Resident Relocation of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site Based on Community Participation Theory

Qindan FAN, Yuhui WU

1. College of City Construction, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China; 2. Tourism and Cultural Industry School, Hunan University of Science and Technology, Yongzhou 425199, China

Abstract Migrant relocation is an important measure for the scenic spot to effectively protect the ecological environment. The problem of migrant relocation of Wulingyuan World Heritage Site is the most serious and difficult problem in the development of Wulingyuan, and it is a very representative case of migrant relocation in tourist attractions of China. Based on the community participation theory, this paper made a detailed analysis of the panel data on the relocation of residents in Wulingyuan World Heritage Site. Combining the first-hand information obtained from the field interviews, starting from the reasons for the relocation, the resettlement plan, and the effects of the relocation, it also analyzed the problems existing in the relocation of residents in Wulingyuan World Heritage Site. Finally, it came up with recommendations in line with the interests of residents from the perspective of community participation.

Key words Community participation, Community residents, Migrant relocation, Wulingyuan World Heritage Site

1 Introduction

At present, domestic and foreign scholars have made relatively little research on the relocation of residents in heritage sites or tourist destinations, and most scholars focused on projects involving national economy and people’s livelihood such as the relocation due to natural disasters[1-3], poverty alleviation relocation[4-6], and engineering construction relocation[7-8]. Generally, migrants due to the relocation must be properly resettled, and the issue of community participation will be involved in the proper resettlement. The term "community participation" first appeared in the bookTourism:ACommunityApproachwritten by Murphy in the 1980s, Murphy introduced the approach of community participation into the research of tourism[9]. In the study of community participation and heritage sites, scholars both at home and abroad concentrated on applying the methods of community participation in heritage tourism[10-12]and heritage protection[13-14].

Wulingyuan is one of the first batch of world natural heritage sites in China, and its relocation has been widely concerned by academic circles, and scholars such as Nie Jianbo[15], Wang Kai[16], Yi Jing[17], Wang Lixin[18],etal. have conducted research on issues such as the demolition of buildings in Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site, the livelihood of residents after resettlement, and the water quality after resettlement. However, they did not combine the theory of community participation with the relocation of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site. Starting from the outstanding universal value, community and tourism development of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site, and based on the panel data of the relocation of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site, we analyzed the background, resettlement plan and effect of resident relocation in Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site. Based on the community participation theory, we came up with relocation recommendations in line with the interests of residents.

2 General information about Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site

2.1 General information and outstanding universal value of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage SiteWulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site, consisted of the heritage site (264 km2) and the buffer zone (126.8 km2), covers a total area of 390.8 km2. There are quartz sandstone landforms, karst landforms, and endangered species of animals and plants such asDavidiainvolucrata,GinkgobilobaL.,Neofelisnebulosa, andPantherapardus. Due to its wonderful natural landscape and abundant animal and plant resources, Wulingyuan became China’s first national forest park in 1982, China’s second batch of national scenic spots in 1988, China’s first batch of world geoparks in 2004, and was awarded the title of national 5A level scenic spot[19](Fig.1).

Fig.1 Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site and its buffer zone

2.2 Overview of community residents in Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage SiteBy the end of 2016, Wulingyuan District had 6 township administrative units, including Zhonghu Township, Tianzishan Subdistrict, Luoguta Subdistrict, Xiehe Township, Jundiping Subdistrict and Suoxiyu Subdistrict, and a total of 33 organic villages and neighborhood committees. Among them, the heritage site involves a total of 27 organic villages and neighborhood committees, and the buffer zone involves a total of 26 organic villages and neighborhood committees

Wulingyuan World Heritage Site is one of the minority area in Hunan Province. The minority population in the region accounts for 93.5% of the total population of the region. By the end of 2016, the total permanent population of the district was 61 700, including 35 800 urban population and 25 900 rural population.

2.3 Overview of tourism development in Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage SiteThe Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site is mainly composed of six areas including Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Tianzi Mountain, Yuanjiajie, Yangjiajie, Huanglong Cave, and Baofeng Lake. After the successful application for the World Heritage in 1992, the Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Sit became a world-class golden sign. In 2016, Wulingyuan District received a total of 22 860 400 tourists throughout the year, realizing a total tourism income of 10.202 billion yuan, making a new record in Wulingyuan tourism.

Data source: Statistics Bureau of Zhangjiajie City.

3 Research of the present situation of resident relocation of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site

3.1 Background of relocationSince the end of the last century, the Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site has experienced three major relocations of the residents from 1999 to 2000, 2001 to 2003, and 2015 to the present. The reasons for the three major relocations are similar.

(i) The biggest reason for the relocation is the pressure of the international community. In 1998, the UNESCO World Heritage Center and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) issued a yellow card warning that "the excessive operation of tourist facilities in heritage sites has had an important impact on the aesthetic quality of heritage sites". It demanded the government of the Contracting State to demolish the tourist reception facilities of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site and effectively control the urbanization tendency of the heritage site.

(ii) The pressure from the superior government. After receiving a "yellow card" warning from UNESCO in 1998, leaders of relevant central and provincial departments visited Wulingyuan District for many times, demanding to accelerate the house demolition in heritage sites, and strengthen efforts to return farmland to forests and greening. During an inspection in Zhangjiajie in 2001, Premier Zhu Rongji asked Wulingyuan to further speed up the process of demolition of buildings that influence the observation, environment and obstruct the scenic area in response to ecological and environmental issues[15]. In 2017, the Central Environmental Protection Supervision Team urged local governments to demolish illegal buildings.

(iii) The pressure from the public opinions. Since the middle of the 1990s, the scale of Wulingyuan development has become larger and larger. The disorderly construction of tourist reception facilities caused by its development has seriously affected the outstanding universal value of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site, which has also attracted the attention of nature-loving scholars both at home and abroad[20-24]. In addition, the bad attitudes of local residents who are engaged in tourism operations towards tourists have led to a sharp decline in tourist satisfaction.

Finally, the improvement of laws and regulations set forth higher requirements for the protection of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site. TheRegulationsontheProtectionofWulingyuanWorldNaturalHeritageinHunanProvinceimplemented in 2001 and theOverallPlanforWulingyuanScenicArea(2005-2020) implemented in 2005 have formed effective restrictions on the construction of the Wulingyuan heritage site and promoted the demolition of tourist reception facilities that were originally built in disorder in the heritage site.

3.2 Relocation and resettlement planIn order to fulfill China’s commitment to the international community as a contracting government, the Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site has started to demolish the residential buildings and illegal buildings in the Wulingyuan Heritage Site in three phases since June 1999, and organized the relocation of the indigenous people in the heritage site to the buffer zone of the heritage site, and properly resettled the relocated residents (Table 1).

Table 1 Relocation and planned relocation of Wulingyuan World Heritage Site and the buffer zone

3.3 Evaluation of relocation effectThree times of major relocation and resettlement work has brought positive impacts on the protection and management of Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site. The process also reflected many problems in the relocation and resettlement work, especially in the protection of the interests of community residents.

(i) Three times of major relocations have effectively improved the ecological environment of the Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site. From 1999 to the end of 2009, the Wulingyuan District Government demolished about 330 000 m2of buildings obstructing observation in the heritage site and restored more than 380 000 m2of vegetation. With the continuous reduction of tourist reception facilities in the heritage site and the gradual improvement of sewage facilities, the quality of the water environment in the heritage site continues to improve.

(ii) Relocation and resettlement of residents are not in place, and there is serious rebound phenomenon. During the relocation of the Wulingyuan heritage site, resettlement of residents was mainly taken in the form of monetary resettlement and building new houses. The lack of employment arrangements for the relocated residents resulted in the phenomenon of "relocating but not retaining" among the residents in the heritage site. Besides, due to the continuous development of tourism in Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site, tourists’ demand for accommodation and catering has formed a huge tourist reception market. In addition, the government imposed insufficient penalties for illegal business activities of residents. The living pressure, huge economic benefits, and low illegal costs have caused some residents who have been relocated from the mountain to use various methods to return to the mountain for construction and carry out various tourist reception activities.

(iii) The effect of early concealed resettlement is not satisfactory. Due to insufficient funds, the number of residents who actually relocated from the mountain during the two major relocations in 1999 and 2001 was not large. Most residents were resettled by concealed resettlement methods in nearby areas that did not affect the landscape. In recent years, with the expansion of the Wulingyuan tour route, the original concealed resettlement places are no longer concealed. In addition, the residents of the heritage site use the transformation of houses into inns and restaurants to conduct illegal tourism reception operations, resulting in greater pressure in scenic management, ecological protection and environmental management. In addition, in order to more effectively protect the outstanding universal value of the Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site, the housing construction and renovation activities of the residents resettled nearby in the heritage site are strictly controlled. Their living sources rely mainly on government subsidies and tourist income dividends from scenic spots, it is difficult for them to improve living standards.

4 Application of the community participation theory in the resident relocation of the Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site

4.1 Improving the relocation compensation system and setting relocation compensation standardsIn order to effectively protect the Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site, it is necessary to demolish illegally operated tourist reception facilities in the heritage site. The relocation of the original residents is also more conducive to the protection and development of the Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site. In the relocation process, three aspects should be paid attention to to improve the relocation compensation system.

(i) Making clear the status of the main body of housing construction ownership. Before demolishing and relocation, the construction ownership of all types of buildings must be confirmed and they must comply with the government’s relevant utilization plan. (ii) Establishing a relocation compensation system. After the relocation of the migrants, the complaint channels of the relocated residents should still be kept open, and a legal aid system should be established for the relocated residents so that the relocated residents can use the law to protect their legal rights in time. (iii) Setting relocation compensation standards. It is necessary to introduce a third-party organization that has no interest in the relocated residents and scenic spots to conduct market evaluations of the land. In this manner, it can ensure the relative fairness of the relocation process and can make the relocated residents understand the value of their buildings[25].

4.2 Improving the social security system for relocated residentsResidents who have been relocated have lost their original means of survival and a stable source of income, and their economic risks have continued to increase. Therefore, a sound social security system for land-lost farmers is an important channel to deal with the livelihood security of relocated residents.

(i) It is necessary to improve the institutional systems, such as institutional systems including life security, pension insurance, medical security, and legal aid systems. (ii) The government and scenic spots should try their best to implement the system. (iii) It is necessary to establish a sound institutional supervision system and establish supervision committees composed of different classes to reduce the occurrence of stealing, taking, blocking, and demanding during the implementation of the social security system. The supervision committee can not only supervise the implementation of the system, but also alleviate the contradictory relationship among scenic spots, the masses, and the government, which is more conducive to the sustainable and healthy development of the heritage site.

4.3 Encouraging relocated residents to participate in stocks, participate in business operations, and share profitsEncouraging the relocated people to participate in stocks, participate in business operations, and share profits can not only better protect the interests of farmers, but also is an important way to solve the problem of "relocating but not retaining" in the relocation of residents in the heritage site. For example, bamboo raft projects and operating stalls in the Wuyi Mountain Scenic Area are leased to the relocated people for operation at low prices. These can not only avoid the disadvantages of low cultural quality of the relocated people, but also make the heritage site and the relocated people become a community of interests, and reconcile the contradictions between them.

4.4 Strengthening employment training for relocated residents, and attracting relocated residents to work in scenic spotsIn the process of development, the tourism industry needs a large amount of labor, but the entry requirements for many positions are not high, thus, in this process, heritage sites can hire some relocated people with low cultural quality[26]. In the process of heritage site development and construction, absorbing local people to work in the scenic area can not only solve the employment problem of the relocated people, but also reduce the labor cost of the scenic area to a certain extent. Since the relocated people have relatively low cultural quality, the heritage site and the government can organize pre-job training to strengthen the employment ability of the relocated residents.

4.5 Giving full play to the leading role of the tourism industry and guiding the relocated residents to start their own businessesTourism is an industry with significant leading effect. The development of a scenic spot will definitely drive the development of the local hotels, restaurants, construction, transportation and other industries. As predicted by experts, for every labor in the tourism industry, it can drive the development of 5 jobs in related industries[27].

After the completion of the planning of the Wulingyuan World Natural Heritage Site, some construction projects can employ local construction teams to transform the relocated residents into the construction industry. Alternatively, under the unified planning of the scenic spot, it is feasible to cooperate with relevant departments to support the relocated residents to carry out tourism-related catering, accommodation, and self-employment activities around the scenic spot, so that local residents can start the road of self-employment and prosperity.