Xining City Flood and Watershed Management Project

Xining City Flood and Watershed Management Project

（P101829）

Ethnic Minorities Development Plan

Western Development Research Center, Central University for Nationalities

October, 2008 Beijing

Contents

Abstract 1

I Project Overview 6

I-I Project Discription 6

I-II The Connection Between Project and Ethnic Minorities 7

I-III The Necessity to Establish Ethnic Minority Development Plan 8

II The Situation of Ethnic Minorities in the Project Areas 9

II-I The Process and Methods to Have Ethnic Minority Baseline Survey in the Project Area 9

II-II Ethnic Minority Population and Distribution 16

II-III History, Culture and Livelihood of Ethnic Minorities 18

II-III-I Tibetan 18

II-III-II Hui people 26

II-IV Ethnic Relations in Project Area 30

II-V Activities in Ethnic Minority communities and Response of Ethnic Minority Residents to the Project 31

III The Relevant Laws, Policies and Other Basis in Compiling EMDP 40

III-I The Chinese Government Policy Spirit 40

III-II Current Laws and Regulations in China 40

III-II-I The Constitution (Amended in 2004) 41

III-II-II Ethnic and Religious Laws 43

III-II-III General Laws and Regulations 44

III-III World Bank Policy 44

III-IV Relevant Basis 45

IV Land System in the Project Area 47

IV-I Land System Change 47

IV-II Land Laws and Regulations 47

IV-III Nature Resources and Land Use Structure of Ethnic Minorities 48

V-IV the Influence of the Projects on the Land System 50

V Ethnic Minorities Participation 51

V-I Ethnic Minorities’ Informed Condition and Experience 51

V-II Participation Desire 51

V-III Participation Principle 53

V-IV Program Recognition 54

V-V Safeguard Ethnic Minorities Participating in the Plan and Relevant Measures 56

V-V-I Participation plan 56

V-V-II Safeguard Mechanism of Participation 57

V-VI Training Participation 58

VI Implementation Steps of EMDP 61

VI-I Stage and Task 61

VI-II Progress Schedules 61

VI-III the Case Analysis of Ethnic Minority Community Development Project 69

VII Monitoring and Assessment 77

VII-I The Main Body of Monitoring and Assessment 77

VII-II Index System of Monitoring and Assessment 77

VII-III Period of the Monitoring and Assessment and Information Publicity 78

64

Abstract

In November 2007, director of the Western Development Research Center of Central University for Nationalities, Professor Zhang Haiyang, and deputy director, associate Professor Jia Zhong Yi (hereinafter referred to entrusted party) accepted the commission of Xining World Bank Project Office to have social assessment on Xining flood control and watershed management project (P101829) (hereinafter referred to entrusted party), the tasks are as follows:

First, to have integral assessment on the social, economical and cultural effect that the Project (Engineering Control and ecological management included) have on the residents in Xining project area, including one city, two counties, three Chuan, one River and 28 gullies.

Second, to have basic description of the Project, Project area, especially the Population Scale , Distribution ,Administration unit, Living style, Ethnic composition ,Cultural characteristics and Economic and social development condition of the residents influenced by the Project.

Third, to identify the category, mode and degree of opportunities and risks brought to the minority ethnic residents and their community culture, meanwhile, put forward improvement suggestion referring to resident participative management organized by community.

Fourth, to write social assessment Report based on the above mentioned and make assessment suggestion on whether the Project should specially define ethnic minorities development plan.

From late November 2007 to mid January 2008, the entrusted party did two times field research on the project area by a 9-person assessment group, including Zhang Haiyang, Jia Zhongyi (Miao Ethinic Group, associate professor), Lamaocuo (female, Tibatan, research fellow),Lu Shunyuan (Tibatan, associate research fellow),E Zongrong (Tu Ethinic Group, associate research fellow) and other four Graduate Students named Li Jianming (Tu Ethinic Group), Sui Yanqing, Liu xueli (Female,Tujia Ethinic Group ) and Yanying (Female, Man Ethinic Group). Based on the Holistic and Comparative Study of Anthropology and Sociology, the entrusted party mainly applied Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) during the assessment research, collecting data from field work and statistical data from information list, using methodologies like participant observation, focus interview, focus group interview, adding the analysis of historical documents, policies and regulations to have in-depth social assessment research in the project area. This assessment research has nearly covered the whole Project area (including 3 counties 2 districts, 8 townships and 17 communities) with emphasis on basic community and paid prominent attention to sensitive points like ethnicity and religion. The coverage of the research area includes ethnic townships, Tibetan, Hui living communities, multi-ethnic living communities and other important religious sites. A total of 130 residents of all ethnic groups accept the family baseline survey, more than 70 residents of all ethnic groups accepted in-depth interviews, meanwhile, the assessment group had participatory watershed-management investigation in eight communities. Moreover, the group entrusted the Project Office to had Carpet-style research on the basic community through providing relevant survey tools and and on-site training. Besides, the assessment group has labor division and cooperation with immigration and participatory management group as well as share data with them.

The social assessment group draws the following conclusion through investigation:

(1) The mountain flood is profoundly affected by terrain and climate of local areas and the residents there have clear memory to the damage of the flood; meanwhile, the local ecological environment is comparably flimsy and the earth surface stream is seriously polluted ,thus the execution of this project is timely and necessary.

(2) The Project Plan and Design advanced by Xining City government is based on the local practice and comparably practical and realistic. The previous project carried out in this Project area applied similar measures and have positive effect, besides, they accumulated experience. From Propaganda to Communication, the Project Office ensured the residents’ Right to Know in the Project.

(3) Residents in the project area worry about flood threat as well as soil and water loss, instead, they eager to restore ecology and improve the quality of environment. They sincerely welcome the project and warmly hope to participate in it.

(4) Hui people, Tu people, Tibetans and many other ethnic minorities live in the project area, of whom there are only 10 Tu people and they are widely distributed ,so only Hui people and Tibetans can form extensive “little region inhabited by their own”. Hui people centralized in Datong (Liangjiao Town and Qiaotou Town) and Huangzhong County (Luersha Town), less in Huangyuan County (Chengguan Town).The Project will not lead to land requisition, immigration and mosque removal. The Tibetans centralized in Datong County, Dongxia Channel, Shuobei Town, Tongdai village and Dongxia Town, Erma Village. According to the introduction of the local Tibetan cadres, the Tibetans’ ratio in Daitong Village is more than 95 percent, while it is not in the project area and will not be negatively influenced by project construction,land requisition,house removing, returning farmland and fenced way or rotation of pasture . There are around 80 percent Tibetans in Erma village, which is a typical Tibetan village in project area. Not only because Tibetans relatively centralize there, but also for the strong representatives of their economic society and culture .Besides, there are also a few scattered living Tibetans in Bohuang Channel (belonging to Bohang Town) and Lushaer Channel (belonging to Lushaer Town). The investigation affirms that:there is 1 community of single Tibetan living and over 10 communities including Tibetans scattered distributing in the project area, altogether more than 400 families, 1886 persons.98 percent of them are rural residents. (“6.2.1 Tibetan” of “Xining Flood and Watershed Management Project Social Assessment Report” details the distribution of Tibetans and their economic society and culture characteristics) The Tibetan residents in the project area belong to scattered living group, also named “Jiaxifan” by local people, meaning Tibetans who lose much of their own culture characteristics. They have nothing different from the local Han people except that they have Buddhism belief and relatively clear ethnicity consciousness. They scatter in the project area, mix residence with Han people and make intermarriage with them. So the national relationship is harmonious there. The project mainly take measures like Channel dredging, increasing flood mitigation and sand shelter dam, Forestation on barren hill and slope instead of house removing and immigration in the communities where the Tibetans live. Guanghui Temple (Datong Dongxia Town) and Tar Temple (Huangzhong Luersha Town) are important Tibetan Buddhism Temples near the project area, but the project does not touch the holly space of the two temples or have side effect on their religious activities. By interviewing the community resident representatives, village cadres and eminent monks in the temples the assessment group learned that the Tibetan residents know the Project, moreover, they welcome and want to participate in it. Whereas the Tibetans mainly live in the edge not core of the project area, but their distribution scope is large, furthermore, both the Tibetans and Hui people accord with the definition of “ethnic minority of World Bank. To tone up the advantage to the ethnic minority meanwhile to materialize consistent policy and spirit of World Bank and Chinese Government, we advise that an ethnic minority development plan aiming at Tibetans and Hui people should be established.

(5) The present policies and laws are unanimous with relative policies’ aim of World Bank. Besides, the present policies and laws can guarantee the establishment and implement of the project. There is no need of the new policies.

(6) The relationship between nations and ethnic groups is harmonious and there is a good foundation to carry out ethnic minority development plan (EMDP), meanwhile, the all levels governments have capacity and enthusiasm to carry out this project and ethnic minority development plan (EMDP).

(7) To bring ethnic minority development plan (EMDP) into effect mainly lies in carry out the following principles: One Overall Planning, Two Guarantees and Four promotions. The difficulty is to reasonably choose projects which match the characteristic of this project.

(8) The project will not have direct side effect on women, children and poor people, while by protecting the local ecological environment, channel management and promoting the community infrastructure, the project will benefit the whole residents’ production and life.

The report proposed by the entrusted party mainly includes seven aspect contents, divided into 29 sections in 7 chapters. The main point is as follows:

Chapter I: Briefly introduce the basic content of this project, the association between the project and the minority, as well as the necessity of development and implementation of EMDP. Statistics show that many minorities,such as Tibetan, Hui, Mongolian, Tu, and others live in the project area, but those who in coincidence with the definition “ethnic minority” of World Bank and should be formulated EMDP to maximumly reduce the negative impact and expand the positive efficiency are Tibetans and Hui people. There is no land requisition, demolition, immigration and other plans in the project minority communities, however, still relatively large area of afforestation, and will have a certain impact on livestock activities of rural residents, so it is also necessary to take appropriate measures to ensure ethnic minorities in the project area to benefit from the project as well as improve the social recognition degree of the project, what’s more, to show the spirit of promoting ethnic minorities development of China’s ethnic policy and the World Bank’s policy.

Chapter II: Details the process and methods of social assessment in the minority communities, the specific distribution of minority populations in project areas and sums up the Tibetans and Hui’s economic and social development situation and their culture and livelihood characteristics, also maks a brief analysis of ethnic relations and the responses of the minorities to this project. Given the basic fact that the highly mixed living of ethnic minorities and Han in the project area, the good ethnic relations, little ethnic differences in development levels and the minorities generally expect and welcome the project, the entrusted party suggest that: in the course of implementing the project, with the premise of fully protect the participation and benefit of minority residents, avoids the opposition between Han and minority as far as possible so as to avoid the negative impact on ethnic relationship.

Chapter III: The entrusted party had assessment on the fitness of the policy and legal framework to establish the EMDP from the Chinese government's policy spirit, the Chinese current related laws and regulations, related World Bank policy and illustrate the data, document, and the literature materials that the entrusted party base on when establish the EMDP.

Chapter IV: Breifly introduce the several major changes of land system, land regulations and policy framework in more than half a century in China and the project area, analyze the resources, land use method of the ethnic minorities and positive and negative impacts of the project measures, meanwhile, point out the related problem that the EMDP must pay close attention to. The entrusted party specially points out: although the project can not be no negative impact, still on the whole, the positive benefits far outweigh the potential negative impact, however, the project paid relatively full attention to the possible negative impact in the feasibility phase and consider the corresponding countermeasures in reducing immigration, demolition, minimizing the burden of the residents and so on. Therefore, the project’s negative impact is less and can be controlled and solved.

Chapter V: Discuss some issues related to minority participation. Including: the Guarantee of ethnic minorities’ right to know, project-related experience and participation desire; the principles that the minority participation should abide, and the identification of the plan that safeguard the minority residents participate fully, participation plan and design; the skills training. to enhance Minority residents’ participation etc.

Chapter VI: Put forward steps of the implementation of EMDP in accordance with the progress plan of the project implementation, including the main stage and its tasks and the project progress schedule .meanwhile, take two different communities Tibetan and Hui as example to illustrate how to develop the project work in the community level.

Chapter VII: Propose the specific recommendations and requirements on this project and EMDP. Include the the following points: the main body of monitoring and assessment, monitoring and assessment index system, monitoring and assessment cycle, and the information publicity of monitoring and assessment.