Resourceful Communities in Yanchiwan National Nature Reserve
Resourceful Communities in Yanchiwan National Nature Reserve
Author: SydneyGreenfield
When we set out for the day, I was eager and anxious. I had just returned to Yanchiwan to collect a second round of surveys on livestock loss to carnivores, and the work had been rather slow compared to last year. Herders are difficult to interview because they must move their livestock regularly. Every day they might take their livestock to a different area, and every seasonthey must move their entire household to another region of the park. Unfortunately, I was averaging 2 to 3 a day as most were not home or had moved their home to another season’s grazing site. We had a number of names on our list for today, and I was hoping to complete at least five or six that day.
We hopped in the car early in the morning and were on the road. We were not more than thirty minutes away when the car suddenly stopped running. We rolled to stop and our driver,Wulanbatu, jumped out to take a look. After popping open the hood and rummaging around for about five minutes, he pulled out a bad a spark plug. We were in the heart of Yanchiwan and at least two hours away from the nearest repair shop. Trying not to let the frustration take us over, I, Aliana, and Xiaoxu decided to walk transects to search for scats that would be used for Aliana's master's thesis. We returned to the car just as a small truck, laden with a precarious tower of hay, stopped next to us on the narrow road. The driver cheerfully popped out, lit a cigarette, and peered inside to inspect the vehicle. As far as I know,we hadn't called anyone. He was simply driving by when he noticed we were in need of help.
They each took a turn examining the bad spark plug and trying the car. They were all stood around smoking and deliberating when Wulanbatu spotted a rusty electric kettle beside the road someone had tossed out of their window. I couldn't believe my eyes as they ripped wires out from inside. There was no way, a kettle? After they spliced the wires together and jammed them back into the spark plug using nothing more than knives and fingers, they grabbed the only thing available inthe car, medical tape. We each held our breath as they hopped in the car togive it a go. Voila! Our car was running.
We waved goodbye to the kind Samaritan and returned to the car. Back on the road again, we happily jammed out to Western pop, Chinese Grassland, and Mongolian rock music. An hour later, we arrived at our first house for the day. As we drove to the front and honked the horn, the local way of knocking in case their dog isn't so friendly, we sighed in despair. They weren't home. A small black car sat out front, but the doors were locked. Most likely they were out with their livestock in the nearby hills. Xingji, our other local guide walked around trying to find any indication of where they had gone.
Wulanbatu took advantage of the moment to inspect the car, kicking the tires to check the tire pressure. He was testing the driver’s side tire when his foot hit the air intake valve which gave an audible SNAP! In the bitter cold, the rubber had completely broken off leaving a two-millimeter hole in the side. Immediately the tire began to sag, and the car slowly sunk onto the flat tire. We popped open the back of the car and peeled back the carpet to reveal the jack and tire iron, but they were gone! Without a word, Wulanbatu and Xingji popped back over to the empty house behind us. Five minutes later they reappeared with a small, red car jack they must have borrowed from the home. There didn't seem to be any debate as to whether the owner would mind. Out here people take care of each other, and they would return it later
We weren't in the clear however as the jack was really meant for a small sedan, not an SUV. With every crank, the car shifted. After another adjustment, the car stopped moving, but after cranking up the jack again, it began to slip in the dusty soil. After a couple tries, they finally used the flat tire and a rock under the brake disk to support the car and managed to throw the new tire back on. Back on the road again, I tried not to worry about the slow pace. Sometimes things go wrong, and you just have roll with it.
The events of that day reminded me of how resourceful you had to be to thrive as a herder in the mountains and how vital community and cooperation was to survival. It’s good that they are, for the success of conservation efforts will rely upon communities like the people of Yanchiwan. My master’s thesis in Yanchiwan focuses on understanding livestock loss to carnivores and the husbandry methods people use to protect their livestock. However, my work will be pointless without the help of this community. Over and over around the world, conservation projects fail when the local community does not support conservation or refuses to collaborate. Furthermore, we are in need of new, resourceful methods for protecting livestock that do not rely on lethal control.
The fact that people live in a nature reserve might surprise some people. China has recently been setting aside massive parks for protecting species and ecosystems that also have people living inside of them. However, more and more, it is apparent that small empty reserves alone will not be enough to protect species in the future. For many species, such as snow leopards or Asian elephants, their need for land is too great to set aside enough pristine parks. They range too far, and of course, they do not recognize protected area borders. To conserve these species and all of the organisms that live alongside them, we will need to find ways to peacefully coexist with wildlife. Conservation scientists like those of us at the Wildlife Institute and EBC work to analyze information and give recommendations for protecting species. However, it is the local people who ultimately will have to combine knowledge, cooperation, and resourcefulness to nurture healthy ecosystems and save wildlife.
Cover Photo from online
