Vanessa's Journal

Dec. 6

Today we went up to Wuyipeng again.  The plan was to start to prepare the trails that lead to the cages for daily patrolling.  In the habitat where the cages are found, there is extensive arrow bamboo.  This bamboo species grows in very dense bunches.  When it snows, the snow collects on top of the bamboo, which makes even the most basic walking activity formidable.  Therefore, we decided to hire four local farmers to come up to Wuyipeng for two days to cut the bamboo along these trails.  We cannot cover the area necessary to reach all seven cages every day without doing this. 

This is one of those difficult situations you sometimes face as a scientific researcher.  Ideally, you want to have no negative impact on the environment.  You want to do your research without leaving a trace.  But it reality, this is impossible.  Our mere presence at Wuyipeng is already having a negative impact and sometimes that is difficult to swallow. 

For instance, I lay awake at night fretting about how to get my field assistants to switch to biodegradable detergent.  We all have a negative impact on the environment in our daily lives wherever we are because as humans we are overconsumptive.  I know this and yet it becomes so much more obvious when living at Wuyipeng because it is such a sacred place.  I pause to consider everything I throw away.  I wonder how far the sound of the TV travels.  I obsessively unplug everything the minute I’m done using it.  These are all things we should all be doing no matter where we are, but I think living at a pristine place like Wuyipeng brings urgency to the issue, as we are often too disconnected from our environment in the modern world to fully understand our impact on it.

So I sent the four hired workers out with their bamboo hacking tools after giving strict instructions to Lao Yang and Lao Fan to be their managers and to make sure that they only cut the bare minimum amount necessary to walk and no more.  To my relief, they understand my concerns and decide to scale back their initial plans.  They announce that they can finish in a day and a half. 

I decide to stay back at Wuyipeng, partly because I trust Lao Yang and Lao Fan to make sure the work is done properly and I know I will be of little help in the cutting efforts.  I also feel incredibly behind in my field management activities (e.g. organizing equipment and keeping detailed records of who is working for me and when).   I spend the day getting myself caught up and by the end I finally feel like my brain is catching up to the rate at which things are moving around me. 

We end the day with a rousing dinner party.  It’s usually quiet up at Wuyipeng, but the presence of our four hired workers gives my field assistants an excuse to celebrate.  After a long dinner with a lot of toasts, they all gather to play cards while I take a rain check and get to bed early.