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Like father, like son:
He Huaxun's mission to restore Hainan's soils
(cont.)
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Lofty and magnificent trees can be found elsewhere in the garden
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To interweave conservation
and development
In the early Liberation period, Hainan still had a lot of primary forest (mainly in the central mountains) with a forest cover of 26%. "It had dropped to 8.2% by 1977. This sad figure triggered my father's lament: ‘Hainan is at the end of its tether!' " Prof. He recalled. But the figure further declined to no more than 4%, as most of the forest was replaced by various kinds of economic plantations.
"Having lived here for some 40 years, I've seen a lot of ecological changes, but they may not be apparent to the general public unless you pay particular attention." When Prof. He first arrived in Hainan, the humus layer in most regions was at least 15-20 cm deep. Now, barren rocks are exposed everywhere: some white, some yellow. In the past, even if you planted papayas at the roadside they would soon yield sweet fruit. Today they are intensively cultivated but often get infected with disease. Crops now grow slowly despite great inputs of chemical fertilizers. "The breezes were cooler before. We often saw wild animals. But even snakes are rarely seen now. The weather gets hotter and hotter which makes people feel uncomfortable. These adverse changes are the outcomes of human disturbance to nature."
How can people and nature co-exist?
"The conflict between ecological protection and economic development already existed in my father's time," He expressed. "Ecologists and forest biologists, they all have this same belief to protect the ecology and the forests. This hope is great, but how to make it happen?"Prof. He finds it hard to be a purist about protecting nature. "Getting sufficient food always remains the first priority – otherwise the efforts of experts will be in vain. If these experts were told to live in the mountains, they would surely go logging and hunting if food were unavailable. What's more, due to population growth, where once there were only 100 people dwelling in the mountain, the population is now 1,000. It's no wonder they use up the forest."
So Prof. He believes that economic gain must be combined with ecological protection. Experts have to convince farmers how ecological protection is relevant to them, and let them feel the benefits to themselves and their future generations.
Devotion to farmers
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Prof. He teaching villagers on how to run their own cooperative
Photo : Prof. He Huaxuan
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"My grandfather was a village doctor, and my father helped him out by carrying baskets of medicine and herbs by a shoulder pole when he was young. So he had a well-grounded understanding of farmers' difficult livelihoods and torments." When he returned to the villages after several decades, the landscapes were changed beyond recognition. All hills were cleared, and the streams and rivers had much less water. But life was still hard, and farming techniques were backward. "My father had long suggested using technology and farming to save our country. Even aside from his influence, I am from the rank-and-file. I get emotionally attached to farmers, and know the importance of this mission."
The mission Prof. He mentions is the research and promotion of tropical fodder crops. He has been working on it for more than 30 years, and has profound feelings towards his work. "I don't just deal with planting grass or fodder crops, but get involved in solving ecological problems. I am getting to know how to interpret the underlying principles and the deep implications of my father's words, spoken to me 40–50 years ago."
He senior's belief was in recovering soil fertility. In a primary ecosystem fallen leaves and wood, accumulated after thousands of years, generate an organic layer providing a good ecological environment for farming. But following years of forest clearing, rubber planting and application of chemical fertilizers, the soil quality worsens and it is impossible to revitalize it quickly by natural restoration alone.
"My father put strong emphasis on the problems derived from livestock raising and the return of manure to soils." Prof. He believes livestock have a key role within farming systems, harvesting nutrients not directly available to humans and boosting soil fertility via their manure. Only by this means can we increase farming yields, reducing the pressure of land clearing, and at the same time regain the soil nutrients.
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