Application of Hani People's Traditional Knowledge on Forest Management

Traditional knowledge has an important role to play in the management and utilization of forests in the ethnic minority areas of China. We conducted field survey and analysis on three types of forests which including sacred forests, family contracted forests and collective rehabilitative forests. It indicated significant differences among the 3 types of the forests on community structure, tree species diversity and forest stock. Our research also showed that family contracted forests type has the highest Shannon-Wiener index, followed by sacred forests and collective rehabilitative forests. Nevertheless, sacred forests maintain the highest level of forest stock, followed by family contracted forests moderate and collective rehabilitative forests. Sociological investigation on traditional knowledge of local Hani communities has been combined with ecological field studies in our research. It demonstrated that religious beliefs, festivals & rites, customary laws and other forms of traditional knowledge related to forests are key factors to explain the ecological differences of the above three types of forests. To conclude, reasonable functional division, land tenure policy and different forest management approaches are prerequisites if to achieve sustainable forestry management. The integration of traditional knowledge and forestry reforming may provide an alternative approach in promoting forestry development in local communities.