Forest Hisory in Yunnan, China (I):

The Jungden basin situated in the high mountain area Qf northwestern Yunnan Province has a predominantly Tibetan population who hve mainly by animal husbandry and dry farming Although the Tibetans have traditionalLy used forest resources to a hmited degree for fuel construction and fodder the forest around the basin originatly high mountain conifer orest has been almost completely degraded to shrub or grassland as the result of forest exploitatlon that began in the 1970s Today the only blocks of forest that remain unexp oited are those dedicated to the mountain god " Gshi -bdag alocal tutelary deity Each ham et in the basin has at least one L ' Gshibdag " forest which is left uncut since people believe that disturbance of these forests w invite disaster such as death of people or domestic animats God mountain forests and th associated beliefs are Qbserved amQng not only Tibetan but also Han and Tai peoples in southern Y nnan These patches of ferest appear as oases in a desert of denudation Here I discuss the ethos or attitudes of people that keep part of the forest untouched