More and more outsiders are coming to the area to illegally fell these valuable trees. At the same time, internal self-control is being weakened under the influence of market drive. A Bazhu forest ranger reported; “Of course, we want to punish the illegal timber-thieves seriously. But we don’t want to use too much force, either.” Severe punishment may discourage future attempts by villagers taking the law into themselves, and scare off outside intruders. The forest rangers would have an easier job to do. However, if they were to impose the law too severely, they may trigger reprisals or worsen the situation for enforcement by creating a violent, tense atmosphere. The rangers patrol the forest every day. They are the first to deal with the law-breakers from the first moment they see trouble, so they are in a very dangerous position. Religion is the foundation of Bazhu’s traditional culture, but this foundation is being undercut by secularization. In Bazhu today, religion continues to play a positive role in supporting government policies and economic development. For example, a local monk has introduced edible roses into Bazhu’s plantations by utilizing his networks in the provincial capital of Kunming. He not only helps the villagers grow their roses, but also participates in processing and trading. If religion becomes too involved with secular affairs, especially if it dips into the into the economic pie, it may be tarnished in people’s eyes and thus lose some of its power in guiding people spiritually and ethically. Another concern with secularization is that more and more villagers are going out into cities as migrating workers, seeking higher education and for other purposes. They are bringing individualism, egoism and materialism back from the outside world, which in turn risks weakening traditional culture. This means that forest ecological management and conservation is facing the danger of waning interest. The Bazhu forest not only produces wild mushrooms and medicinal plants to increase villagers’ incomes, but it also yields subsidies from the government in the form of rewards to the community as ecological credits. If the government’s subsidies keep coming, the community’s work of forest conservation will continue. Otherwise, the villagers would be less passionate about such work. Bazhu is still economically less advanced than other communities. The villagers have high expectations of improving their own lives by increasing their incomes. However, their resources do not at present permit them to achieve this easily. A crucial issue is how to process the natural resources that they do have to generate more added value. Bazhu is now feeling the pressure from the outside world: increasing demands for their natural resources; the challenges to their traditional culture of respecting and living in harmony with nature; their reliance on the government’s ecological subsidies; their expectation to improve living standard by increasing incomes. III. SOLUTIONS The proposed solution to this problem is to set up the Bazhu Community Conserved Area (CCA) or Community Nature Reserve (CNR). Fig.2 Bazhu Community Learning Center (CLC) 132 Proceedings of the International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
Proceedings of International Conference on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services for the Sustainable Development Goals : Policy and Practice 27-29 June 2016 at the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park, Cha-am, Phetchaburi, Thailand
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