The SNISD project executive group, consisting of Mr. Chen Qing, director of SNISD, Mr. Liu Qinyuan, an expert in four-in-one biogas technology and Ms. Yin Chuntao, project assistant, made an investigative trip to Baima Snow Mt. Nature Reserve of Deqin County, Yunnan Province during Nov 4-12, 1999.

We arrived in Kunming on Nov 4 before flying to Zhongdian, capital of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Region on Nov 5. Mr Li Qunyao, vice secretary-general of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Region government, gave us a warm welcome and presented Hada to us. He stated that SNISD was welcomed to carry out its project in Diqing, and that the government will give their constant support. We arrived in Deqin County in that evening, and were received and accommodated by Mr. Xu Yanhong, Vice-head of Deqin County.

The following morning, Nov 6, accompanied by Mr. Xu Yanhong and Mr. Jiangcun Xiluo, director of Baima Snow Mt. Nature Reserve Administration, we inspected several sites near the County such as Feilaisi Village, Migration Development Region. They all are suitable for the construction of four-in-one biogas greenhouses, as regards appropriate geographical and climatic conditions, adequate illumination and so on. In addition, they are very near the county seat, and located beside the Dianzang (Yunnan-Tibetan) Road which transport bringing trade from Tibetan or other cities must follow. There is a potential market for pigs and vegetables in Deqin County as demand always exceeds supply. The price for pigs and vegetable here is comparatively higher than in Zhongdian county or Kunming city. Although the local people traditionally breed pigs, they have limited business acumen. As a result, the number of livestock on hand is large while the amount of fully-grown livestock which actually reaches the marketplace is small. Therefore pig breeding can not provide a stable income for farmers, furthermore, these pigs waste a large amount of food.
As far as vegetables are concerned, there are few homesteads near the county seat which plant vegetables, to say nothing of a vegetable base. It takes at least four hours walk from the nearest homestead which plants vegetables to the county seat. In winter especially, the county greatly lacks vegetables; they must order and transport vegetables from Dali City, several hundred kilometers from Deqin County. They face many difficulties, such as the cutting-off of mountain passes due to snowfall and so on. This also happens in Tibet, neighbor to Deqin. The agriculture and husbandry bureau of Deqin County wishes to establish a vegetable base in the Migration Development Region, and plant a timber forest on the hillside. They hope that homesteads situated on the high and cold mountain area nearby will be moved to the Migration Development Region as a group of Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkeys (also known as Yunnan golden monkey) live near their current village. If SNISD could cooperate with the agriculture and husbandry bureau in the Migration Development Region, it would have a great impact on the development of the mountain area. The problem is that the Migration Development Region is not located within the Nature Reserve, and thus there would be many different government departments to coordinate. It would become more difficult to carry out the project, and it would be of limited help in the alleviation of the pressure upon the Nature Reserve. Finally they suggested we carry out the demonstration project in and near the Nature Reserve.

We had an informal discussion in Mr. Xu's office in the afternoon. Mr. Xu and Director Jiangcun gave us a general understanding of the situation in Deqin County and Baima Snow Mt.

Nature Reserve. Deqin County is located in the hinterland of Hengduan Mountain Range, three rivers, Jinshajiang (the upper reaches of the Yangtze River), Lanchangjiang, and Nujiang, flow through the area side by side. It has typical high mountain and gorge topography. The county is 3400 meter above sea level, with a total area of 7504 square meters. 36.7% of the area is covered by forest. Cultivated land occupies only 0.72% of the total area and is mainly distributed in the river valley. The gradient of much of the cultivated land is above 30 degrees, which should have been used for forestry, not agriculture. The county is located in the cool temperate zone, and has distinct dry and rainy seasons. Generally, the dry season begins in October and lasts until May of the following year, and the rainy season runs from June to September. It has a population of 56,644, more than 80% of which are of Tibetan nationality. The average annual income per person is lower than 500 Yuan; more than 50% of the farmers in the county are poverty-stricken. In addition, most of them live in the Nature Reserve. Collecting Songrong, a kind of fungus usually grown under a certain kind of robur , and such medicinal herbs as Chinese caterpillar fungus comprises the main source of their annual income. The commercial deforestation used to provide the main source of revenue in Deqin County before it was prohibited by the State Government.

The Baima Snow Mt. Nature Reserve, located in Deqin County, is a national Nature Reserve with an emphasis on the protection of the Yunnan Golden Monkey, an endangered species, and the dark taiga forest in the area with low latitude and high elevation. It has an area of 190,144 ha, accounting for 25.7% of the total area of the whole county. About 40.8% of its area is covered by forest. The Dianzang Road (Yunnan-Tibetan Road) crosses the Nature Reserve. Lanchang River, Baima Snow Mountain, Zhubalong River, Geli Snow Mountain and Jishajiang (the upriver of Yangtse River) form the main framework of the Nature Reserve. The great relative altitude from the bottom of the valley to the top of the mountain causes diversified climate, soil and vegetation. With the rising of altitude from valley floor to the mountain peaks, there is the middle semi-tropical zone, north semi tropical zone, warm temperate zone, temperate zone and frigid temperate zone respectively. The vegetation ranges from xerothermic herbs and shrubs in the xerothermic river valley of Jinshajiang to evergreen broadleaf forest in the river valley of Zhubalong, then gradually changes to alpine pine forest, mixed forest with conifer and broadleaf, subalpine dark coniferous forest (in which the dominant trees being spruce and fir), alpine shrubbery, and grassland and cryophyte. It has abundant biological diversity. Due to the impact of changeable environmental conditions, the variety of resources is limited. Once it is destroyed, the worsened environment is difficult to restore. Even the abundant fir and alpine pine in the nature reserve would be difficult to renew if they are destroyed, because they live in a high altitude area and grow very slowly. There are currently 105 native villages in the Nature Reserve, with a population of 8541 of which 86% are of Tibetan nationality. They plant potatoes and turnips, and will have yam in winter. Many villages are yet without electricity, such as Niangjidun village near the Yeri Station. Most of the homesteads are impoverished. Collecting Songrong provides their main income.
Generally a homestead consumes 1-1.5 tons of firewood annually on cooking, heating, and heating forage and water for livestock. They have no tree plantations for providing fuel due to the lack of funds and technology. They obtain the firewood at the cost of destroying the forest. Since felling of the natural forest and commercial deforestation are prohibited, the residents in the Nature Reserve's shortage of energy has intensified. With the pressure of poverty, illegal lumbering happens occasionally. It put great pressure upon the Nature Reserve Administration.

The Administration was established in 1983, and is mainly financed by the Financial Department of Diqing. It now has 42 staff members, and consists of three conservation stations and one experimental station: Xiaruo, Yeri, Cikatong and Susong. They mainly focus on forest protection and public environment education. They have previously cooperated with the

Worldwide Fund for Nature and an international organization for public environment education based in Hong Kong, and achieved good effects. The Administration actively promoted the residents' participation in the protection. On one hand, they made the township staff who have been in charge of protecting the forest near their village a member of the Administration with the cooperation of the Forest Department of Deqin County. This experienced staff has been engaged in the protection of the forest for many years, and are familiar with the forest; they are the backbone of protection at the township level. On the other hand, they have prestigious people in different villages, contracted to protect the Nature Reserve. Their participation in the protection, enables better feeling and cooperation within the community. In addition, the Administration has cooperated successfully with religious organizations. Most of the residents in the Nature Reserve belong to the Tibetan nationality; they believe in Lamaism. Dongzhulin Temple is located near Shungsong experiment station. The Administration has cooperated with the temple in public environmental education several times, and achieved good results. The Living Buddha of Dongzhulin Temple has signed a contract with the Administration. However, they could do little in helping improve the income and changing the energy consumption structure of the local people due to lack of funds and technology. The intensified energy supply has put great pressure upon the protection.

There is a virgin forest in Shiba and Gemeruo to the south of the Nature Reserve, it has not been included in the Nature Reserve. In the 1980s the local government decided to cut 100 square metre virgin forest here in order to improve their revenue. It was due to appeals from all circles that this virgin forest escaped this disaster. The Administration is currently doing their best to apply to the government to include this virgin forest in the Nature Reserve. However, they still have many difficulties in spite of their efforts.

After hearing their introduction, Mr. Chen Qing on behalf of SNISD introduced the objectives of the forthcoming project and the purposes of this investigation. Firstly, Mr. Chen said that the objectives of the project is to introduce four-in-one biogas technology to the residents in the Nature Reserve, then help them to construct 5-10 biogas greenhouses for the selected households as a demonstration. The pig breeding and vegetable planting in the greenhouse will bring them more income, and the biogas produced in the methane tank can be used for cooking, heating and so on in stead of firewood, thus reducing the consumption of natural vegetation. SNISD, financed by SEI, will not only cover all the costs of the demonstration project, but also provide training for local people, especially technicians from the Nature Reserve Adminstration; we hope to help the Administration develop a training center for four-in-one biogas technology for the local people. At the same time we will develop a series of training programs on environmental education and market development. If this project proves successful, it will provide a useful model for the Nature Reserve Administration in their environmental protection and poverty alleviation. Furthermore, we can introduce into the state poverty alleviation funds and commercial investment and spread this technology throughout the Nature Reserve.

Concerning the purposes of this investigation, firstly, we wish to survey the geographical and climatic conditions to assess whether they are suitable for developing this four-in-one biogas system. Secondly, we want to sign a MOU with the Nature Reserve Administration and discuss the forthcoming work-plan. Finally, we would like to identify the pilot site and training candidates. The training candidates will be chosen from the Administration staff and volunteers from the local farmers. After fully discussing everything, we signed a MOU (annex 1), and revised the work-plan.

During Nov 7-9, we made a site investigation of several villages such as Niangjidun, Rineng, Nilongbao, Tongduishui, Qujue near Shusong experiment station and Yeri conservation station. We interviewed some local Tibetans with the help of a Tibetan colleague at the Administration. Rineng, Nilongbao and Niangjidun are located in the xerothermic river valley of Jishajiang (the upper reaches of the Yangtze river) near Yeri conservation station, with an altitude of 2900-3200 meters. None of the villages have electricity, and the road to these villages has only recently been completed.

There is abundant sunlight, but an annual rainfall of only 300-400mm. They are mainly engaged in irrigated agriculture. They grow such grain crops as Qingke, wheat and corn, and vegetables like potato, turnip and yam in winter. The average annual income of the three villages is around 500yuan (equal to $60). They also collect Songrong and Chinese caterpillar fungus during June and July, and this comprises the main source of their income. Generally every household breeds more than ten heads of livestock, but they are mainly for self-consumption and not for sale.

Farmers complain about the irrigation. In Niangjidun village, the water channel has not been repaired for many years. Water seeps through the bottom of the channel. Furthermore, it would take more than one month for a household wait for his turn to use the irrigating channel. The only energy for cooking and heating is firewood; usually they cut a kind of robur. If there is lack of robur, sometimes they will cut pine instead. The average annual consumption of natural plantation is about 10 tons.

With the increasingly intensified public environmental education and successful cooperation with religious organizations , villagers have gradually realized the serious consequences of deforestation. However they have no other choice because of their poverty and their traditional lifestyle. They almost completely live on the forest. Firstly the wood is an important material for house-building. As we can see in some villages of the Lisu nationality, the walls of their houses are constructed from wood. It is estimated that the wood used in the construction of one house would fill two trucks; Songrong, is another treasure from the forest, say nothing of the energy supply. We have already pointed out that they will consume an average of 10 tons of firewood annually for cooking, heating, and heating forage and water for livestock. Most of the villages in the Nature Reserve have no electricity, but even in the villages with electricity, villagers are accustomed to the traditional heating style. Usually in the center of a Tibetan house there is a big stove that is used for cooking, heating and heating forage and water for livestock. It can be regarded as the center of the whole family. In the lamasery, only the high ranking Lamas have the right to use electricity while the lowly ranking Lamas still use firewood for cooking and heating. In the courtyard of the lamasery you can see piles of firewood. The average annual timber consumption of every lama would amount to half a ton.

When we interviewed some Tibetans we gave them a brief introduction to the four-in-one biogas greenhouse and the forthcoming project. It seems that they had no idea of four-in-one biogas greenhouses and had never seen it before. However they are interested in this technology. They said if the biogas produced from the greenhouse could really be used for cooking and heating, it will certainly save a large amount of natural vegetation. If the livestock is breeding in the greenhouse, then they do not need to heat forage and water for them. They also said they can sell vegetables to the nearby villages and township. If they have more money, say if they get more income from the greenhouse, they would like to plant a timber forest at the hillside. We met a relatively well-off farmer. He has seen the vegetable greenhouse before on TV, and had
the idea to invest in developing a vegetable base. This idea has not come off because of a lack of funds and technology. When he heard that we were going to carry out a project concerning such technology, he was really interested in participating in the project.

Finally we decided to make Tongduishui and Qujue near the Shusong experiment station the first pilot sites. There are 19 households in Qujue village, with a cultivated area of 88.31mu. Average annual income is 529yuan (equal to $63). Tongduishu village has 27 households, with a cultivated area of 153.2mu. there exists a big gap between the poor and the rich. Some farmers who are engaged in doing business have an annual income which can amount to 7000yuan (equal to $843), while the annual income of the poorest farmer is lower than 600yuan (equal to $72). These two villages have electricity, but they still consume a large amount of firewood for cooking and heating, say, about 1-1.5 tons annually per household. These two villages are near the Dianzang (Yunnan-Tibetan) Road, and are not far from Benzilan Township. Benzilan has long been an important communications hub for Yunnan and Tibet from. It is here that the caravan will take a rest and replenish their supplies. Hence there are flourishing bazaars,and the traditional commerce is brisk. Benzilan is currently an important town along the Dianzang Road and has many restaurants. It has a great demand for pork and vegetables. The farmers near the town are relatively business conscious. They will be willing to sell the pigs and vegetables. Furthermore, the illegal felling of trees happens relatively frequently in these two villages, especially in Tongduishui. Many of the farmers in Tongduishui have trucks, so it is easy for them to transport wood in the slack season and when there is no Songrong to be collected. If we help them to build biogas greenhouses, they can use their trucks to transport the vegetables and pigs in stead of illegal wood.

Due to time limitations, we could not make further investigations into these two villages. The identification of households, mobilization and publicity will be conducted in the next investigative trip. We have agreed on the establishment of a project office and the candidate for the office. Mr. Jiangcun Xiluo, Director of the Administration, and Mr.Chen Qing, director of SNISD will constitute the leading group. Two members of staff from each party will be appointed responsible for the office, and will be in charge of the management, organization and coordination of the project. The Administration promises to provide the office and temporary accommodation for SNISD experts. SNISD will cover part of the office administration expenses such as personnel expenses, transportation and communication. The Administration has sent the name list and their candidate resumes to SNISD. We will identify the final candidate as soon as possible. Ms. Yin Chuntao will participate in the project on behalf of SNISD, and will be responsible to the leading group.

Future activities are as below:

I. Establishing a project office: purchasing necessary equipment for the office, eg. Computer, printer, communication facilities. Office staff take their positions. Regulation and rules for the office.

II. Mobilization of and publicity directed at the villagers. Participatory rural appraisal in the selected villages.Identification of the farmer candidate for the training program.

III. Deciding the time, place and content of the training program.

We have obtained a general understanding of the Nature Reserve and the lifestyle of the
residents in the Nature Reserve, and signed a MOU with the Administration, chosen the village for the pilot project and identified the Administration candidate for the training program and
the project office during the four days investigation. It is a good beginning for the project.