Biodiversity Diary a trip to Chi Shui — John MacKinnon

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B I O D I V E R S I T Y D I A R Y

Jurassic Park

Exploring Chishui

Moutai’s water source Chishiu is a county at the extreme north of Guizhou province, only three hours drive from Chongqing. The Chishui river is the home of Moutai. To pre-serve the water quality and heritage value, the government allows no dams or polluting indus-tries on this branch of the Changjiang. This is unique on the otherwise highly polluted river sys-tem and results in the survival here of many oth-erwise endangered fish and amphibians.

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The forests preserve a humid sub-tropical vegetation that has remained stable for several million years. Fossils of the same treeferns can be found be-side living plants at the same locality. This too is almost unique in a planet that has seen such great shifts in cli-mate throughout the ice age period. Chishui also exhibits both young and old erosion conditions of Danxia red sandstone. To the west we see gently eroded waterfalls and wide valleys but to the east we see a far more deeply eroded landscape of narrow ridges, stone pillars and deeper gorges. I joined a mixed team of experts on a brief visit to the site to help advise the county officials on how to apply for World Heritage Status for this extra-ordinary landscape.

Biodiversity Diary

ECBP Newsletter Supplements March 20-22 2009

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Rich life among the verdant forest It was a large team that carried out the survey and three cars had to climb the ter-rible roads to get to the best places. Staff of the nearby ECBP project from Chongqing joined local staff of the county, experts from the province and a

representative from Beijing Ministry of Construction who are the focal point for World heritage affairs in China The site is one of several localities being nominated as a serial nomination as a natu-ral World Heritage Site to protect the best examples of China’s Danxia or red sand-stone landforms. The local authorities had done a good job in preparatory investigations, reports and even made lavish books and films about their pride reserve. A nice museum in Chishui town also pre-sents the geology, fossils and nature of the site with great clarity. International geologists had already given

B I O D I V E R S I T Y D I A R Y

Racer snake and

lycaenid butter-

flies

Tree-ferns form an ancient landscape

Red-billed Magpie

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B I O D I V E R S I T Y D I A R Y

their opinions. We were there to comment on the biodiversity values of the site. Special significance is placed on the numerous tree ferns that grow along the bottom of some of the wetter valleys. These are rare protected species that remain here as living fossils, re-

mains of the age of dinou-sours. The exte-rior parts of the re-serve re-main green and woody

but are clearly much affected by human ac-tivity. Large swathes are under manage-ment for Mao bamboo and clumps of Chi-nese fir tell a story of reforestation after earlier logging. But once we got into the core area proper, there was little sign of hu-man activity. Butterflies flitted, snakes slithered and the air was full of the song of birds and cicadas.

A red bed for the stream

At every turn the

forest is full of

botanical wonders

but little time to

stop and admire

them

Dwarf irises

Mao Bamboos

Day-flying magpie moths

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The old farmer

preparing covers

to protect

seedlings

Peach blossoms and

beehives. Idyllic life-

style ?

The only farmer in the valley There used to be a few families farming in the valleys within the reserve but now only one remains. An old man wife and giggling daughter were all that we met. They would claim to be poor and live a hard life growing what they need to eat and carrying the extra across steep mountain trails to the nearest market.

But what space and freedom they en-joyed—the sight of green forest, the tin-kle of clean stream water, the song of birds, hum of bees.

Wild flow-

ers and bee-

tle

B I O D I V E R S I T Y D I A R Y

A T R I P T O C H I S H U I

If I ever retire that is the life I would choose. Who needs cash in hand and the stress of town life if you live like a king in your own tiny kingdom.

Little forktail in stream

The water and dampness P A G E 7 B I O D I V E R S I T Y D I A R Y

Chishui enjoys year-round subtropical cli-mate and plenty of moisture. This has en-abled it to remain stable for millions of years and support such a wealth of plants..

It was the moisture loving plants that im-pressed me most—the mosses and ferns and plants that grew in the permanent ‘rain’ of the splash zone of great waterfalls.

in permanent ‘rain’.

The deep gorges provide shelter from wind and frost so plants can grow all year-round in great lushness.

Fungi thrive on the deep leaf litter..

Se-

laginella—primitive ferns

With high rainfall,

eternal spray from

the waterfalls and

sub-tropical

climate, the forest

is a paradise for

moisture loving

plants

A wealth of mosses

Forest violets

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Danxia landscape Geologists tell me that Chishui is the best sub-tropical example of the Danxia or red sandstone formations that occur in several parts of south-ern and central China. Indeed it is important to protect ex-amples that still have their associated vegetation. The vegetation is part of the landscape and in no small way affects the way that rocks are held or cracked by water flow. Vegetation affects the local climate and direction of water run off.

We left the site with high praise and hope the local authorities succeed in their application for World heritage status.

The survey team

halt for lunch in

the middle of the

core area of the

nature reserve.

B I O D I V E R S I T Y D I A R Y

Irises

Scientists compare findings

Sandstone, waterfalls and lush vegetation P A G E 9 B I O D I V E R S I T Y D I A R Y

Wild Camelia

Wild rhododendrons

EU-China Biodiversity Programme Add: Rm. 503, FECO Plaza, Huoy-ingfang Hutong, Xicheng District, Beijing. 100035, P.R. China Fax: (+8610) 8220 5421 Email: info@ecbp.cn