The Importance of Spiritual Ecology in the Qingyuan Forest Mushroom Co-Cultivation System

Guannan Zhu,Xingsui Cao,Qingwen Min,Kai Zhang,Bin Wang

doi:10.3390/su14020865

Abstract

The ecological value encapsulated in the term “spiritual ecology” is drawing more and more attention from ethnology, folklore, ecology, and other related disciplines. The custom of respecting and pacifying forest spirits has distinct regional and ethnic characteristics, and many scholars have discovered samples from different studies around the world. Qingyuan County, located in the mountainous region of southwest Zhejiang, is a very typical case of the practice of respecting and pacifying forest spirits. The mushroom-cultivation technology invented by the chthonic people there more than 900 years ago made this the global birthplace of artificial mushroom cultivation. The Qingyuan Forest–Mushroom Co-cultivation System (QFMCS) has been listed as an important agricultural heritage system by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Beijing, China and a candidate project by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Italy for Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). Additionally, the QFMCS is currently an important part of the Baishanzu National Park under construction. The authors made an in-depth field study in the mountainous areas of Qingyuan and used theoretical methods of ecology, anthropology, and folklore to reveal the function spiritual ecology plays in ecological conservation, forest protection, identity, and the maintenance of community interests. In the “traditional-modern” transformation of Qingyuan County, the practice of respecting and pacifying the Spirits is still being propagated, resulting in expansion and social cohesion.

Highlights

IntroductionThe global wave of industrialization and urbanization is increasingly highlighting its negative impact on ecological and human environments
Introduction published maps and institutional affilThe global wave of industrialization and urbanization is increasingly highlighting its negative impact on ecological and human environments
We mainly investigated the status of the Qingyuan edible fungus industry and the organization of Qingyuan spiritual ecology activities

Summary

Introduction

The global wave of industrialization and urbanization is increasingly highlighting its negative impact on ecological and human environments. Humans have been the driving force in changing the Earth system, causing certain anthropogenic changes in the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere. With abnormal changes in the global climate, extreme weather is more frequent and intense, causing enormous or even irreversible damages and even political conflicts and violence in some cases. Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) covers the protection and conservation of various plant and animal species and their habitats. Biodiversity covers all living systems on earth, both terrestrial and marine. The UN’s Global Biodiversity Outlook warns that the growing climate crisis is worsening prospects for biodiversity—which includes all the trees, plants, and animals in forests or all the fish and corals in coral reefs.

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