ACHIEVEMENTS




he Chinese government is paying increasing attention to protecting the environment. "Environmental education and awareness programmes are more and more common, while greater efforts are being made to enforce laws and regulations and to improve industrial efficiency," says Daniel Viederman, WWF China Programme Coordinator. "Nevertheless, international cooperation on an unprecedented scale is required if the wealth of China's biodiversity is to be conserved, and development put on to a sustainable path."

Totalling 19,220km2, the forests in south China's Xishuangbanna Prefecture are recognized both locally and internationally as a priority conservation area. They are China's single largest tropical forest area, and one of the northernmost extensions of tropical forests in the world. Xishuangbanna's forests contain China's largest wild elephant population, estimated at between 200 and 500, as well as a few remaining tigers. Other important wildlife found there include the gaur (Bos gaurus), green peafowl (Pavo muticus), and several endangered species of hornbills and pheasants. Plant diversity is also high, with over 150 endemic species.

Despite their importance, Xishuangbanna forests are under threat. Already, half have been lost for one reason or another - over 73,000ha of the most valuable lowland forests below 800 metres have been cleared for rubber and tea plantations. Another 6,000ha are cut down for firewood and 7,000ha are lost through hill fires every year. Shifting cultivation, mostly on hillsides, accounts for the destruction of a further 10,000ha, leading to severe soil erosion. Evidence of this is visible in the once clear, but now thick, red rivers in the prefecture.

As long as the population figures remained low, traditional slash­and­burn agricultural practices were sustainable. But the population has now almost doubled in 20 years and continues to grow by 1.8 per cent annually in the prefecture and 5.7 per cent in the reserve. If Xishuangbanna's forests are to survive, their people have to find alternative methods of food production, using the forests sustainably, and of earning income in non­ destructive ways.

To this end, WWF has helped to establish a project in the Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve to devise and promote ecologically benign methods of producing food and fuel. Staff from the Yunnan Forestry Department and local prefectures have been trained in agroforestry methods - techniques which they will then pass on to farmers. Biogas digesters have been introduced and have overcome initial skepticism. Four villages have been chosen as focus areas for implementation of these new techniques.

The management of Xishuangbanna Nature Reserve has acknowledged that activities such as agroforestry have shown ways in which the needs of local people and reserve protection can be better reconciled.

With funding for these activities ending in 1995, WWF felt it necessary to revisit the project and plan a new phase. Together with its Chinese counterparts, WWF has identified current conservation problems and developed new priorities including community­based forest management. The organization will work with institutions under the Chinese Academy of Sciences to further promote conservation of Xishuangbanna's forests.

Conservation work in China also means tackling threats such as climate change, acid rain, and photochemical smog. Increased population, changes in consumption patterns, and rapid development are making China one of the most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and to regional acid rain problems.

China is the world's second largest producer of the greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide (CO2) - accounting for 10 per cent of the world's CO2 emissions. Since 80 per cent of China's CO2 emissions come from burning fossil­fuel, emissions can be greatly reduced by introducing the technology to produce energy­efficient light bulbs and insulation materials, and by installing thermostats.

In April 1991, WWF and the Chinese State Meteorological Association organized a one­week workshop in Beijing, which brought together an international group of air pollution control and energy policy experts. More than 40 Chinese scientists attended the workshop, most of whom had prepared papers on topics related to acid rain, climate change, and the environmental and health impacts of air pollution. This was the first time that such a workshop had been held in China. It gave the scientists an opportunity to exchange information about the latest pollution control technologies, and to discuss policy options for reducing carbon dioxide emissions and increasing energy efficiency.

Following this successful collaboration, in 1992, WWF and the Academy of Meteorological Sciences signed a memorandum of understanding. An important product of this cooperation is the report Climate Change Due to the Greenhouse Effect and its Implications for China, which received extensive media coverage as well as interest from the United Nations' Inter­ governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

In December 1993, the Chinese Energy Research Institute, Battelle, Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, and WWF jointly set up the Beijing Energy Efficiency Centre (BECon). A non­profit organization, BECon is staffed by local energy experts, and aims to redirect China's energy and transport policies towards a less environmentally damaging path. Besides helping to strengthen institutional capacity, WWF will work with BECon on various new initiatives including developing a public awareness campaign on energy efficiency.




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Copyright 1996, The World Wide Fund For Nature