The Xishuangbanna elephant belongs to the Asian species. They live on plants that are mainly distributed in western and south-western Yunnan Province. There are about 254 or so in the wild, fewer than the number of giant pandas, and they have reached the critical number for the survival of the species. At present, the Xishuangbanna elephant is classified as an endangered animal with first-grade state protection.

Much of Yunnan is forested, which makes it suitable for cultivating rubber trees. The government was initially active in encouraging the development of the rubber industry. According to local villagers, felling living trees is prohibited, but the trees will die quickly if a circle of bark is cut from their trunks. A local environmentalist, Zhang Zhengxiang, believes that since 1998 deforestation has worsened and the response to people's interference with wildlife habitats is like some kind of legendary retribution.

Planting rubber trees in the Yakou Village of Jingna Township began in 2003, and was supported by the local government. Large areas of woodland were reclaimed by the government and used for rubber plantations by a company called Tianbao. Villagers were told to protect natural forest but they were given no compensation, although the lands belong to them.

Along with some of his fellows, a villager called Dao Fusheng brought certificates of woodland ownership to the government and asked for compensation, alternatively requesting that they should be allowed to plant rubber trees themselves, but they received no answer.

Zhang Peilan, secretary of the Jingna Township Party Committee, explained later that the woodlands were formerly barren hills. When the certificates of woodland ownership were issued in 1983 and 1999, the staff understood little of the process and distributed the state-owned barren hills to the villagers, but now possession was being reclaimed.

Chen Yingzhong, a security officer employed by the Tianbao Company, claimed the company uses about 200 hectares in Yakou Village for planting trees, while villagers believe they have greatly under-reported the area involved, which the villagers allege is over 300 hectares. Village sources say that Liu Shunliang, head of the Tianbao company, also works for the Forestry Bureau of Jinghong City, but that it is not clear whether the company is owned by the bureau.

The township Party committee and government are aware of the issue and have organized working groups to investigate the matter. In July, 2008, Liu Shunliang was arrested along with four other farmers, and has not yet been released.

Rubber was imported to Xishuangbannan from Thailand in 1948, but since the latex price was initially low the government's preferential policy did not benefit locals. Between 1994 and 2000 the price of latex tripled from 2000 yuan per ton to 6000 yuan. By this point the farmers could make a net profit of 16,000 yuan with 445 plants per hectare. In Guanlei Township, about 80 percent of farmers and 90 percent of workers became wealthy through planting rubber trees.

On November 29, 2001, local government made a decision to establish a rubber production centre producing 170,000 tons of dry rubber and covering an area of 130,000 hectares. With the cancellation of agricultural taxes, people were enthusiastic about the plantation, and the area involved spread from 70,000 hectares in 1988 to 400,000 hectares in 2006, according to Legal Daily.

Research shows that the rubber forest absorbs great quantities of underground water and can cause soil losses. Village wells can no longer provide the locals with enough water. Public weather data also shows that the annual days of fog has significantly decreased in the rubber areas.

Xiao Guixiu of the Yunnan Scientific Institute of Tropical Crops explains that planting rubber trees at an altitude of more than 1,100 meters altitude will bring no economic benefits but will spoil the ecological environment, such as resulting soil losses, landslides or even flash floods.

Duan Jinhua, an official from the Xishuangbanna Publicity Department, said the local government is aware of the rapid growth of the rubber plantation industry. They have proposed controlling planting areas and stabilizing production in local "11th five-year plan", and have ruled that non-farmers cannot rent woodland for the purpose of planting rubber trees.

Reports indicate that since 2005, the local government has been steadily combating deforestation. It is determined to establish a defined area of rubber tree plantations, to protect the variety of animal species, and to keep a balanced ecology, and has paid farmers who have returned rubber land to natural forestry.

In order to protect the environment and its ecology, a corridor zone will be established for the elephants. With this in place, the attacks on local residents should cease.

(China.org.cn by Jessica Zhang, January 15, 2008)