According to Hubei Province's economic indicator statistics, the GDP of the Shennongjia Forest Zone in the first quarter of 2009 was the lowest among all the 17 prefecture-level cities in the province – less than one-seventh of Tianmen, the city ranking second to last. What's wrong with Shennongjia?

Located at the watershed of the Yangtze and Han rivers, Shennongjia has 2,618 square kilometers of forest, which releases more than 3 million tons of oxygen every year, absorbs more than 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide, takes in more than 1 million tons of dust and nearly 2 million tons of toxic gas. Meanwhile, the forest zone has a water storage capacity of more than 3 billion cubic meters.

This is a huge and invisible contribution to the surrounding areas. However, Shennongjia, which is the richest in environmental and ecological resources, is one of China’s most poverty-stricken areas.

Timber used to be the main source of Shennongjia’s revenue. But since Shennongjia was approved by the State Council in 1986 as a national nature reserve, it got into trouble and failed to find alternative industries. Since March 2000, Shennongjia has completely stopped logging of its natural forests, and consequently, a large number of lumberjacks lost their jobs, the farmers’ income shrank and the local economy was facing a severe downturn.

In response, Qian Yuankun, mayor of Shennongjia, went to Beijing during this year’s national legislative conference to lobby for the implementation of an “oxygen fee” as compensation for Shennongjia’s loss of development opportunities, such as exploiting its water resources, mineral resources and forests. His lobbying attracted public attention, but so far has come to nothing.

Along with expressing its demands to the central government, Shennongjia also strives to seek opportunities to cooperate with neighboring areas. For example, its government is now trying to join in the overall planning of the Danjiangkou reservoir area. Since the southern water intake of Danjiangkou’s “South-to-North Water Diversion Project” is located at Shennongjia, the city is seeking financial support to protect its water quality. If it works, the financial support will mean a great deal to Shennongjia’s economic development.

In order to develop tourism, Shennongjia is also trying to improve transportation and overcome the limitation of its having only one highway. Although the central government has approved the construction of roads, railway and an airport, these facilities are all far from Shennongjia’s natural reserve, which is its main tourist spot.

For Shennongjia, development always remains a trade-off between environmental protection and economic interests. As Qian Yuankun said, they are “dancing on the tip of a knife.”

China Newsweek