Current location:entertainment >>
Wildfire destroys prized mushrooms, income source for Tibetans — Radio Free Asia
entertainment21281People have gathered around
IntroductionA recent wildfire in a Tibetan-populated area of China’s Sichuan province ravaged vast swathes of fo ...
A recent wildfire in a Tibetan-populated area of China’s Sichuan province ravaged vast swathes of forests covered with pine and oak trees that nurtured a hidden treasure and an economic lifeline for residents — matsutake mushrooms.
The wildfire that broke out in March in Nyagchu county, or Yajiang in Chinese, in Kardze Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, forced 3,000 people from the traditional Kham region of Tibet to evacuate the area and burned down several houses. No human casualties have been reported.
But the fire destroyed about one-sixth of the county’s matsutake output, Chen Wen, director of the Yajiang Matsutake Industrial Park, told Chinese media.
The mushrooms, which Tibetans gather to supplement their income and others use in dishes in Japan, South Korea and China, may not grow again in the burned area for at least 20 years, he said.
China is the world’s largest producer and exporter of matsutake mushrooms, exporting US$30.3 million in 2022, while Japan is the top importer, bringing in US$24.7 million that year.
The primary places where the mushrooms grow in China are within the Tibetan plateau, including in Nyagchu county, which accounted for more than 12% of China’s annual output, according to the Yajiang County Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Science and Technology Bureau.
Demanding and lucrative
Many families in Nyagchu — where Tibetans make up the majority of the county’s population of over 51,000 — have for years braved the frigid mountain air to forage for the elusive mushrooms during the traditional harvest season between July and September.
Foraging matsutake is a demanding if lucrative job with harvesters often spending weeks at high altitudes in harsh weather conditions to search for the mushrooms, said an area resident. Some varieties are rare and require meticulous searching, while others grow underground and require careful removal, he said.
“In one day, you can make more than 2,000 yuan (US$300) during the harvesting season,” said a source inside Tibet who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Residents believe that the impact of the fire may force some Tibetans to abandon matsutake harvesting and seek alternative sources of income in other areas.
But at a recent press conference on the impact of the wildfire, Sichuan provincial representatives did not mention the disaster’s potential effects on the livelihoods of Tibetans who rely on matsutake harvesting.
The fire also damaged the local ecosystem, killing birds and insects that play a role in the growth of the mushrooms, said an area resident, adding that the long-term ecological consequences of the blaze remain unclear.
“Nyagchu is renowned for its abundance of naturally grown matsutake, and the harvest is a crucial source of income for many Tibetan families in the county,” said Washington-based Tsering Palden, a native of Nyagchu, who has sold the mushrooms in the past.
Palden estimates that area households earn about 200,000 yuan (US$28,000) annually from selling the mushrooms.
‘Oak mushrooms’
In Tibet, matsutake mushrooms are most commonly referred to as “oak mushrooms,” or beshing shamoand beshafor short in Tibetan, in a nod to their symbiotic relationship with evergreen oak trees in Tibet.
In his 2022 book “What a Mushroom Lives for: Matsutake and the Worlds They Make,” Michael Hathaway, professor of anthropology at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, describes how Tibetan villagers in Yunan province hunt for them.
The villagers gather the mushrooms in the morning and return home when dealers arrive at a market or drive along the roads, buying them as they go, he writes. The dealers then sell their matsutake to other dealers, who arrange for them to be shipped across China and to Japan and South Korea.
The price of matsutake mushrooms had jumped over the past 40 years from the equivalent of about US$1 per pound (2.2 kg) in 1985 to US$70 per pound, according to Beijing-based Tibetan writer and poet Tsering Woeser.
The mushrooms have specific environmental requirements for growth and thrive in undisturbed, high-altitude forests with the right balance of sunlight and moisture, said the source inside Tibet.
“The fire has disrupted these conditions and may take years for the ecosystem to recover sufficiently to support matsutake growth,” he added.
Translated and edited by Tenzin Pema for RFA Tibetan. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Malcolm Foster.
Tags:
Reprint:Friends are welcome to share on the Internet, but please indicate the source of the article when reprinting it.“Stellar Stories news portal”。http://mauritania.downmusic.org/content-38c599912.html
Related articles
Turkey says it has carried out new airstrikes against Kurdish militants in northern Iraq
entertainmentANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkey has carried out a new round of airstrikes targeting Kurdish militants i ...
Read moreChina to Ensure Women Employees' Rights, Interests
entertainmentContact Us HomeNewsHighlightACWF NewsSocietyWom ...
Read moreSlogan, Mascots, emblem of Asian Winter Games unveiled
entertainment(Xinhua) 13:07, January 11, 2024Emblem for 9th Asian Winter Games in northeast China's Harbin was un ...
Read more
Popular articles
Latest articles
Woman reveals horror of being sexually abused by her cousin's fiancé, 26, when she was 12 years old
China Enhances Judicial Protection for Minors Against Sexual Violations
Teams from Both Sides of Taiwan Strait Take Part in Dragon Boat Race in Xiamen, SE China
Railway Authorities Organize Onboard Markets, Performances in SW China
Georgia's attorney general says Savannah overstepped in outlawing guns in unlocked cars
People Celebrate Miao Sisters Festival in SW China's Guizhou
LINKS
- Jose Ramirez's slump
- Leverkusen extends unbeaten record to 48 games with 5
- EMILY PRESCOTT: It's a power meeting! Eco Ellie Goulding's cosy chat with Ovo energy boss
- Brent Rooker homers twice in 3rd inning, Athletics roll Marlins 20
- Dodgers place closer Evan Phillips on injured list with hamstring strain and activate Blake Treinen
- City traders fired after being caught having sex with a cleaner in the office after
- Britain 'must lay out red carpet' to retain top tech firms
- Dodgers place closer Evan Phillips on injured list with hamstring strain and activate Blake Treinen
- Mexican police: Thieves killed Australian and American surfers to steal truck
- Cambodian PM celebrates Int'l Labor Day with seaport workers