Hundreds of millions of years of "treasure" have not been treated as treasure, and some have been burned into bricks Guizhou paleontological fossil protection "lacks both ingenious women and rice", and experts suggest that "combining stone with tourism" carry out constructive protection In the exposed stone layer next to the red brick factory, trilobite, hornstone and other fossils hundreds of millions of years ago can be seen everywhere; The ugly hillside along the road is a fossil of ancient creatures hundreds of millions of years ago; Thousands of collected ichthyosaur and crinoid fossils have been piled up in the basement without being repaired, and some fossils are gradually weathered Guizhou is rich in paleontological fossil resources, known as the "Kingdom of Paleontology". The province's sedimentary strata are well developed and widely distributed, containing a large number of paleontological fossils. Xinhua Daily Telegraph reporter recently found that the Qingyan Paleontological Fossil Group, Wudang Relics and other important fossil groups and stratigraphic profiles in Guizhou Provincial Geopark were damaged. Experts and grassroots cadres believe that we can fully mobilize experts, increase investment, reasonably develop fossil resources, establish relevant paleontological fossil museums and science popularization and research bases, explore the "combination of stone and tourism", and carry out constructive protection. Hundreds of millions of years of "treasure" can be seen everywhere Several houses have been built on the hillside, where the villagers live and raise livestock. The surface of mountain slope rock stratum becomes brittle due to weathering, which is difficult to be linked with important paleontological fossil groups. But when you dig in the exposed rock stratum, you may find fossils hundreds of millions of years ago. This is Qingyan Paleontological Fossil Group in Guiyang City, and also the key paleontological fossil producing area in Guizhou Province. Tong Jinnan, professor of the Department of Earth Biology, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), introduced that the Qingyan Paleontological Fossil Group consists of 13 categories, and has found 414 genera and 419 species. It is at the turn of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras. The most typical marine invertebrate fauna in terms of biological recovery and radiation after the mass extinction is rare in the world in terms of its abundance and diversity, It represents the third large radiation in the earth's history. This information is not only helpful to study the biological recovery after the end of the Permian mass extinction, but also the source of exploring the contemporary marine biodiversity and ecosystem construction. "The largest mass extinction on the earth occurred 250 million years ago, and the subsequent explosion of life went through 10 million years. At present, the only site in the world that can find evidence of the explosion of life is the Qingyan Paleontological Fossil Group." Tong Jinnan said that he visited Guiyang in 2016 and found that with the development of urban construction, Qingyan paleontological fossil group has disappeared in a large area, leaving only Bangtoupo, but has not been effectively protected so far. Wang Hongmei, an investigator of the Mineral Resources Protection and Supervision Division of the Natural Resources Department of Guizhou Province, told the reporter that the Qingyan Paleontological Fossil Group is the general name of all the biological fossils in the Qingyan Formation in Qingyan District, Guiyang. It mainly includes bivalves, brachiopods, ammonites, including hexacorals, conodonts, sponges, gastropods, terrestrial plants, algae and other fossil groups. Wang Hongmei said that the origin of Qingyan paleontological fossils had been listed in Huaxi Provincial Geopark since 2006, but because of its large area and extensive management, there was no special vectorization of the coordinates of the fossil production area. In addition, this area is located in the central area of Qingyan Town, which is greatly affected by the resettlement houses along the Jade Belt Bay in Qingyan and the municipal works of Shuangshi Road in Qingyan. On the mountains around Bangtoupo, the reporter saw that there were three resettlement houses built on the fossil producing areas. "The demolition compensation involving villagers' land use has a long process. At present, the local government is organizing the payment of land and housing compensation. After the compensation is paid, the villagers can immediately enter the site for environmental remediation and profile cleaning." Wang Hongmei said. Recently, the reporter learned from Mr. Liu, the owner of one of the houses that the compensation has been paid. "The compensation for land and housing has been received, things are being cleaned up, and they are going to move out in the near future," Mr. Liu said. An Ordovician paleontological fossil assemblage located in Wudang District, Guiyang City is the field practice base of the College of Resources and Environmental Engineering, Guizhou University. Lan Tian, the lecturer of the college, told the reporter that there were six complete geological sections here, but there are only three because of lack of protection. "Fossils of molluscs have been found here. Their bodies are soft tissues, and the probability of being preserved in the form of fossils is very small. The soft tissues of organisms can be preserved, which is a valuable part of them," Lan Tian said. The reporter saw at the scene that the surface of the rock stratum was seriously weathered due to the impact of local production and life. Not far away, two geological sections have been covered by real estate projects. Lan Tian expressed regret for this: "Local development will indeed gradually squeeze the space of the fossil group. If the three remaining profiles are gone, our practice base will have to change again." Wang Hongmei said that tunnel construction, landfill and real estate projects have all damaged the stratum profile to varying degrees. Fossil protection "lacks both women and rice" The reporter found that the lack of funds, talents and protection awareness has brought difficulties and challenges to the protection of important fossil groups. Too many fossils lead to "indistinguishable" and lack of protection awareness. In some areas with rich fossil resources in Guizhou, it is not uncommon to find fossils in engineering construction. In addition, local departments lack professional knowledge, unable to identify the importance of fossils, and gradually lose awareness of protection. Reporters found in Kaixin Red Brick Factory, Kaili City, Qiandongnan Prefecture that there are a large number of Silurian paleontological fossils, trilobite, hornstone and other fossils exposed with the brick factory taking stones to make bricks, which can be seen everywhere. Many fossils have been burned into bricks with miscellaneous stones. Tong Jinnan told reporters that it was a pity that so many fossils were gathered here, even if they were not so important, and all of them were burned into bricks. The Department of Natural Resources of Guizhou Province recently organized experts from the Guizhou Paleontology Expert Committee to conduct field investigation and verification. The results show that the species and genera of paleontological fossils produced in Kaixin Red Brick Plant are widespread in Guizhou, with many species and abundant quantity. In addition, after long-term weathering of the excavated shale, the exposed fossils are easy to collect. Although the types of fossils are not scarce, they can still be used as a popular science teaching place for teenagers. The shortage of special funds is an important factor affecting the protection of paleontological fossils. Wang Hongmei introduced that the special funds for fossil protection are all allocated by the provincial finance, and the funds are relatively tight. Many fossil reserves are under the daily management of county-level departments, but lack of special fund support. Liu Youyi, secretary of the Party Committee of Qingyan Town, said, "Although we know that fossils need to be protected, it involves compensation for demolition. There is no such fund in the town or the district, so we have to wait for special funds, so it has been delayed for so many years." It is understood that the Department of Natural Resources of Guizhou Province has evaluated the conservation planning of Qingyan Paleontological Fossil Group. In 2020, it applied for a special fund of 6 million yuan from the Department of Finance of Guizhou Province. At present, 3 million yuan has been implemented. There is still a lack of professionals in fossil conservation. Li Bin, the leader of the law enforcement team of the Administrative Office of Guanling Fossil Group Geopark in Anshun, Guizhou Province, told reporters that since 2000, Guanling County has carried out several special actions to combat the illegal excavation and mining of paleontological fossils, and confiscated thousands of precious crinoid and ichthyosaur fossils, which have been stacked in the basement of the Geopark. Due to the lack of funds and professionals, it has not been repaired so far, and some fossils have gradually weathered. Identifying the rarity and scientific research value of each fossil group and all kinds of fossils is the focus of fossil protection work. Yang Shuo, deputy director of the Natural Resources Bureau of Huaxi District, told reporters that there was a lack of specialized technical personnel in the local area to carry out the appraisal. "Not all fossils can be found. Some invertebrate fossils are not found or cared about by anyone, and there is a lack of professionals in places. If not for the experts, we do not know where there are fossils, and we do not know which fossils need to be protected." Yang Shuo said. Carry out constructive protection by "combining stone with tourism" Interviewed experts and grassroots cadres believe that finding out the "family background" of Guizhou paleontological fossils, reasonable fossil collection and scientific research can popularize fossil knowledge, improve the value of fossils, and increase people's awareness of protection. They suggested that protection and development should be organically combined, "not let protection affect development, nor let development destroy protection". Wang Hongmei introduced that Guizhou arranged special funds in 2008, 2011 and 2017 to investigate, evaluate and protect the province's paleontological fossil resources. At present, the province has delineated 66 paleontological fossil habitats with conservation value, and the title of "Kingdom of Paleontology" is true. In practical work, fossil protection is prone to conflict with infrastructure construction, mass production and life. Wang Hongmei introduced that among the 66 fossil producing areas with conservation value, 8 world-class fossil producing areas have been included in the province's ecological red line for protection, and the other 58 fossil producing areas have also been included in the platform of Guizhou Provincial Department of Natural Resources "Managing the Land and the Mine" to avoid control in the preliminary planning of project land use and the approval of mining right setting. "We should protect, but we should not over protect. If experts assess that it is worth protecting, local development needs to make some sacrifices." Wang Hongmei said. Zhao Yuanlong, professor of the College of Resources and Environmental Engineering of Guizhou University, believes that fossils are non renewable resources, and fossils, especially fossil groups, have important scientific significance. Fossils of ancient vertebrates have long been regarded as cultural relics and have received good protection effects, while invertebrate fossils can also be protected as cultural relics. "Only when competent authorities and the masses have improved their understanding of the importance and protection of fossils can they attach importance to and do a good job in this work," Zhao Yuanlong said. Zhao Yuanlong and Tong Jinnan proposed to carry out constructive protection by "combining stone with tourism". A large number of paleontological fossil museums at home and abroad display a large number of fossils, publicize paleontological fossils and their evolution, display their forms, and carry out popular science education. Some fossil nature reserves can also attract tourists to visit and drive local development. For example, since 2020, Guiyang has organized more than 1000 primary and secondary school students to study in Anshun Guanling Fossil Group Geopark. Students can access geology, cultural relics and other knowledge on the site, understand the formation, types and distribution of paleontological fossils in the Triassic period more than 200 million years ago, and understand the evolution of the origin of life so far. "Fossil villages can be built in the fossil producing areas, which can not only be used as a science popularization base, but also improve the awareness of the people in the fossil village to protect fossils. Some of the fossils with low protection level but strong ornamental value can also be used as handicrafts," said Zhao Yuanlong. Liu Youyi believes that Qingyan is rich in tourism resources and can build a fossil museum or popular science base, which can not only protect fossils, but also transform fossil resources into tourism resources and promote local economic development. Yang Shuo introduced that although a paleontological fossil expert committee has been set up in the province, there are few connections with local authorities. As the frontline of discovery and protection of precious fossils, it is necessary to strengthen the knowledge of fossil identification and protection. Tong Jinnan, Zhao Yuanlong and other experts suggested that the competent department of fossil protection should attach importance to the role of experts and establish a long-term mechanism for communication with experts. (Reporter Jiang Cheng, Yang Xin)