Farmers\u2019 landslide risk perceptions and willingness for restoration and conservation of world heritage site of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, China

Xuan Gao,Zhilin Liu,Paolo Tarolli,Giulia Roder,Yuanmei Jiao,Yinping Ding

doi:10.1007/s10346-020-01389-4

Abstract

The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces (China) is an ancient world heritage agricultural landscape that has been evolved in centuries as a result of farmers’ indigenous practices and knowledge. The area, however, is prone to landslides that can burden the conservation of these landscapes including their social, cultural, economic and aesthetic value. In June 2018, a landslide threatened the villages of Duosha and Mengpin affecting 138 inhabitants and the terraces structure. This event marked the need to understand how farmers coexist with these natural hazards and which are the behaviours people adopt to conserve their environment and safeguard their livelihood. Results from 125 in-person interviews showed that farmers feel threaten by landslide events derived by their personal experience, but their poor perceived preparedness and the inefficient disaster information make them more vulnerable to those events. Nevertheless, they demonstrated a desire to increase their knowledge on terraces restoration and conservation practices. This is an important signal for public authorities and practitioners that need to underpin training activities and create momentum for discussion. The demonstrated high trust in authorities’ decisions is a crucial element to pursue the objective and sustain the conservation of the terraces and the tourism economy.

Highlights

Climate change, especially the increase of extreme weather events, possesses severe threats all over the world (Gruber 2011)
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations launched in 2002 the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), to mobilize global awareness and support dynamic conservation and adaptive management practices of indigenous agricultural systems (Zhang et al 2017)
The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces (HHRTs) is located in Yuanyang County of Yunnan Province, Southwest China, between 102.68–102.85 E and 23.01–23.17 N, and is characterized by a subtropical monsoon climate with more than 1400 mm rainfall across the rainy season (May to October) (Jiao et al 2019a), when the steep and deeply incised fragile mountainous environment is very sensitive to landslides and terrace collapses (Jiao et al 2012)

Summary

Introduction

Especially the increase of extreme weather events, possesses severe threats all over the world (Gruber 2011). The recurrence of such threats are a call for action for policymakers, planners, practitioners and communities to manage and sustainably conserve these landscapes to preserve their sociocultural identity and economic profitability Agricultural heritage sites, such as terraces, are complex socioecological systems developed by long-term interactions between humans and nature (Chen et al 2020; Wei et al 2016). Landslides are quite common phenomena affecting agricultural heritage terraces causing severe damages: from the Machu Picchu archaeological site in Peru (Sassa et al 2003; Klimeš 2013), the Cinque Terre in Italy (Agnoletti et al 2019; Brandolini et al 2018) and the Slovakian and Greek landscapes (Canuti et al 2009) The impacts of these mass movements for farmers are enormous, to that policymakers at the international and national levels have come to terms with this pressing issue. In the GIAHS framework, people’s perceptions are recognized to be necessary, since they work as precepts but they are able to intervene in the behavioural process (Hua and Zhou 2015)

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Conclusion