On November 30, the 35th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th Yunnan Provincial People’s Congress reviewed and passed the Regulations of Yunnan Province on the Protection of Ancient Tea Trees (the “Regulations”), clearly providing for strengthened protection of wild tea trees and cultivated tea trees over 100 years of age. The Regulations take effect on March 1, 2023.
Yunnan is rich in ancient tea tree resources. The Regulations explicitly bring within their protection scope wild and cultivated tea trees over 100 years old within Yunnan’s administrative areas, and provide that people’s governments at or above the county level in areas with ancient tea trees must incorporate their protection into overall national economic and social development plans and territorial space plans, and coordinate funding for ancient tea tree protection, management and research.
The Regulations prohibit six kinds of acts harmful to ancient tea trees and their growing environment: felling or transplanting ancient tea trees without authorization; carving into, breaking branches of, digging up roots of, or stripping bark from ancient tea trees; using growth regulators or chemical herbicides harmful to ancient tea trees within protection areas; destroying companion trees within protection areas or planting economic forest trees or crops that affect ancient tea trees’ growth; digging sand, quarrying stone or extracting soil within protection areas, using open flames, discharging waste gas or waste water, or dumping or piling waste residue; and moving or damaging protection signs or name plaques without authorization.
In addition, the Regulations provide that constructing, rebuilding or extending buildings or structures within ancient tea tree protection areas, developing tourism projects, prospecting or mining, and conducting scientific research, surveys, teaching practice or film and television shooting must go through the relevant legal procedures and adopt effective protective measures to avoid damage to ancient tea trees.
Notably, the Regulations also stipulate that foreigners are prohibited from collecting or purchasing seeds, fruits, roots, stems, seedlings, buds, leaves, flowers or other planting or propagation materials of ancient tea trees within Yunnan’s administrative areas; violators will have the collected or purchased materials confiscated by the forestry-grassland or agriculture and rural affairs departments at or above the county level, and may additionally be fined between 10,000 and 50,000 yuan.
Compiled by this magazine from Xinhua News Agency, Chinanews.com and other sources
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Author: Lam Sam (LamSam), the Old Tea Head
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