To Strengthen Protection, the Purpose of South China Karst to Apply for World Natural Status

At the conference: there was little suspense for the South China Karst to be approved. 

At the World Heritage Conference this year, more than 40 items of world natural and cultural heritages were reviewed, and over 600 delegates from all over the world and related UN bodies attended the meeting.

Last January, the Chinese government officially submitted, to the World Heritage Centre of the UNESCO, the nomination of the “South China Karst” to apply for world natural heritage status; and it is the first time for China to apply for world natural heritage status in the form of serial nomination joined by several provinces and municipalities.

Before June 27th when the item of “South China Karst” was discussed, it was said that the “South China Karst” had a possibility of at least 75% to be approved as a world natural heritage. And some conventioneers of the conference were quoted as saying the approval of the “South China Karst” had been confirmed about one hour before the conference was over.

Mr. Tian Xiaogang, head of the Chinese delegation, told the reporter that the discussion for the “South China Karst” went smoothly, with little dissidence.

The evaluation of the votes of the conference turned out to be: the “South China Karst” is unrivalled in regard of its Karst features and topographical landscapes, and it is a spectacular example symbolising Karst landscapes from humid tropical zones to subtropical zones, therefore it has exhibited outstanding universal values; and Libo County of Guizhou Province, Shilin County of Yunnan Province, and Wulong County of Chongqing Municipality can be referred to by the entire world as far as Karst landforms are concerned.

After the close of the conference, Mr. Francesco Bandarin, Director of the World Heritage Committee, sent a congratulatory letter to the Chinese delegation for the approval of the “South China Karst” as world natural heritage. To that date, there had been overall in China 34 items of cultural relics and natural heritages inscribed into the World Heritage List, for which China had ranked third, following Italy and France. 

In a later interview, Mr. Tian Xiaogang told the reporter the focus in the future shall be the protection. “The success of the ‘South China Karst’ application deserved to be celebrated,” he said, “But what is needed to be done in the future is to implement relevant regulations and laws to strengthen the protection of these Karst (world) natural heritages, so that they can become authentic respectable natural heritages of the entire world.”

Mr. Tian also said the success, to a great extent, had attributed to the national faith of China, for which all the participants in the process of the application had had a deep feeling.

“The application is far more than the deed of a place or region, it is an action of a nation,” He said, “All the delegates from the world highly appraised China’s commitment that ‘the application itself is not the purpose, but is to strengthen the protection’. And the delegates believed that the Chinese government will honour its words, and they also believe in the Chinese government’s resolution to protect its natural heritages. ” “So we can say,” he added, “Accepting the ‘South China Karst’ as a new item of world natural heritage reflects the high expectations all the member countries and relevant UN bodies have for China.” 

The Stone Forest of Yunnan Province: the best reference of the same kind in the world

People in Yunnan Province were over the moon because the Stone Forest had been inscribed into the World Natural Heritage List. In the resolution of the World Heritage Committee reached during the 31st World Heritage General Conference, it was declared: the Stone Forest of Shilin County, Yunnan Province, had been regarded the best natural phenomenon and the world’s best reference in regard of Karst landforms.

The Stone Forest ranks first among its kind in the world, in respect of ether its diversity of type distribution, or integration of ethnic cultures, or accessibility for sightseeing. Appearing marvelous, it’s been titled “the Number One Miracle under the Sun”, “a Natural Labyrinth on the Earth”, “a Museum of Karst Landforms”, and “a Museum of Natural Sculptures” etc.

In 2004, the Stone Forest was approved, by the UNESCO, as one of the first batch of the world geological parks, and it therefore became a unique Karst scenic site in the world to display the Earth’s evolutionary history via the development vestiges and landscapes of “stone forests”. 

The Stone Forest, known for its strangeness, serenity, ruggedness, and elegance, comprises grotesque rocks and peaks, caves full of stalagtites and stalagmites, lucid and cute plateau lakes, and water falls (as high as 90 meters, and as wide as 30 meters) etc. In particular, the natural strange-looking rock formations arouse a lot imagination of people who explore in the depth of the Stone Forest. Grotesque rocks, beautiful waters, (underground) Karst caves, waterfalls and so on, all in all, have given birth to a classic Karst scenic site with various shapes, “flowing” verve, magnificence, and spectacularity.

Mr. Liu Wenwei, Secretary of the Communist Party of Shilin County, was quoted as saying, “The success (of the application of the ‘South China Karst’) has made the Stone Forest a brand in the world; however, we have heavier burden since that day because we have to do the best job to protect the priceless heritage, and leave it to next generations and the entire world”.

Mr. Liu also told the reporter that Shilin County would appropriate some 10 million yuan ($1.575 million; €1.251 million) for ecological protections, and 100 million yuan ($15.75 million; €12.51 million) to relocate the villages within relevant protected zone. 

Natural Pit Clusters of Chongqing Municipality: Typical Examples of Karst Gorges in the World

It had excited people in Chongqing that the natural pit clusters of Wulong County were granted world natural heritage status.

These clusters of Wulong County, which is on the southeastern edge of the Sichuan Basin, were situated in the transitional zone of Daleishan Mt., Wulingshan Mt., and the Guizhou Plateau, and also in the valleys of Wujiang River which is a tributary of the Yangtze. Due to the lithological distribution, such as carbonatite and sandshale, these pits have exhibited typical Karst landforms and are outstanding examples of deep Karst gorges. 

Composed of (1)-Furongjiang River and Furongdong Cave, (2)-Tianshengsanqiao Natural Pit, and (3)-Houtianping Natural Pit, Wulong’s Karst includes huge natural (stone) bridges, large natural pits, Karst gorges, and multi-layer caves beside stream valleys. These sites result from the uplift of the earth’s crust since the Neogene Period, and have been coupled with distinctive Karst landforms, intact Kart ecosystem, high diversity and eye-catching natural sceneries.

Mr. Zhu Xuewen, a renowned karst expert, called these sites “Typical Examples of Karst Gorges in the World”; and another British anonymous expert named them ”a Key for Research on the Geological Evolutionary History in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River”.

In 2003, the application efforts of Wulong County officially kicked off, and Furongdong Cave was inscribed, by the National Construction Ministry of the P.R.C., into the Pre-elective List of South China Karst. In September 2005, the ministry finalised the “South China Karst” items for world natural heritage, which include Karst Landforms in Wulong County of Chongqing Municipality, Karst Cones in Libo County of Guizhou Province, and Karst Pinnacles in Shilin County of Yunnan Province. 

In order to well conserve these natural pits, Wulong County has set up a special office fully called “Office for Applying for China’s World Karst Natural Heritage Status”, demanding all the hotels, restaurants, and touring cablecars within these areas be shut off and pull down.

In 2006, for the sake of permanent conservation, Wulong County enacted the Plan on Karst Environment Protection which aims to gradually relocate the natives and restore the original natural look.

And what’s more, a group of experts and scholars were invited to carry out researches so as to further explore the academic values, and raise the worldwide fame of the Wulong Karst landforms. 

Libo County of Guizhou Province:  An emerald on the Belt of the Earth

When people in the bustling concrete world of big cities are busy haggling about the relation between man and nature, people in Maolan area, Libo County of Guizhou Province, have been enjoying for long the harmony between man and nature. Growing here is the world’s largest Kart primeval forest-which is called home by such ethnic minorities as the Buyi, Shui and Yao etc.

As typical examples of Karst peaks in the transitional zone between the Guizhou Plateau and hilly areas of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Libo Karst landforms include towering Karst cones, deep subsiding Karst funnels (or dolines), subsiding rivers, and long river-caves. Most importantly, it is where one can witness continuous primitive Karst forests.

The Karst cones in Libo County have manifested the mutual evolution and submission between Karst peak clusters and forests, representing the ecological evolution process and geological evolution process of the continental tropical-subtropical Karst cones; and it therefore meets Criteria Three: Natural heritages that are outstanding examples reflecting the evolutionary history of major ages of the earth; natural heritages that are outstanding examples of ecological biological evolution; and natural heritages that exhibit high biodiversity. Therefore, Libo is dubbed “An emerald on the Belt of the Earth”.

People can’t imagine that two decades ago, locals survived on hewing matchwood, making charcoals, and hunting (nearly each family had a shotgun at that time); and all these had badly damaged the ecological environment.

In 1984, when Maolan Nature Reserve was set up, the locals, who had gotten used to traditional life style, had to make changes. In some interviews, the reporter learned that locals had been reluctant to do anything to any plant on hills, though they are not well off; and to a great extent, what has been preserved original attributes to the sacrifice of the simple locals.

And it has also been learned that Libo’s application efforts are dedicated to places and areas such as: Maolan State-level Nature Reserve, and Daqikong and Xiaoqikong Scenic Spots of Zhangjiang State-level Scenic Resort.