(TibetanReview.net, Apr14’24) — The forest fire which raged for days across Nyagchu (Chinese: Yajiang) County of Kardze (Ganzi or Garze) prefecture, Sichuan Province, from the middle of last month has stuck a severe blow on the livelihood of the local Tibetan people: destruction of the forests’ prized matsutake mushrooms. Besides, the fires destroyed homes and caused large-scale evacuations of villagers. And it is not clear whether anybody will be held accountable and pay for causing the destruction. Mercifully, no lives were lost.
The wildfire ravaged vast swathes of forests covered with pine and oak trees that nurtured the mushrooms, a hidden treasure and an economic lifeline for residents, reported the Tibetan service of rfa.org Apr 13.
China’s official chinadaily.com.cn Mar 22citedthe prefecture’s emergency management bureau as saying the disaster was caused by the use of fire at a construction site. However, no construction site has been specified and there has been no information on how it started and went out of control. Nobody appears to have been held responsible so far.
The fire, which spread to three forested sites, were reportedly largely contained by Mar 22. However, they destroyed about a sixth of the county’s matsutake outputs, the rfa.org cited Chen Wen, director of the Yajiang Matsutake Industrial Park, as saying, citing Chinese media.
Chen has said the mushrooms, which Tibetans gather to supplement their income and which others use in dishes in Japan, South Korea and China, may not grow again in the burned areas for at least 20 years.
This is partly because the fire has damaged the local ecosystem, killing birds and insects that play a role in the growth of the mushrooms, an area resident has said, adding that the long-term ecological consequences of the blaze remain unclear.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the world’s largest producer and exporter of matsutake mushrooms, with Japan being its biggest importers. The PRC exported US$30.3 million worth of the mushroom in 2022, earning it US$24.7 million.
The report further cited Yajiang County Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Science and Technology Bureau as saying the Tibetan Plateau is the primary source of the mushrooms, with Nyagchu accounting for more than 12% of the PRC’s annual output.
Foraging matsutake is said to be a demanding if lucrative job, with harvesters often spending weeks at high altitudes in harsh weather conditions. Some varieties are rare and require meticulous searching, while others grow underground and require careful removal, the report cited a local resident as saying.
The mushrooms are commonly referred to as “oak mushrooms,” or beshing shamo and besha for short in Tibetan, the report said.
The fire it may be recalled,first erupted in Petse (Baizi) Village and rapidly spread to other areas due to sudden increases in wind speed. While no casualties or damage to infrastructure have been reported thus far, China’s official Xinhua news agency earlier said Mar 17 that in the nearby Jiaonibao Village, 21 houses were burned.
A total of 5,908 villagers belonging to 1,360 families in two Towns and one Township were reported to have been evacuated as a safety measure.