Restoring Village Ecology

by+Jiao+Meng

Twenty-seven kilometers from the Congjiang County seat in southeastern Guizhou Province lies Xiaohuang Village， the hometown of the legendary Kam Grand Choir， which was listed as a world intangible cultural heritage in 2009. Like many other ethnic minority villages， Xiaohuang is known for beautiful mountains， clear water and excellent singing and dancing. However， the original ecological situation this Dong ethnic village once enjoyed has transformed as the local economy has developed.

Worries About Manganese Pollution

In the east side of Xiaohuang Village is a place called “Guipingni，” where the majority of farmland and water sources are situated. The villages farm irrigation and drinking water rely on its supply. But more than a decade ago， manganese ore was discovered beneath the terraced fields. At the end of 2004， the local government began to develop the economy by luring companies and investments， and a mining company settled in the village. After the company arrived， it began repairing the roads in the vil- lage. With the road conditions improved， the company could more conveniently transport greater volumes of ore， and the locals benefitted as well. Some villagers were recruited by the mining company and ore processing factories and enjoyed earning salaries of about 3，000 to 4，000 yuan a month.

As villagers purses bulged， however， environmental problems caused by mining worsened. The manganese mining resulted in water infiltrating the rice fields， which caused poor water retention and devastated the rice crop. Even worse， the possibility of the mine collapsing continuously loomed over villagers heads. The contaminated water spread past the rice fields also wiped out their farmed fish. And because the manganese mine is located right at the areas water source， the pollution even threatened the drinking water of the entire village.

In January 2013， some villagers reported the manganese pollution problems to the All-China Environment Federation （ACEF） and asked for their help. The EGP-Guizhou project team under the ACEF asked the Guiyang Public Environmental Education Center （GPEEC） to invite some well-known lawyers， professors from Guizhou University and volunteers to perform research in the village. Their work showed the villagers concerns were valid.“We didnt demand the court to intervene， but instead chose to communicate with the local government and gathered related parties to talk including the head of the village committee， the staff of the mining company and local elders，” explained Huang Chengde， director of GPEEC. “After that， we demanded the company fix the problem by a certain date according to the law and related regulations. Since Guizhou is the only province in China that lacks plains， the arable land here is quite limited. On average， each Xiaohuang villager only farms 0.08 acres of arable land. Each plot is precious and our descendants need them to survive.”

The Congjiang County government and the GPEEC negotiated with representatives of the villagers several times. The mining company also agreed to talk to those who claimed to have suffered losses. Once verified， they promised to compensate farmers. The company set up a hotline to create a fast and convenient interactive mechanism linking the company， farmers and the village committee. If a pollution problem was found， it could be reported and solved immediately. For existing and predictable geological disasters and future pollution， the company was required to rectify problems immediately under guidance of the County Environmental Protection Bureau and related water authorities. In 2013， with the help of the local government， local ecological authorities and the GPEEC， the mining company invested 1.72 million yuan to build a wastewater treatment plant so that all wastewater would reach discharge standards.

General Mobilization for Garbage Classification

Dealing with industrial pollution is just the first step of Xiaohuang Villages efforts to protect the environment. During the pollution survey of the company， the GPEEC found another problem： The village lacked well-equipped facilities for collecting， transporting and safely disposing of waste. People had grown accustomed to discharging construction waste and most household garbage directly into the river， which zig- zagged through the streets of the village， so the living environment was awful.

“To deal with the problem， a team composed of village elders， local officials and volunteers conducted a monthly health appraisal of every house in town，” revealed Huang Chengde. “Regulations were established to prohibit villagers from discharging garbage into the river like before. We also organized all the villagers in cleaning up the river and pulled out more than 60 tons of garbage.”

To keep a clean village and protect their hard-earned achievements， an ecological civilization construction association， the first environmental protection organization of Dong villagers in China， was registered by several Xiaohuang villagers at the Congjiang County Civil Affairs Office to regulate the environmental treatment efforts of the village. In just under a year since its launch， the associations membership increased from 56 to 88 and continues growing.

The ACEF and GPEEC also mobilized other social forces such as the Villages and Towns Division of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development， Tsinghua University， Peking University， some renowned research institutes， enterprises and the local government to work together to explore the general mobilization mode for garbage classification and transportation.“Garbage disposal in rural areas needs farmers support and participation，” opined Liu Yangsheng， professor at the College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering of Peking University. “The current general mobilization mode of Xiaohuang Village can provide valuable experience for other rural areas of China for garbage classification， transportation and disposal.”