History has bypassed Libo County in southwest China's Guizhou Province in many respects. The buildings in the region retain an ancient style with wood structures and multi-layered curved roofs, and the local residents dress in colorful traditional clothes decorated with jade, silver and pearl jewelry, just as they have for hundreds of years.

Villagers still follow long established rituals, expressing their emotions through folk songs and dances. The area's rivers remain untainted by pollution and their waters shine a beautiful emerald green, colored by minerals, while lush plants thrive on their banks.

The karst landscape in the region adds uniqueness to Libo County's pristine beauty. Water works its magic on limestone in the region, producing towering cliffs that rise abruptly above from the ground and caves with stalactites of various shapes and sizes. Exotic tropical or sub-tropical plants cover most of the land surface.

The county looks like a forgotten land, but in fact it isn't. The south China karst region that the county is a part of was inscribed into the World Heritage List last year. The list was created by the World Heritage Convention of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which was signed in 1972 to protect cultural and natural heritages.

The World Heritage Convention defines natural heritage as natural features, geological formations, or natural sites that have "outstanding universal value" from the point of view of science, conservation, natural beauty or the protection of the habitat of threatened species.

"Heritage, in all its diverse meanings and forms-tangible and intangible, cultural and natural-contributes to the identity of peoples and communities. It expresses their rootedness and collective memory, and preserves their future by encouraging development and openness toward others-an element essential for the construction of peace," said Koichiro Matsuura, Director General of UNESCO on the occasion of the first Cultural Heritage Day in China on June 10, 2006.

So far, 851 properties of "outstanding universal value" have been added to the World Heritage List, including 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed properties. China has 35 properties on the list, including 25 cultural, six natural and four mixed. In addition to the south China karst region, the five other natural heritage sites on the list are Huanglong, Jiuzhaigou Valley and Wulingyuan scenic and historic interest areas, three parallel rivers of Yunnan protected areas and Sichuan giant panda sanctuaries.

A turn of fate

More than 90 percent of Guizhou is mountains and hills. The area of arable land is small, and the soil not rich. On such rugged terrain, transportation on either land or water is not convenient, making Guizhou relatively isolated and underdeveloped. In 2006, the per-capita GDP of Guizhou was $740, the lowest among China's provinces and autonomous regions, while the national average was $2,060.

The inscription of the south China karst region into the World Heritage List in June 2007 has transformed the fate of Libo County. To catch a glimpse of the natural heritage, about 231,000 tourists swarmed to the county during the National Day holiday week in early October 2007, according to a report in the Economic Information Daily. Hotel rooms were full. Cars, tour buses and caravans lined for miles along the roads leading to the karst area. In the seven-day holiday, tourists spent a total of 83.714 million yuan ($11.5 million) in Libo County. To brace itself for more tourists in the future, Libo County is expanding its infrastructure. An airport has been built, rice paddies have been paved with asphalt roads, and new buildings have sprung up. Many investors are enthusiastically exploring potential commercial projects.

The dilemma

While tourism has given the area an economic boost it can also have negative impacts. According to a background paper on tourism and sustainable development prepared for the United Nations, the intrusion of large numbers of visitors with high-consumption and high-waste habits into natural areas, or into towns with inadequate waste management infrastructure, can produce changes to those natural areas at a rate that is far greater than imposed by local residents. "These tourism-related changes are particularly deleterious when local residents rely on those natural areas for their sustenance," stressed the paper. For cultural tourism, economic development in tourist destinations often changes the lifestyles of local residents and erodes the innocent appeal of the local culture.

The dilemma of heritage preservation is rooted in the mismatch of costs and benefits between local communities and the general public. Heritage is a precious asset for all people, so the benefit of heritage protection is disbursed. Yet, without government support, the cost of conservation falls disproportionably on local communities. For instance, when wildlife sanctuaries are protected, local residents may be denied access to land and other resources they need to make a living. Protected wild animals sometimes destroy their crops. On the other hand, once under protection, natural or cultural heritages often attract tourists, which boosts local property values and invigorates local economies. The benefit of commercialization is centralized in local communities, whereas the damage to the area's heritage is a loss for the general public.

When local communities are in charge of the management of heritage sites, they tend to engage in excessive development. Jeffrey McNeely, Chief Scientist of IUCN-The World Conservation Union, an international conservation network headquartered in Switzerland, conducted a study on poverty and protected areas in China. He noted that in many protected areas of China the delivery of some services has been privatized, as part of reform initiatives. To make more profit, the private companies constructed structures that were incompatible with the natural environment.

National and international organizations are needed in heritage conservation because they are important in balancing the cost and benefit of preservation. In the report of his study, McNeely put forth several suggestions, including making plans for protected areas at provincial and national levels, improving the national legal and policy framework, giving incentives to local communities, designing appropriate buffer zone activities, finding alternative sources of income for local people, and educating local residents on the relationship between development and conservation.

Enhanced efforts

The inscription of Libo County in the World Heritage List brings new economic opportunities for the local residents, but also raises a question about the future of natural heritage preservation.

An International Conference on World Natural Heritage was held in Sichuan Province in early November 2007. Representatives from UNESCO, the World Conservation Union, Conservation International, and national and local governments of more than 30 countries attended the conference. The conference issued a declaration urging for enhanced efforts in protecting the world's heritage sites from increasing tourism and development.

The inscription is by no means the finishing line for the work in protecting natural heritage, stressed a senior official of Guizhou Province.

After visiting Libo County, Tian Xiaogang, Secretary General of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, said that the inscription did not only indicate honor but also responsibilities. Relevant government departments, heritage protection agencies and local communities should coordinate with each other and monitor each other in upholding the natural heritage brand name.

Libo County has commissioned an internationally famous company to draft a tourism development plan, and asked relevant government departments to provide guidance on industry structure adjustment, land use planning and project management. Experts have finished a comprehensive study on landscape design for Libo County.