Submitted by Nancy Peluso on
Since around 2007, a wave of hardwood plantations have sprouted up across southern China, particularly in Guangdong and Guangxi Provinces. Some have been established by the state in a demonstration of more promising forms of plantation agriculture, while others have been established by wealthy businessmen or communist party officials looking for a new way to invest their earnings. All of these new plantations are the product of the revitalization of classical rosewood furniture as a booming cultural commodity in contemporary China. Rosewood consists of a group of 33 species of tropical hardwoods, many of which are endangered. The price of the most expensive rosewoods has increased by 500 percent since 2005, with annual market sales in China exceeding $25 billion. While China’s booming rosewood market has triggered the devastation of forest resources across the globe, it has also triggered the proliferation of rosewood plantations as a related form of investment.
This project examines the rise of China's rosewood forests. This type of planted forest is more than agro-forestry and more than agricultural. It is a type of agro(cultural) forestry that combines niche markets in esteemed cultural goods with a growing ecological awareness in China. More than just endless rows of trees waiting to grow, China's rosewood forests are supported by vibrant “understory economies” (linxia jingji) that provide short-term returns to fund long-term growth. The economic value of the forest relies on the price premiums of the cultural goods they provide – shade-grown teas, honey and waxes, organic free-range chickens, herbs for Chinese medicine, essential oils for fragrance and health, branches for incense, and of course the rosewoods themselves, including their saplings and eventually their highly-valued heartwood.
The goal of this project is to use the case of China's agro(cultural) forests to better understand emerging environmentalism in China. Through plantation agriculture, China engages in a unique type of environmentalism that will have increasing importance when determining the global environmental agenda. This project will use the example of rosewood plantations to elaborate on China’s emerging environmentalism and the implications for global environmental governance.
The undergraduate researcher would perform basic research on reforestation and forestry practices and policies in China. The research would focus on data concerning China's reforestation efforts thus far and how they have changed over time (e.g., from eucalyptus and other fast-growing exotics to endemic species or high-value hardwoods). Research on the prices of precious hardwoods and how they have changed over time would also be performed. The research would be performed primarily in Chinese databases and through the UNFAO databases.
Proficiency in reading and researching in Mandarin a must. Interest in environmentalism in China a plus.