Killing trees in cold blood! The chaos of deforestation and tea planting in Xishuangbanna has been repeatedly banned, and the local forest police have revealed the truth

　　　　　　 CCTV News:It is a good thing to grow tea to get rich, but it is not a good thing to destroy the ecology because of growing tea. In Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, with the rising price of Pu ‘er tea, the ecological destruction activities of destroying trees in nature reserves to expand Pu ‘er tea are not only staged repeatedly, but also intensified.

　　　　　　 In recent years, with the warming of Pu ‘er tea market, Yiwu Town in Mengla County, Xishuangbanna has become lively. There are hundreds of shops selling tea on only one main street in the town, and many of them are selling ancient tree tea that is claimed to come from state-owned forests.

　　　　　　 Owner of a tea shop in Yiwu Town, Mengla County, Yunnan Province: "The minimum amount of tea in the state-owned forest is more than 2,000 (per kilogram), which is an ancient tree. We sell it for 4,000 yuan (per kilogram)."

　　　　　　 Owner of a tea shop in Yiwu Town, Mengla County, Yunnan Province: "My family is generally a little more than 3,000, (per kilogram) 3,000 to 4,000. Five or six thousand (per kilogram) of state-owned forests. "

　　　　　　 Some shopkeepers told reporters that these teas with the words "state-owned forest" can not be picked casually, and some of them are all from nature reserves in the town, with higher grade, better quality and more expensive price.

　　　　　　 Shopkeeper: "Our family is basically tea (protected area). It is nothing more than a particularly good ecological environment, and the so-called protected area has a boundary pillar. "

　　　　　　 According to the relevant laws and regulations of the country, state-owned forests and nature reserves are absolutely not allowed to engage in tea planting and picking activities. So what kind of mystery is hidden in the tea of state-owned forests and nature reserves sold by tea merchants in Yiwu town? "Tongqing River" is a new stockade in Yi Wu tea-growing area in recent years. Here, a tea farmer led a reporter directly into the scope of Yi Wu State Nature Reserve.

　　　　　　 Reporter: "Is that the boundary of the reserve behind this monument?"

　　　　　　 Villagers in Yiwu Town, Mengla County, Yunnan Province: "Well, yes."

　　　　　　 Later, the reporter followed the villager into the depths of the reserve, and along the way, the reporter saw many trees and bamboos that were cut down. In this way, after nearly two hours of wading through mountains and rivers, the reporter finally followed the villagers to the ancient tree tea garden.

　　　　　　 Reporter: "Isn’t this tree an ancient tree?"

　　　　　　 Villager: "It was originally an ancient tree."

　　　　　　 Tea farmers told reporters that in addition to these few ancient tree teas, they also planted many small tea trees in the reserve. After walking along the rugged mountain road for more than half an hour, a tea garden came into view. The villagers told reporters that in the past ten years, they have planted eight acres of tea trees in the protected area, which are scattered in different positions in the protected area. In the last year or two, the area of tea garden is still expanding.

　　　　　　 The villagers also told reporters that the small tea seedlings on this steep slope were slowly planted in recent years, and it will take several years to produce tea. On the edge of this tea garden, tea farmers built a simple shack. There are a lot of plastic bottles, plastic bags and even pesticides scattered around the shack. These white rubbish and harmful waste were just randomly discarded in the nature reserve. The villagers told reporters that every household in the village now basically has a tea garden in the protected area. In order to facilitate the usual management of tea trees, everyone will build a small shack next to their own tea garden. Above this small tea seedling, there is a large bamboo forest that has fallen. These bamboos are scattered askew on the surrounding trees and the ground, and may slide down the hillside at any time.

　　　　　　 On the way to another tea garden, the reporter also found that many trees died and fell to the ground. With the deepening of the conversation, the tea farmer revealed to reporters that at first this tea garden was a forest in a protected area, but there were some ancient tree teas scattered in the forest. In the last decade or so, the price of Tongqing River ancient tree tea has been rising all the way. This spring tea picking season, the price of one kilogram of dried hairy tea rose to about 5,000 yuan. Seeing that the price of tea is getting higher and higher, the villagers began to plant tea trees in the reserve one after another. When the tea trees grow up, the tea farmers will strip and cut down other trees and vegetation around the tea trees. Day by day, year by year, the virgin forest will gradually become a tea garden.

　　　　　　 The local villagers are used to the trees being stripped.

　　　　　　 Villagers told reporters that in order to prevent native trees in the forest and newly planted tea trees from competing for sunlight and nutrients, and to avoid the forest police from tracing down trees, they would bark such a big tree and let it die slowly day by day. Walking in this tea garden in the reserve, every few steps, the reporter will find the trees that have been stripped to death.

　　　　　　 Article 26 of the Regulations on Nature Reserves in People’s Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that logging, grazing, hunting, fishing, herb gathering, reclamation, burning wasteland, mining, quarrying and sand digging are prohibited in nature reserves. However, in the following investigation, the reporter found that there are still many phenomena of deforestation in various ways in the nature reserves and state-owned forests of Yiwu Town.

　　　　　　 In Mansa Village, Yiwu Town, the villagers took the reporter to the high mountain named "Mint Pond". The price of ancient tree tea in "Mintetang" has soared all the way. In this spring tea picking season, the price of one kilogram of ancient tree tea in Mintetang has exceeded 10,000 yuan. Even at such a high price, sales are still very hot.

　　　　　　 Because all the ancient tea trees in Boheitang grow in Yi Wu State Nature Reserve, the number of ancient trees is very limited. Therefore, ordering tea seeds and planting small tree tea in the forest of the reserve has become the villagers’ favorite thing. In order to make room for tea trees, the villagers used the same method to cut down the original trees here. In addition to the trees that were cut down and barked and died, there are also trees that were poisoned.

　　　　　　 In mint pond, there are stumps left by cutting trees and fallen trees everywhere. In a tea garden in Mahei Village, Yiwu Town, Mengla County, this situation is also being staged. In this nearly 30-acre tea garden, some trees have completely died, and the lower part of the trunk also has no bark. The villagers told reporters that these trees were deliberately stripped of their bark.

　　　　　　 In this tea garden alone, there are more than a dozen trees that have been stripped to death, and tea farmers seem to have become accustomed to such things.

　　　　　　 On the way back, the reporter noticed that there were trees along the road that were surrounded by bark and died. The most important thing is that local tea farmers are well aware that their tea gardens are within the scope of nature reserves.

　　　　　　 Illegal cost is low, deforestation and tea planting are chaotic.

　　　　　　 Villagers blatantly destroy forests and grow tea in the reserve, destroying the ecological environment, and this situation is staged every year. Does the local competent department know nothing about this? How to supervise management? With questions, the reporter came to Yiwu Town Forestry Service Center.

　　　　　　 Staff of the Forestry Service Center in Yiwu Town, Mengla County, Yunnan Province: "According to the regulations, it is forbidden to pick tea in (state-owned forests)."

　　　　　　 Reporter: "It is forbidden to pick tea, so many shops are tea from state-owned forests."

　　　　　　 Staff: "Management is like this."

　　　　　　 Reporter: "But I saw a shop yesterday, and its packaging also said state-owned forest."

　　　　　　 Staff: "I have not been found, and I am not allowed to write these three words."

　　　　　　 Yi Wu State Nature Reserve was established in 2013, but the reporter found in the investigation that tea farmers are still planting tea seeds in the reserve, managing the picking of tea trees, and even stripping trees in order to expand the tea garden area. So, does this comply with relevant regulations? The reporter then went to the management and protection station of the protected area to make an inquiry.

　　　　　　 Reporter: "Can you grow tea in a protected area?"

　　　　　　 Staff: "Never plant. The protected area is now set up, and nothing can be moved. "

　　　　　　 Reporter: "Can (villagers) apply for planting?"

　　　　　　 Staff: "Impossible, no one will approve it, and the policy does not allow it. This is the death rule of the country."

　　　　　　 In the survey, the staff of the forestry department and the nature reserve management and protection office in Yiwudang said that there are strict laws and regulations on the management and protection of state-owned forests and nature reserves, but the chaos of deforestation and tea planting is still going on. A local ranger told reporters the mystery through WeChat.

　　　　　　 "For the media, everything in the reserve is confidential." "If it is exposed, it is possible that the tea leaves will not be harvested, and it is possible to close all the mountains, and the problem is much more serious." In the local area, it is actually an open secret to plant and pick tea in the protected area. The reporter read the judgments of cases that were prosecuted according to law for deforestation and tea planting in the last two years. None of them were sentenced to probation, and the maximum fine was 30,000 yuan.

　　　　　　 Xishuangbanna forest public security staff: "There has not been a real sentence. Hundreds of people have been arrested every year. They are arrested every day and released every day. When they are released, they will become legal. The court has not sentenced the entire Xishuangbanna State to a real sentence. 500 acres are suspended, which can’t have the effect of hitting. The (illegal) cost is too low, so deforestation can’t be controlled. "

　　　　　　 The original intention of China to establish a nature reserve in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province is to protect the diversity of animals and plants. However, in the reporter’s investigation, we can see that the national nature reserve has become a gimmick for tea merchants. What worries us more is that the local authorities have turned a blind eye to deforestation. Trampling on the ecological red line for immediate interests will eventually destroy not only our homes, but also the well-being of future generations.