Guizhou Cultural and Natural Heritage Protection and Development Project Environmental Impact Assessment Guiyang Hydropower Investigation Design & Research Institute China Hydropower Engineering Consultation Group Corporation September 18
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Legal FrameworkCultural Heritage ProtectionThe legal framework for the protection and management of cultural resources in China is strong. The Cultural Heritage Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (1982), the Law of Cultural Relic Protection (2002) and associated regulations provide the legal basis for protection of cultural relics in China. The PRC Law of Cultural Relic Protection was issued in October 2002. It stipulates that construction and tourism development should comply with the policies of cultural relic protection. Damage to cultural relics caused by these activities is prohibited. The building of facilities that pollute cultural relics and their environment, and any other activities which may affect the safety and environment of cultural relics, are prohibited in ‘construction control zones’ or the ‘cultural relic protection unit.’ Any construction projects within the ‘construction control zone’ that threaten the historical environment are prohibited. The law also stipulates that existing facilities which have caused pollution to the cultural relic and its environment should be prosecuted. Regulations of Cultural Protection in Guizhou Province were passed through the provincial congress on September 23, 2005 and became effective on November 1, 2005. These regulations stipulate that repair of intangible cultural assets should be subject to the provincial cultural administration, which will perform a review and approval of the conservation plan. The regulations also require that, prior to construction of large physical projects, archaeological investigation will be carried out under the coordination of the provincial cultural administration. In 1985, the National People’s Congress ratified the UNESCO Convention Concerning the Protection of the World’s Cultural and Natural Heritage (The World Heritage Convention), thereby integrated international practices into Chinese regulation. In relation to intangible heritage, in August 2004, China officially joined the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage and there is a draft of Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage. In 2000, the Principles of Conservation of Heritage Site in China (The Chinese Principles) were developed through a joint effort of China’s ICOMOS and the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. The Chinese Principles are professional guidelines for conservation practices within the existing legislative framework. Presently, there are no specific laws concerning tourism development in China, although the need for such a law has become evident due to the rapid development of China’s tourism industry over the last decade. A series of technical standards have been developed in recent years to provide technical guidance on tourism planning and facility development. For example, Measures for the Administration of Assessment and Appraisal of the Grades of Tour Guides and the Decision of China National Tourism Administration on Amending the Implementation Measures for the Administration of Tour Guides were approved. The Chinese Government issued a notice on Strengthening the Protection of Cultural Heritages on Dec. 22, 2005 which highlights the need for maintenance of physical cultural heritage and the protection of national historical and cultural towns. Conservation of cultural heritage must be incorporated into the regional plans for rural and urban development. In addition, this official notice calls for the establishment of a qualification procedure for the professional teams for construction and repair, and the establishment of comprehensive technical specifications and standards for maintenance works. A. Technical Standards for Cultural Heritage Repair and Maintenance The PRC Law of Cultural Relic Protection has included the requirements for establishing technical standards for repair work and maintenance work on cultural heritage. In the past decade, about 20 sets of standards were issued, including the Technical Specifications for Maintenance and Reinforcement of Ancient Wooden Structures, Color Codes for Chinese Ancient Structures, and Design Specifications for Museums. However, given the diversified nature of cultural heritage, there are still many gaps in the standards for a variety of heritage types, such as stonework and silk textiles. Although a conservative approach is generally applied in the repair and maintenance of heritage, presence of new chemical materials offers an opportunity (and a threat) for these conservation projects. The Administration of Cultural Heritage has set up an expert committee to standardize the system. B. Zoning Requirements for Cultural Protection Unit Physical cultural heritage sites are preserved through the land use planning measures, which often classify the area surrounding and within the heritage site into a Core Protection Zone and a Construction Control Zone. The Core Protection Zone protects the integrity of the heritage itself, i.e. the part with intrinsic cultural value. It also protects the area or facilities where more stringent management measures and repair standards are applied The Construction Control Zone buffers the core protection zone from any impacts on the landscape as a result of new constructions. The management team of the historic and cultural towns is responsible for developing its own conservation plan for the cultural assets within its jurisdiction and is also responsible for supervising the implementation of that plan. Environmental AssessmentThe current technical guidelines for environmental assessment in China covers a wide range of impacts potentially resulting from construction activities and operation of facilities. However the guidelines and EA procedure has not set out any specific requirement for assessment of landscape and visual impact that would occur in scenic areas and geo-parks. Given the nature of geo-parks, where natural landscape is an cornerstone of the location, any visual impacts must be noted in the planning stage of the construction project, to ensure the integrity of the park. The State Environmental Protection Law empowers provincial EPBs to issue such administrative procedures for the implementation of EIA within their jurisdiction. Geological Relics ProtectionThe protection of geological relics has been ignored until recently (the past two decades) in China. With the passage of the Regulations on Establishment of Geological Natural Reserve in 1987, the protection of geological relics has been implemented within a legal context. An important official document, titled Geological Relics Protection Administration Regulation, was issued in 1995, which highlights the establishment of geo-parks to preserve geological relics; it also gives the institutional arrangements to administrate and regulate these areas, as well as the general principle for “active protection with rational development.” The general principle refers to a balance between a national need to preserve geological relics and a local interest in earning economic benefits from developing those relics. The Ministry of Land Resources is empowered, with the assistance of the State Environmental Protection Bureau, to administrate the protection of geological relics in China. Meanwhile, the provincial administrations of land resources are empowered, with the assistance of the provincial environmental bureau, to manage the geological relics within their jurisdiction. Since 2000, a series of attempts were made by the Ministry of Land Resources to establish national geo-parks in China. The application procedures, appraisal experts panel, appraisal standards and the guidelines for a National Geo-Park Master Plan (pilot draft) have been developed and issued since then. Presently, a total of 85 national geo-parks have been appraised and approved across China; 33 of those have been established. To guide the establishment and management of national geo-parks, the Ministry of Land Resources has developed the Master Plan for Geological Relics Protection in China for 2001-2010. The Plan defines the following targets to be achieved at the initial stage (that is, by the end of the first ten-year period after geo-parks became promoted): Curb the trend of uncontrolled development on geo-relics Effectively protect those high-value geo-relics which represent a particular/unique type Complete the institutional structure necessary to oversee the protection of geo-relics Establish geo-parks with a comprehensive set of interesting relics, reasonable locations, and appropriate management. A. Zoning Requirement for Geo-Parks Currently there are no specific planning requirements for National Geo-Parks that are applicable in China. However, relevant administrations have developed protection plans which contain the functional zones for the Geo-Parks under their jurisdiction. Generally, a typical protection plan for Geo-Parks requires that three basic zones be set up: for fundamental protection, scientific study, and tourism development, respectively. Guanling National Geo-Park The Protection Plan for Guanling National Geo-Park was prepared by Guizhou Provincial Geological Survey Institute and approved by the Guizhou Provincial Land Resource Bureau in 2002. The Plan has two types of function zones: a protection zone and a protective development zone. The protection zone includes core protection a sub-zone and a buffer sub-zone; while the protective development zone includes a central development sub-zone, a backup development sub-zone and a fossil protection sub-zone. Functions of these sub-zones are described in Table 4.1-2 below. Table 4.1-2 Summary of the Sub-zones in Guanling Geo-Park
Xingyi National Geo-Park The Master Plan for Xingyi National Geo-Park is developed to promote tourism within the park, and thus the functional zoning emphasizes the development of tourism resources. The park is split into two zones: the peripheral protection zone and the tourism development zone. The peripheral protection zone has an area of 1000 km2. Since previous disturbance by human settlement within this area is severe, and about one-fourth of the total population of Xingyi Prefecture lives in this area, this area is zoned to control the following activities: Large-scale mining and quarry sites Industries with severe pollution Agriculture on slopes with a degree more than 25O B. Protection of Fossil Resource A draft Regulation for Protection of Fossils has been completed by the China Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in March 2008. This regulation has classified the fossil resource into two types: key protection and general protection, with the two having varying levels. The key protection fossils are protected from trading and discovery exercises unless prior permission is given by the relevant regulatory agencies. The general protection fossils may be traded by certified persons and companies through a labeling system. The key protection fossils are classified by the following criteria: Specimen for the identification and named fossil species Rare vertebrates fossils in well-preserved condition Rare or significant fossils that can be regarded as a stage in the process of biological evolution One effective way to preserve the key protection fossils, as defined in the regulation, is to build fossil museums by qualified institutes or persons, provided that construction of the museum follows plans for fossil protection, safeguard facilities, and technical conditions that are necessary to keep the fossils safe. The fossils discovered in the two Geo-parks are generally classified as key protection fossils, as listed in Section 5.6.2. In 1999, a list of Specifications for Scenic Areas Planning was issued in China to specify the management of scenic areas. A very strict zoning requirement is included in the specification for national scenic areas, which can generally be divided into 5 sub-zones. They are: Ecological reserve sub-zone is of great ecological importance and is not open for tourism, but is open for scientific study Special scenic sub-zone is of special aesthetic value and is open for tourism, but vehicles and guest accommodation are prohibited, and facilities are limited to pathways and signs Cultural heritage reserve sub-zone is of cultural and historical value and is open for tourism, but alteration, reconstruction and damage of cultural heritage is prohibited Service sub-zone is intended for construction of guesthouses and paved roads. General control sub-zone is intended for controlling construction in villages close to the scenic area. In addition, the areas beside the control sub-zone that may suffer from activities (such as mining and industrial development) are generally marked as a buffer zone. It is still unsure which national scenic areas will be affected by this project. Since this is the initial stage of such planning, there is no planning document currently available for review. Directory: curated curated -> Concept stage curated -> Concept stage curated -> Republic of Côte d'Ivoire Urbanization Review curated -> Report No: aus11011 Central America curated -> Report No. 94474-pk fiscal Disaster Risk Assessment Options for Consideration curated -> Environmental and Social Management Framework for the Costa Rica Telecommunications Sector Modernization Project curated -> Environment Impact Assessment For Jiangxi Shangrao Sanqingshan Airport Beijing Guohuantiandi Environmental Technology Development Center. Ltd. Oct. 2012 Content curated -> Growth through Innovation An Industrial Strategy for Shanghai By Shahid Yusuf Kaoru Nabeshima April 22nd, 2009 curated -> Report No: 70178. People's Republic of China Download 1.45 Mb. Share with your friends:
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