China: Zhouqu landslide, a man made disaster · Global Voices
Oiwan Lam

On August 8, a landslide happened in Zhouqu in Gansu province. According to official Xinhua news, the disaster has so far taken away 127 people's lives and 1,294 people reported missing.
Since there is very limited information from official media outlets, Woeser's coordinated a collaborative investigation via Twitter soon after the disaster happened. Twitterers made phone calls, dug out past news report and data and they found out that the landslide is a result of 1. the construction of hydro-electric power plants; 2. mining; 3. deforestation. In a nutshell, it is a man-made disaster.
Hydroelectric projects and gold rush
Apart from heavy rainfall, the main reason for the landslide is caused by the construction of a number of hydroelectric power plants.
甘肃省甘南藏族自治州舟曲县不过13多万人，20个乡，但近年来，有水电开 发项目47项，已建成巴藏水电站、立节水电站等15座水电站，还有虎家崖、两河口等14座水电站在建。来自当地藏人的消息称，这次舟曲县所爆发的泥石流， 与如此之多的水电站对生态环境的破坏有关，吁关注。
A Gansu government report in 2009 has more detailed data:
从2003年至2007年,共有53个水电开发建设项目签订合同,41个水电开发建设项目已建成或在建,12个马上就要开展前期工作, 这些水电开发建设项目占全县各类开发建设项目的80%以上,41个在建或已建的水电站工程合计扰动地表面积达322.83hm2,弃渣达3834.8万m3,水土流失预测量达74.9万t.
Apart from construction projects, the land has been exploited by mining activities. @dographer points out:
舟曲多年开矿淘金，两边高山上林木砍伐殆尽，全是灰黑的土，河川里全是淘金设备，河流呈灰黑色泥浆。山河破碎，满目疮夷。且山势陡峭，整个县城都在狭窄的山谷底部，几无平地。有些建筑都是分布在山上。几年前去过一次，感觉已不适合人居住，512也曾遭灾
@bimawen posted a google map showing the landscape of the Zhouqu town and pointed out that the disaster is also a result of lack of public monitor:
甘南舟曲是天灾还是人祸？来看地形图：按常识，泥石流确实会封堵河道形成堰塞湖，但这个湖的形成到决坝是需要有相当时间的。这段时间，媒体在哪里？广电在哪里？有线无线通讯在哪里？微博在哪里？是不是由于消息的封锁造成了这样大后续灾难？！
Alerts from experts and media reports
Actually, we could find many alerts done by experts and media workers via the internet. Twitterers human flesh searched the Internet and found several reports and researches having warned against the soil erosion problem of the Bailong river in Zhouqu county. One of the reports on water resource pointed out:
舟曲县水土流失日趋严重,白龙江流域的自然生态环境发生了恶性变化, 由此诱发的洪水,滑坡,泥石流灾害不断,严重威胁着当地居民的生存安全。”
A research on landslide problem in Bailong river district  conducted by Lanzhou University in 2006 also pointed out:
毁林开荒、陡坡耕种、不合理开矿、炸石、筑路、修建水工程以及各种开发建设等，造成山体破坏失稳，崩塌、滑坡和泥石流日趋频发……
A news report back in 2008 pointed out that the Zhouqu county was once a human paradise surrounded by rivers and forests:
迭目江腾回忆舟曲在上世纪５０年代到８０年代，曾是水草丰茂、山林葱翠的陇上江南，但在持续大规模砍伐后，失去植被的山体逐渐风化流失，每遇狂风暴雨就会出现泥石流
@try2feel found another news report in 2008 describing the landslide problem in Zhouqu:
2008年的报道：舟曲全县有６０多处滑坡，１３处滑坡严重，威胁着下游村庄的安全。滑坡已经成为重建工作绕不过的坎。
History of the man-made eco-disaster
The history of logging activities dated back to 1958, the year of Great Leap Forward:
1958年“大跃进”时期，舟曲县森林资源遭受到掠夺性破坏。据统计，从 1952年8月舟曲林业局成立到1990年，累计采伐森林189.75万亩，许多地方的森林成为残败的次生林。加上民用木材和乱砍滥伐、倒卖盗用，全县森 林每年以10万立方米的速度减少，植被破坏严重，生态环境遭到超限度破坏