourse on biodiversity means little and is unrelated to local practices harnessing biodiversity for

use. The concept of biodiversity, as embodied in the Convention on Biological Diversity, is strongly

expert based. The focus is typically on genes, numbers of species, or ecosystem types. It fails to

protect cultural diversity and traditional ethnic knowledge, which is already under threat (Howard

1994), or recognize the need to preserve areas where people live and rely on local biodiversity

(Grubb et al 1993).

The spiritual benefit of the forest ranked 11th out of 13 at Dunhua but ranged from 0% in Ya Cha

where villagers were insistent (with strong support from a senior official) that they “lacked any

religion”17 to 7% at Lang Cai He. In common with the rural peoples of the region (Studley 2005) it

is not uncommon for villagers to be able to identify mountain gods, sacred mountains, trees,

animals, and springs which are often considered “superstitious” by urban Chinese or state cadres18.

The Intrinsic benefit of forests often presents semantic and paradigmatic challenges to western

economists. In common with many rural peoples the Dunhua respondents appear to consider

intrinsic benefit to be of relative importance (it ranked 7th out of 13) and a tenet of their beliefs

(Callicott 1986, 1999). This is often the case when local people believe that 'everything on earth is

inherently valuable because it has been created by a divine being' (Laverty and Sterling 2004).

This contrasts with the enlightenment thinking (Locke and Kant) of many economists today and

some ethicists who believe that intrinsic benefits do not exist, arguing that all benefits are human-

16 Normative guidelines governing man's attitudes, behaviour, and action toward the natural environment. 17 See Discussion 4.318 The term cadre refers to a public official holding a responsible or managerial position, usually full time, in party and government. A cadre may or may not be a member of the CCP, although a person in a sensitive position would almost certainly be a party member.

cantered, and that a value cannot exist without an evaluator (Laverty and Sterling 2004).

The 'future' benefit of forests (or 'intergenerational access to forest resources') has been debated in

numerous studies19 and its importance is recognized (in 2nd place) in Dunhua County in common

with other rural peoples (Colfer et al 1995). Not only is intergenerational access important but so is

intergenerational equity. Whilst there can be a range of interpretations of intergenerational equity,

the view put forward by Brundtland (1987 page 8-9) expresses the relevance of this concept to

sustainability and the long-term management of forests.

Although the Subsistence benefit of forests only ranked 10th in Dunhua it was evident from the

villagers interviewed that forest products play an important role in the local economy. Their value

globally has until very recently (Emerton 1997) been either ignored by economists and developers or

included under the aegis of "culturally perceived poverty", and therefore a pretext for economic

development (Shiva 1989 page 10). This is in spite of the fact that 80 percent of the "majority world"

(Studley 2005 page 45) depend on forest products for their primary health and nutritional needs.

Several million tribal people all over the world depend on these products for meeting their

subsistence consumption and income needs and in many countries 'minor forest products' are a

major export.

There is evidence that the cultural, historic, aesthetic and therapeutic benefit of forests are being

recognized globally although in Dunhua only the aesthetic benefit (ranked 4th) and cultural benefit

(ranked 7th) were considered of any importance. Some resource managers20 realize that they must

consider all the ways in which people are involved in ecosystems, not just commercially, physically

and biologically, but also culturally, symbolically, mythically, psychologically, and emotionally.

The symbolic and emotional connections between people and the land are as real and as important as

the ecological relationships between species of plants and animals. Therefore, we need to look for

ways to bridge the scientific understanding of the world with the indigenous ways of experiencing

nature.

19 Contact the author for details 20 A detailed reading list may be obtained from the author

The identity benefit of forests is relatively unimportant to the respondents of Dunhua but this

may have resulted from the difficulty in identifying a local example. Tibetans identify very

strongly with forests associated with yul-lha sites (See Studley 2007) and it is not uncommon for

communities with a long history associated with a forest area to identify strongly with forest areas

(London 2007) especially if the resource is threatened (Mackenzie 1998).

The place attachment benefit of forests is considered important to respondents in Dunhua County

(ranked 3rd out of 15). Place attachment is the symbolic relationship formed by people giving

culturally shared emotional meanings to a particular space of piece of land that provides the

basis for the individual’s and group’s understanding of and relation to the environment. Thus,

place attachment is more than an emotional and cognitive experience, and includes cultural and

spiritual beliefs and practices that link people to place. Because of their strong sense of place

attachment loggers in Dunhua will typically establish an altar at the foot of a large tree (See

Photo 1), before felling trees, and sacrifice a pig to the local mountain god to ensure protection.

Attachment to place is profound, ongoing and dynamic, and initiatives related to “cultural

landscapes” offer an invaluable opportunity to address issues relating to social, spiritual and

ecological alienation and disenfranchisement21 in rural areas, and among local and ethnic

people.

21 In China the values, worldview and indigenous knowledge of rural peasants & minorities is undervalued

Photo 1: Forest Altar in Dapucai Forest Farm, established by loggers before felling

Some anomalies appear to exist in the Chinese terms used, in particular with spiritual benefits.

Spiritual has historic connotations22 (Anagnost 1994) with "superstition" (迷信 mixin) which as

a pejorative description of certain beliefs and ritual practices came to China, via Japan, in the

late nineteenth century. This and the subsequent campaigns against superstition has had the effect

of separating practices such as shamanism & animism off as discontinuous with the other forms

22 See Discussion 4.3

of belief, which were classified as "religion" (宗教zongjiao).

Given that only two samples were taken in Dunhua county it is only possible to make some

suggestions about the comparisons. It would appear that there is very good agreement/

concordance between Dunhua and Alaska. This suggests that disparate communities with similar

worldviews and livelihood strategies rank forest benefits on a similar basis.

There is only moderate concordance between Dunhua and Lugu, which suggests that poverty,

ethnicity and livelihood strategies (n Lugu) make a difference in benefit ranking. The following

benefits are 8 ranks apart:- Commercial, Recreation & Therapeutic and the following are 7 ranks

apart:- Subsistence & Intrinsic.

In order to provide strong incentives to local people to sustain the forest resources and adhere to

long-term forest care it is important to incorporate all the locally recognized forest benefits into

management plans.

5.0 DISCUSSION

However “local people” are identified in China they are subjected to evolutionary

stratification and discursive engineering by the civilizing centre. This applies to their location

(“local”), what they do (land tillers = “peasants”), ethnic status (“minzu”), their knowledge

(“inferior”) by their beliefs (“superstitious”) and origin (“indigenous”).

4.1 Local PeopleHistorically Chinese society was stratified: - Emperor-noble-urban-rural-barbarian. In spite of

Communism, stratification still exists and is discursively engineered (oral & written) in official

views of “peasants”, “local”, minority peoples, ethnicity, culture and indigenous people.

These views make bottom-up participatory approaches, community relations and the use of

indigenous or local knowledge or practice a challenge. The Chinese (Marxist-Leninist) model of

development has one fundamental characteristic in common with the capitalist development project.

There is fundamental agreement about the necessity and legitimacy of a major social engineering

crusade. In order to facilitate the ultimate transition to a 'new era' it is necessary to replace local

cultural values, and local practices and the knowledge systems that inform them with a singularly

rational, scientific, and unquestionably superior cognitive system. It is only within the logics of these

two ideologies of development that the diversity of cultural meanings of a local society can be

reduced to 'backward',

Although the state tolerates ethnic revitalization as long as it helps tourism and fits in with its

vision of 'sanitised' multiculturalism it continued to curb large-scale endeavour and to reduce

popular culture to 'superstitious', 'local' and 'of the ordinary people'. Such practices are rarely shown

on television or in school textbooks and when they are, they are represented as "thin description" or

as a means of "commoditizing ethnicity" for tourism.

4.2 “Peasants”/Soil Tillers

Starting in the late nineteenth century many crucial loan words entered China from Japan.  Chief

among them were peasant (nongmin), feudal (fengjian), and superstition (mixin).  Over the next

decades, both Marxist and non-Marxist Western perceptions of the peasants as a discreet and

destructive element filtered into China.  In the decade leading up to the May 4th Movement

(1919)23, elites began to believe that China’s rural population was “backward” and a major

obstacle to national development and salvation.  For them rural China was still a “feudal society”

of “peasants” who were intellectually and culturally crippled by “superstition”.  While some

intellectuals were more sympathetic to the peasants’ situation, they tended to demonstrate their

sympathy by engaging in folklore studies in the 1920s which only served to reify peasants as a

separate and quaintly anachronistic assemblage.  The result was that the countryside lost its status

as the heartland of Chinese values and the place that defined what it meant to be Chinese.  In

addition, those who tilled the soil gained a new harmful characterization requiring their isolation

and reform.  This represents a reversal of Western conceptions of modernization which tended to

turn peasants into farmers.  Instead, after the founding of the People’s Republic of China,

23 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Fourth_Movement

“peasants” now have second-class citizenship, ironically, giving legal confirmation to the second-

class culture they earlier had been identified with (Cohen 1993).   

4.3 Beliefs

Officially Communist China is an atheist country, God does not exist, and only atheists are

allowed to be members of the Communist Party. In reality there are only 50 million Communists

and 1,950 million people who practice Animism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism. Even

though it could argued that the Chinese are not very religious, religion and religious culture have

had a profound effect shaping the Chinese psyche. Individuals in China often recognize a wide

range of beliefs and religions including organized religions like Buddhism and Taoism as well as

folk religions and beliefs in local deities, ancestral spirits and superstitions in the hope of making

all spirits, gods and supernatural forces happy and thus ensuring good fortune. The goal for an

individual is often to be in harmony with the cosmic world rather than seek one true, divine path.

It is widely recognized that China has changed rapidly in such areas as economy, society, and the

way of life since the beginning of the 1990s, but there is no comparable consensus as yet with

regard to religion and religious beliefs.

It would appear that religious belief and practice in China is characterized24 by:

(1) A negative perception of ‘religion’ and confusing terms such as religion (zongjiao), belief

(xinyang) and superstition (minxin) underlie the facts that few urban Chinese would admit they are

religious;

(2) Urban Chinese who are stretched between scientism and spirituality, pro-rationalism, pro-

religiosity and syncretism.

(3) A complex religiousness in which a significant part of the population takes part in religious

activities (practice) but do not necessarily hold a religious belief, and believes in religious powers

or figures but do not consciously belong themselves to the corresponding religious organizations;

(4) The majority of state or party cadres who officially are atheistic Marxists and reject

24 http://www.wun.ac.uk/chinastudies/debates/archives/05_06_program/seminarsix.html

superstition but a minority25 who possess a political26 and spiritual identity27

(5) Animistic-Shamanistic peoples who may not have a “religion” if their beliefs are deemed to be

“superstitious” but typically believe in local deities, sacred mountains and trees and totem animals.

They achieve harmony within the cosmos by placating local spirits or through a local shaman (See

Studley 2007)

4.4 Minority Peoples

The Minzu designation is a political construct based on Stalin’s definition of nationhood and has

very little ethno-linguistic basis. In Yunnan Province, for example, more than 250 ethno-linguistic

people groups applied for ethnic minority status but they were conflated to 24. Some scholars

have suggested that the Yizu alone comprise more than 400 ethno-linguistic groups

There were assumptions that ethnic distinctions would disappear as class differences faded and a

homogenous proletarian culture came into being. This clearly has not happened and although the

organs of state continue to mouth the rhetoric of “ethnic participation” and “autonomy” progress

is clearly predicated on a civilizing agenda

The discourses of the “civilizing centre” are predicated on hierarchies of class and ethnicity

through an official social evolutionism schema that justifies the superiority and inferiority of

different groups (Bulag 1999). The Han are anointed as the nationality of destiny while all

minorities are classified as being located at various lower stages and exhorted to “catch up” with

the Han in values, social customs, class structures and developmental praxis.

4.5 Indigenous People

Indigenous people are variously defined

25 Reports say that at least one-third of the 60-70 million Communist Party members belong to a religious organisation. According to AsiaNews, the records of the Communist Party's Disciplinary Commission indicate that 12 million party cadres in urban areas are involved in religious activities, 5 million of them on a regular basis. At the same time, 8 million party cadres in rural areas are involved in religious activities and 4 million of them are regular religious participants http://www.forum18.org/Archive.php?article_id=91026 Communist Party member27 of a religious believer.

“Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity

with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider

themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing on those territories, or parts

of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve,

develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as

the basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns,

social institutions and legal system” http://www.iwgia.org/sw641.asp

Han China is either reducing its indigenous people, especially if they are ethnic minorities, to three

stereotypes or is systematically removing the foundations of minority autonomy by questioning the

legitimacy of their native/indigenous status.

China's modernization agenda, featuring the centralizing and assimilating power of education and

propaganda systems, draws on three stereotypes (Salas et al 2000)

Indigenous people are passive like women, seen from the perspective of the male dominant Han society

Indigenous people are like children who need to be educated in the higher values and 'culture' of the Han Chinese

Indigenous people are frozen in the early stages of the unilinear evolution of society, unchanged, far from the cultural standards and the 'civilized' Han

In addition they have discursively engineered (Bulag 1999) the concept of indigenous by claiming

native/indigenous status of Han everywhere, including minority autonomous regions (such as

Mongolia). In Xinjiang they claimed native status because the indigenes had “disappeared without

a trace” and because of blood relations and intermarriage with minority peoples...

In order to provide strong incentives to local people to sustain the forest resources and adhere to

long-term forest care it is important that local/indigenous/ethnic knowledge systems, worldviews,

culture, practices of earth care and language are not undermined by the civilizing propensities of

the state.

6. CONCLUSIONS AND RECCOMENDATIONS

Indigenous & Local Peoples

The following indigenous people exist in Jilin Province:-Man, Mong, Korean, Hui, Xibe and

Daur, but there only are few in Dunhua Forest Bureau area (Korean 324, Hui 34, and Man 76)

On the basis of official discourse there is “no difference between the Han and the Manchu

(Manzu)”. While would this might to be politically expedient it is highly questionable ethno-

linguistically, culturally and on the basis of DNA analysis.

The local people who live around the Forest farms are mostly “peasants” from Shan Dong

province who moved to the area in 1941 during the Japanese war and remained after it finished in

1945.

It is suggested that in order to provide strong incentives to sustain the forest resource and adhere

to long-term forest care it is important that peasant/indigenous/ethnic knowledge systems,

worldviews, culture, practices of earth care and language are not undermined by the civilizing

propensities of the state and are recognized in forest management plans.

Forest Use and Rights

The Villagers who live around the DFB forest farms collect up to ten different categories of forest

product.

There are no restrictions on access or quantity collected except during the fire season when they

had to register before they enter the forest.

They consider that their current levels of gathering are sustainable and did not report that they had

to travel further, or spend more time collecting certain products.

It is suggested that a baseline study is required to assess the status of forest products in the area

with the aim of developing a monitoring and evaluation programme and operational guidelines

.Community Relations

Community relations appear to be predicated on top-down negotiation “through official channels”

and the law and pragmatic answers to the repeated and justifiable break-down in community

relations were not readily sought

The importance and benefit of the forest to local communities by interest group or stakeholder

group did not appear to be well understood with the exception of a few forest products.

It is suggested that capacity building in bottom-up participatory approached be introduced and

mechanisms to enhance community relations and a greater understanding of the importance of the

forest to the community

Forest Benefits

The Villagers who live around DFB forest farms on the basis of a very small study, consider the

following forest benefits

of great importance:- Commercial, Future, Place attachment, Life sustaining, Aesthetic

of moderate importance:- Recreation, Biodiversity, Cultural, Intrinsic, Learning

of minor importance:- Identity, Therapeutic, Historic, Spiritual, Subsistence

It is suggested that in order to provide strong incentives to sustain the forest resource and adhere

to long-term forest care that these benefits are recognized and incorporated into forest

management plans.

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