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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