Abstract
The authors reconstructed the changes of adaptive strategies in two Li ethnic minority villages (Shuiman and Paori villages) in Hainan Island of China. Shuiman village lies at the foot of Mount Wuzhishan and has been influenced by government by-laws for environmental conservation and tourism promotion since the 1990s, while Paori village has adopted cash crops that have been introduced by the government since the 1980s. The interview surveys conducted with the villagers, together with the analyses of satellite images indicated that in Shuiman village, the past grasslands became secondary forest dominated by Haname lidacea over the past 20 years, while, in Paori village, the shrub/grasslands and secondary forest as well as the place where slash-and-burn gardening was practiced, were converted to cash crop gardens. The area of “mature forest” or “secondary forest” has increased in both village territories. “Triggers” of such changes were enforced by government by-laws in Shuiman and the villagers’ adoption of cash crops after “epochal” events in Paori village. External factors such as the price of cash crops on world markets and the conditions of infrastructure also affected changes in the adaptive strategies of the villages.
