Agro-environmental Sustainability of the Yuanyang Rice Terraces of Yunnan Province, China

Resumen

The Hani minority people of Yunnan Province (south-west China) have developed a complex and sustainable agro-environmental system of terraced rice paddy fields in Yuanyang (22°49'-23°19'N, 102°27-103°13'E). The Hani people have maintained this intricate and elaborate system for over 1,300 years, with some 3,000 terraces covering about 11,000 hectares. Hence, during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Emperor awarded the Hani people the title of “Magic Mountain Sculptors” for “building their ladders to Heaven.” However, geographic isolation and proximity to the, until recently, politically-sensitive border with Vietnam, has meant the Yuanyang terraces have attracted scant scientific attention. If we can understand how this system is sustained, we can learn lessons which hopefully can be applied more generally.