清代西江下游植树护林初探

Afforestation and Forest Protection in the Lower Reaches of Xijiang River in Qing Dynasty

森林能够涵养水源,保持水土,调节气候,是山地丘陵地区生态系统的核心。清代西江下游地区人们对此已有较为深刻的认识,因此本区颇为重视植树造林和保护林木。在植树造林方面,诸如观赏林、行道树、防护林的栽植,所在多有。在森林保护方面,其突出特点则是树立碑刻进行保护。从这些碑刻的内容来分析,西江下游人们结合宗教、民间风俗、所有权及借助官府的力量等措施来保护森林,多管齐下,在体现他们智慧的同时,也较好地保护了本区的生态环境,从而为珠江三角洲乃至整个广东的生态环境保护作出了重要贡献。

Forest can accumulate and store up water resources, conserve soil, and regulate climate, so it is the core of an ecosystem in mountainous and hilly area. The people in the lower reaches of Xijiang River in Qing Dynasty had a profound understanding on it; therefore they paid great attentions to the afforestation and forest protection. Concerning afforestation, they planted many kinds of trees such as ornamental forests, roadside trees, and protection forests. In the aspect of forest protection, the most salient thing was they set up inscriptions for protecting the forests. Through analyzing the contents of these inscriptions, we know that the people in the lower reaches of Xijiang River protected the forests with the combined help of religion, folk customs, ownership and the power of government. These measures not only reflected the wisdom of the local people, but also ensured the proeetion of the ecological environment of this area, which had contributed significantly to the ecological environment in the Pearl River Delta and even whole Guangdong Province.