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People and Pandas in Southwest ChinaJaye B. Allan aa Master of Captive Vertebrate Management , Charles SturtUniversity , (2004), volunteer at the Chengdu Research Base of GiantPanda Breeding, China since 2004., AustraliaPublished online: 16 Dec 2008.

To cite this article: Jaye B. Allan (2008) People and Pandas in Southwest China, Journal ofInternational Wildlife Law & Policy, 11:2-3, 156-188, DOI: 10.1080/13880290802470174

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Journal of International Wildlife Law & Policy, 11:156–188, 2008Copyright C© Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 1388-0292 print / 1548-1476 onlineDOI: 10.1080/13880290802470174

People and Pandas in Southwest China

JAYE B. ALLAN1

1. INTRODUCTION

When the world thinks of the Peoples’ Republic of China,2 it thinks of themost populous nation on earth, at 1.3 billion human inhabitants. It also thinksof giant pandas, Ailuropoda melanoleuca, of which there were an estimated1,590 in the wild, according to the Third National Giant Panda Survey (2004),plus another 185 pandas in captivity in about 35 zoos in China and elsewhere.3

Giant pandas are China’s “national treasure” and the flagship species in theMountains of Southwest China Biodiversity Hotspot.4 That hotspot harboursover 30 percent of China’s higher plants, 50 percent of its birds and mammals,and 36 of China’s 87 endangered terrestrial mammal species.5 Panda habitat,historically most of central and western China and northern Vietnam andMyanmar, is now reduced to the Minshan, Qinling, Qionglai, Liangshan,and Xiangling mountain ranges in the provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, andGansu in Southwest China.6 Giantpandas are also the emblem of the WorldWide Fund for Nature (WWF) and a symbol of global endangered wildlifeconservation.

Rapid economic development in China has been particularly focused onSichuan province, which has the third largest human population of any Chineseprovince.7 The Chinese central government’s Great Western Development

1 Master of Captive Vertebrate Management (Charles Sturt University, Australia, 2004), volunteer atthe Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, China since 2004. Address for correspondence:Sanyuan Foreign Language School, Weiyi Road, Industrial Zone, XINDU 610503 Sichuan province,Peoples Republic of China. pandajaye@hotmail.com.

2 Hereafter referred to simply as China.3 Zhang Zhihe, Director of the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, 2006 Giant Panda

Calendar.4 In the year 2000 Conservation International designated 25 Global Biodiversity Hotspots, where the

diversity of ecosystems, plants and animals is especially rich. The Mountains of Southwest ChinaBiodiversity Hotspot covers Sichuan, Tibet and Yunnan and includes the world’s most biologicallydiverse temperate forest ecosystem. http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org

5 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Hotspot: Ecosystem Profile 1,6 (2002). http://www.cepf.net6 WWF China. History of WWF’s support of panda conservation in China. http://www.wwfchina.org/

english/pandacentral/htm7 National Library of Medicine. Population of Sichuan Province. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Policy8 is laying the infrastructure of modernization, including roads andirrigation schemes, dams, and power stations, albeit until as late as 2002without environmental impact assessment (EIA) or mitigation plan.,9 EIAsare now required by law for every project or program, and are at least partiallyadhered to.10 Even within and around nature reserves declared for giant pandaprotection,11 major wildlife threats include fuelwood collection, mining, illegalhunting and poaching, livestock grazing, unsustainable wild plant harvesting,and mass tourism. Poverty and cultural heritage are also concerns, as Tibetansand 15 other ethnic minorities inhabit this region where all counties are belowthe official poverty line.12

Human-wildlife conflict in China involves a smorgasbord of issues,including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Chinesewildlife restaurant trade,13 rehabilitating moon bears farmed for their bile,animals used in traditional Chinese medicine, and many endangered speciesteetering on the brink of extinction. However, this paper has a more limitedfocus. It examines the problems facing giant panda reserves in SouthwestChina, and some of the solutions. It examines Chinese government policy andlegislation, nature reserve management, the role of non-government organi-zations, conservation education, and ecotourism and poverty alleviation. Ananalysis of these issues can also provide an insight into the broader contextof the “panda predicament,” as well as environmental issues generally inChina.

This article does not adopt Lawrence Glacy’s negative and cynicalperception that any effort at environmental protection in China will be ham-strung by a political and economic imperatives.14 But neither does it adoptthe optimistic scenarios of Geoffrey Murray, and Ian G. Cook.15 The bleakscenario is not tenable, as China neither lacks respect for nature, and nor canit ignore the limits to human exploitation of the environment. The choice isno longer as simple as economic investment or environmental degradation.There have already been a wide range of government and private initiatives

8 The Great Western Development Policy (2000) is a Chinese government initiative to enable westernprovinces to catch up with economic development on the Eastern seaboard. http://www.gsinvest.com.cn/2003/

9 CEPF, supra note 5, at 11.10 Personal communication. Zhang Liming, director of Wolong National Reserve administration (6 January

2006).11 At August 2005 there are over 40 giant panda reserves in China. http://www.wwfchina.org12 WWF China, supra note 11, at 3–4.13 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) is attributed to human consumption of the meat of civet

cats on sale in Chinese Wildlife markets in 2003. Department of Human Health. Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/sars

14 LAWRENCE GLACY, CHINA’S CONSERVATION SCHEME: PROTECTING SPECIES OR GENERATING PROFITS? M.A.Thesis, Sonoma State University (2004), see also 5 CHINA ENVIRONMENTAL SERIES 69–73 (2002).

15 GEOFFREY MURRAY & IAN G. COOK, THE GREENING OF CHINA 136–142 (2004).

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tackling China’s environmental problems. Although poverty in remote Chinamakes people desperate, and edicts issued against environmental destructiontend to be ignored in such circumstances,16 it is nonetheless possible that morethan lip service will be paid to environmental issues.

Murray and Cook’s “cheerful” scenario is based on environmental edu-cation instilling respect for the environment, the rediscovery of historical tradi-tions, the acknowledgement of environmental as well as economic sustainabil-ity and a genuine desire to improve local, regional and national environmentsvia long-term efforts.17 Murray and Cook are concerned that whilst China istackling a wide range of serious environmental problems within the contextof her rapid industrialization, urbanization, transition to a market-orientedeconomy and growing consumerism, the Western media has documentedthe problems, but not the solutions being tried.18 They feel that the Chinesepeople’s sincere aspirations to “green China” essentially motivate emerginggovernment policies at all levels, and so they have chosen to offer a rayof hope.19 According to the State Environmental Protection Administration’s“State of the Environment: 2003” report environmental preservation and pro-tection were very important, eco-conservation and eco-development would beequally emphasized; natural resource use would be user-pays, the laws of na-ture and economics would be respected and development would be scientific.20

2. GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND LEGISLATION

2.1 Historical Background

China can boast the longest continuous human civilization on the planet, aboutfour thousand years. Exploiting natural resources, degrading ecosystems andendangering plant and animal species in the pursuit of economic developmentto satisfy the needs of an expanding human population is well-entrenched.Mencius and Lao Zi, the founder of Daoism made the unity between “man” andnature fundamental to Chinese though. Agricultural practices like terracingsteep hillsides and naturally fertilizing soils21 and Li Bing’s water controland conservancy project over 2,000 years ago in Sichuan Province preventedflooding and erosion. Conversely desertification and deforestation resultedfrom Han migrations southwards to the Yangtze and beyond. The prosperousMing and ensuing Qing Dynasty periods saw more forest cleared.22

16 Id. at 137.17 Id. at 140.18 Id. at 5.19 Id. at 6.20 Id. at 145.21 GEOFFREY MURRAY & IAN G. COOK, THE GREENING OF CHINA 23 (2004).22 Id. at 25–28.

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In 1949 China had been devastated by war, lacked basic infrastruc-ture and had to practically be rebuilt. Large-scale, technologically intensivecoal, steel, electricity, and chemical fertilizer and cement plants 1949–1957exacerbated deforestation and erosion and caused pollution.23 The 1950s“Make China Green” campaign of mass shelterbelts, industrial, roadsideand waterside trees from the 1950s–1970s was a positive strategy, althoughit did not help natural forests.24 The “Backyard Furnace Campaign” of theGreat Leap Forward (1958–60) was disastrous for forests and the “Four PestsCampaign” disastrous for wildlife.25 Rapid industrialization had surpassedagriculture by the 1970s. One asked if such a rapid transition was necessaryand if the environmental price was too high to pay.26 Some observers arewondering now if the current “economic juggernaut” is necessary, and if theworld can still afford the price.

Since the economic reforms of the late 1970s, China experienced dra-matic industrialization and rising energy use against a backdrop of populationgrowth and unprecedented urbanization. It is poised to become a major eco-nomic power in the 21st century.27 Murray and Cook also maintain that the en-vironmental effort has mainly been State-led. Work is overseen by the Environ-mental Committee, comprising officials from various departments of the StateCouncil (the top administrative body), especially the State Environmental Pro-tection Administration (SEPA) and partially supplemented by the legislativeand propaganda activities of the Environmental and Resource Protection Com-mittee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the country’s parliament.28

2.2 Protected Area Legislation

Legal proclamations about the environment began with a proposal to the ThirdSession of the National People’s Congress in 1956 that: “it is hoped the gov-ernment will designate specific areas in all provinces where the felling of treesis prohibited in the interest of conservation of natural plant life and scientificresearch.” Later that year, the Ministry of Forestry authorized a “Draft Planfor the Designation of Areas (National Forestry Reserves) Where the Fellingof Natural Trees is Prohibited” and the “Draft Plan for Methods of HuntingControl.” From1966–1978, several nature reserves were seriously damaged bythe Cultural Revolution. However, from the late 1970s, construction of naturereserves slowly resumed. At the first national conference on environmentalprotection in 1975, China’s “Temporary Regulations for Nature Reserves

23 Id. at 30.24 Id. at 32.25 Id. at 34.26 6 Id. at 31.27 Id. at 10.28 Id. at 12.

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(draft)” were tabled and passed in 1978, when China adopted the “Reformand Open Door policy,” centering on economic development and achievingall-round social progress. In 1986, the “Management Methods of Forest andWildlife Type Nature Reserves” was issued.29 The 1994 Regulations on NatureReserves still linked economic development to environmental protection, andrelying on management and technology as an environmental “fix.”30 Protectedareas continued to be degraded.31

In 2003 the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA)admitted at the World Conservation Union’s 5th World Parks Congress inDurban that: “a comprehensive and scientific legal framework for protectedareas does not yet exist.”32 Whilst there have been over 30 Central governmentadministrative decrees, such as Regulations for the Implementation of theProtection of Terrestrial Wildlife and Provisional Regulations on the Adminis-tration of National Parks, and the People’s congresses and local governmentshave enacted and promulgated more than 600 local laws on environmentalprotection,33 in 2006 Conservation International is still negotiating with thePeoples National Congress (PNC), the main Chinese legislature for the currentRegulations on Protected Areas to become law.34

2.3 Environmental and Wildlife Protection Laws

The Environmental Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China wastrialed in 1979 but not enacted until 1989.35 It is the cardinal law for envi-ronmental protection in China, defining the rights and duties of governmentsat all levels, all units and individuals.36 Since this law requires that localgovernments, through their local Environmental Protection Bureaus (EPBs)administer and manage environmental affairs in their own jurisdictions, itsuggests that the central government has relinquished responsibility for im-plementation and enforcement of environmental protection to the province,county and local governments.37 The State Forestry Administration assertsthat some local governments hesitate to inject money into protection projects,allow economic development projects to invade nature reserves and preferpower plant projects and mass tourism to conservation.38

29 GEOFFREY MURRAY & IAN G. COOK, THE GREENING OF CHINA 127 (2004).30 Id. at 12.31 Id. at 15.32 China Establishes over 1,700 Protected Areas, CHINA RADIO INTERNATIONAL, 9 September 2003.33 MURRAY & COOK, supra note 29, at 147.34 Conservation International, Chengdu. Personal comment Li Shengzhi July 7, 2005.35 MURRAY & COOK, supra note 33, at 127 (2004).36 Id. at 137.37 GEOFFREY MURRAY & IAN G. COOK, THE GREENING OF CHINA 22 (2004).38 Tougher Wildlife Protection Law Underway, CHINA DAILY, 7 June 2004.

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The same is true regarding the definition of wildlife ownership39 in therevised National Wildlife Protection Law in 2004.40 “Provincial, county andtownship forestry bureaus have the front-line responsibility to implementthe “panda policy” developed by the SFA, including staffing, operating andpatrolling most panda nature reserves. Institutional capacity and financialresources diminish at lower levels of government, so it is difficult to attractand retain high quality staff with low salaries and poor working conditions.41

2.4 Giant Panda Legislation

Giant Pandas are directly protected under a wide variety of legislation. China’s1993 “Conservation Plan for the Giant Panda and its Habitat” (preparedin cooperation with the World Wide Fund for Nature) is a key legal toolprotecting pandas in China. Including plans for research and conservation, itwas developed based on a national survey of pandas in the wild conducted inthe late 1980s. The updated plan, based on fieldwork completed in late 2001has still not yet appeared (2006) and is consequently well overdue. A lot ofenvironmental degradation can occur in China in 10 years.42

Supportive laws, most recently revised in 1989 include ConstitutionalLaw (1982),43 Forestry Law (1984) (Article 21), the National Wildlife Protec-tion Law (1988), the Environmental Protection Law (1989) (Article 11), andthe General Order by State Council on Protecting Wild Animals (1983). In1984, the National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA), forerunner ofthe present SEPA was set up. Since then, other laws such as the Land Admin-istration Law, Water Resources Law, Law on Water and Soil Conservationwere promulgated.44

Environmental laws in China are general, rather than specific. Theyhark back to the initial substantive effort in 1949 to address environmentalprotection, in Article 26 of China’s Constitution: “The State protects andimproves the living environment and the ecological environment” and Article9: “The State insures the rational utilization of natural resources and protectsrare animals and plants.” This ensures that any balancing where speciesprotection conflicted with development was invariably weighted in favour ofdevelopment. China’s Environment Protection Act (CEPA) (1989) provided

39 Id. “Currently in China “first-grade” animals are protected by the State and “second-grade” animalsby the province or county. A single management system for nature reserves (as proposed by IUCNcategorization) would coordinate relevant government departments” Zhang Dehui, Vice Director of theDivision of Wildlife Management, under the Department of Fauna and Flora Conservation, in the StateForestry Administration.

40 Id.41 Panda Primer: The Facts in Black and White. A December 2001Report from U.S. Embassy Beijing.

http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/ptr/PandaPrimer.htm. At 2.42 Id. at 2.43 The Constitution of the Peoples Republic of China, (Article 9) pledges to protect rare animals and

plants and bans any organization from destroying or trading in them.44 GEOFFREY MURRAY & IAN G. COOK, THE GREENING OF CHINA 12 (2004).

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for Environmental Impact Assessments for construction projects, but wastempered by the “rational utilization of natural resources” clause.45 China sofar fails to provide specific national laws for the protection of endangeredspecies, fails to address the affects of national economic development policieson these species and relies on international conventions and treaties or oncriminal laws where species protection is concerned.46

2.5 A Lack of Law Enforcement

China’s Biodiversity Regulatory Scheme comprises a vast array of naturalresource laws. However, the State Environmental Protection administrationadmitted in 1998 that these laws are all mainly substantive. Organizational andprocedural laws are inadequate and offer little or no guarantee of protection.The lack of enforcement of substantive laws is a serious problem, possiblyreflecting low commitment.47 For example, laws against illegal hunting andtrading of endangered species, and harvesting of wild plants and other non-timber forest products (NTFP) for food or TCM are weakly enforced,48 and in1997 the penalty for panda poachers in China was commuted from the deathsentence to a 20-year prison term.49

In 1999 the environment minister, Xie Zhenhua said that “While Chinamay have adequate environmental legislation in place, enforcement is anothermatter altogether.” He argued that China is a developing country and lacksadequate funding to enforce environmental laws.50 However, isn’t a lackof funding for environmental law enforcement more a matter of prioritiesthan a lack of funds?”51 China is urged to rigorously implement and enforceenvironmental laws and regulations already on the books, although this willrequire greater funding.52 They are just going to have to find the funding.

It is hoped that, as new laws are drafted, current laws revised and currentregulations enshrined in law, not only will they ensure environmental andsocial sustainability, but their design and implementation will also be timely,up-to-date and appropriately funded.

2.6 International Conventions

Keen to save face internationally, the Chinese government has for many yearsbeen a signatory to international wildlife conservation and environmental

45 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.), 10(2002).

46 Id. at 14–16.47 Id. at 20.48 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Hotspot. Ecosystem Profile.1,9 (2002). http://www.cepf.net49 WWF China. History of the panda- Timeline. http://www.wwfchina.org/english/pandacentral/htm50 GLACY, supra note 45, at 26.51 Id. at 26.52 Liu Jianguo & Sue Nichols, Where China Goes, the Rest Follow in the Global Neighbourhood,

http://www.greengrants.org.cn

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protection conventions and agreements. China signed the Convention on Bio-diversity at the Earth Summit in Rio in June 1992 and ratified the Conventionon 5 January 1993.53 It adopted a National Biodiversity Conservation ActionPlan in 1995 under the Regional Biodiversity Programme for Asia (RBP),and implements a sub-national Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) near Wolongpanda reserve in Sichuan.54 China has been a member country of the WorldConservation Union (IUCN) for over 15 years, implementing internationalconventions and seeking policy advice.55 China also ratified the Kyoto Protocolin 1998.56 More recently, the State Forestry Administration Carbon Seques-tration office agreed in May 2005 to apply international Climate, Community,and Biodiversity Standards in Sichuan.57 Currently, the primary rules forbiodiversity protection in China derive from the International Conventionon Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and basic criminal laws.58

2.7 A Variety of Government Departments

Pandas are even managed by a variety of different Chinese organizations.Wild pandas come under the jurisdiction of the State Forestry Administration(SFA). This is the lead Chinese wildlife protection agency. It implements theConvention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), managespolicy and implements Chinese domestic law on endangered species. Pandasin captivity in zoos and breeding bases are governed by the Ministry ofConstruction (MOC), which constructs and operates zoos. Two GONGOS(government-organized non-government organizations),59 the China WildlifeConservation Association (CWCA), linked to SFA and the Chinese Associ-ation of Zoological Gardens (CAZG), linked to MOC, also oversee pandas.The CWCA60 would like to see a balance between the commercializationand protection of wild animals, and more appropriate government funding ofwildlife protection.61

53 Convention on Biological Diversity, Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity/CartagenaProtocol on Biosafety. http://www.biodiv.org/world/parties.asp

54 WWF China. http://www.wwfchina.org55 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Hotspot: Ecosystem Profile 1,20 (2002). http://www.cepf.net56 http://www.chinese-school.netfirms.com/news-article-China-Kyoto-Protocol.html57 China’s State Forestry Administration announces it will use the CCB Standards. http://www.climate-

standards.org/news/news-May2005-China.html58 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.), 11

(2002).59 Panda Primer: The Facts in Black and White. A December 2001Report from U.S. Embassy

Beijing.Available at http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/ptr/PandaPrimer.htm. at 2.60 The Chinese Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA) (1983) is a semi-official organization affiliated

with the State Forestry Administration and the China Association of Science and Technology.61 Law Helps Raise Awareness of Wildlife Protection, BEIJING WEEKEND, 12 November 2004.

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2.8 Government Policies and Programs

The mountains of Southwest China contain the headwaters of the major riversin Asia. Prompted by severe flooding in the upper reaches of the Yangtze, theChinese government applied a Logging Ban in 1998 prohibiting natural forestclearance for cultivation and the hunting and selling of wild animals, andallocated enormous sums for large-scale ecological programs. The NationalNatural Forest Protection Policy (NNFPP), however still permits the collectionof substantial amounts of fuelwood.

This situation can be traced back to historical government policies, suchas land nationalization and communization in the 1950s, and then householdresponsibility or privatization in the late 1970s, which inadvertently led toillegal logging and pre-emptive land clearing. Forest land tenure regulationsexcluded ethnic Baima villagers from either community forests or householduser rights, leaving them no choice but to illegally collect fuelwood instate forests. Consequently, a blind eye was turned toward illegal fuelwoodcollection. In the 1980s confusion of ownership and management rights toforests, extravagant use of timber for construction or fuel and, within stateforests, conflict between the Forestry and Agriculture departments and thosedepartments and local people led to continued deforestation.62

The Chinese government Grain-to-Green (G2G) and Converting SlopingFarmland to Forest Programs63 were introduced in late 1998 to reforest fragilehillside pasturelands for erosion-prevention. Cash subsidies were paid tohouseholders to quit farming on mountain slopes and plant trees instead. Thegovernment provided grain, seedlings and maintenance, and promised rightsto use the trees they planted.64,65 Paradoxically, these rights were then denied bythe logging ban. Much of the funding was earmarked for logging companiesand local government programs to re-train former loggers as forest wardensand managers. The result has been short-term monoculture plantations ofexotic trees and grass, rather than the restoration of native forest ecosystems.66

In fact, in 2004 the G2G project area was even unexpectedly reduced by morethan half.67

Conservation International and WWF have examined the impact ofNNFPP, Grain to Green and the Great Western Development Policy on boththe environment and communities.68 They are furnishing policy-makers andlegislators with the scientific, technical, and managerial expertise to revise

62 GEOFFREY MURRAY & IAN G. COOK, THE GREENING OF CHINA 33 (2004).63 The Grain to Green (G2G) policy and National Natural Forest Protection Programme are valid 2000-

2010 and are both administered by the State Forestry Administration.64 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Hotspot:Ecosystem Profile 1,16 (2002). http://www.cepf.net65 MURRAY & COOK, supra note 62, at 129.66 CEPF, supra note 64, at 13.67 World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Minshan Initiative Progress report (2004).68 Conservation International China Program. http://www.conservation.org

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current policies and legislation69 and ensure that future policies and legislationwill be both environmentally and socially sustainable. The European Union(EU) has funded sustainable natural forest management to plug gaps in theNNFPP.70 WWF recommends the design and implementation of new nationalpolicies for forest protection and restoration, which would be carried out inways that will help local communities.71 The Critical Ecosystem PartnershipFund (CEPF)72 aims to train organizations, businesses, communities and indi-viduals to mitigate threats and conduct ground-level sustainable conservationat ground level, thereby creating partnerships to influence local, regional andnational policies and investments in favour of biodiversity conservation.73

Within China, various government departments increasingly emphasizethe need to protect the environment, and consider environmental protectionan important facet of economic growth. The State Environmental ProtectionAdministration (SEPA) aims over the next five years74 to coordinate economicand environmental development, enhance nature reserves, strengthen theprotection of bio-species resources and slow the loss of biodiversity andgenetic resources.75 The National Endangered Plant and Wildlife Protectionand Nature Reserve Construction Program (NCP), currently the largest gov-ernment investment in biodiversity conservation ever, aims to protect China’sbiodiversity for the next 50 years. However, funding is mostly earmarked forinfrastructure, rather than reserve management.76

2.9 Sustainable Development

Despite eloquent public rhetoric about sustainable development, an impressiveroster of environmental laws, and the central government’s apparently seriousefforts to deal with China’s enormous environmental problems, implemen-tation and enforcement of environmental measures have been erratic. Muchof Chinese society and leadership is convinced it is now China’s turn toenjoy all the benefits of development. Efforts to implement rule of lawhave yet to overcome corruption and reliance on personal connections andbackdoor negotiations over objective authority and legal confrontation.77 Legal

69 Id.70 CI China, supra note 68.71 Liu Jianguo & Sue Nichols, Where China Goes, the Rest Follow in the Global Neighbourhood,

http://www.greengrants.org.cn72 CEPF is a joint initiative of CI, GEF, the Government of Japan, the MacArthur Foundation and the

World Bank.73 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China. http://www.cepf.net/xp/cepf/where-we-work/southwest-

china/southwest74 11th Five-Year Plan 2006-2010.75 CEPF, supra note 73.76 Id. at 16.77 JUDITH SHAPIRO, MAO’S WAR AGAINST NATURE: POLITICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN REVOLUTIONARY CHINA

206 (2001).

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protections for nature reserves and endangered species have been particularlydifficult to enforce in the face of indifference, poverty and greed. “Paperparks” that exist in name only are a common phenomenon in China, as theyare in many other parts of the world.78

Relevant laws and regulations have been enacted and enforced underChina’s Agenda 21,79 the government Program of Action for SustainableDevelopment in China that specifies objectives, principles, priority areas,and safeguards to guide China’s socio-economic development.80 In 2004the Central government called for sustainability and balance between eco-nomic, social, and environmental development.81 A recently mooted Ecologi-cal Compensation Fee would restructure the Chinese timber industry towardssustainability82 and a comprehensive land use plan would broaden the scopefrom tree planting and forest protection to integrated ecosystem restoration andbiodiversity conservation.83 Inconsistencies between some existing laws, regu-lations, and policies and sustainable development also need to be eliminated.84

In brief, it will be a difficult and protracted task to reform environmentallaw and government policy. Cumbersome centralized, large-scale, hugelyfunded, over-arching decision-making in the past has afforded a swift andgenerous reaction to impending environmental disaster, but has also hadunforeseen long-term consequences and contradictory outcomes. The chal-lenge will be in the future to gradually convert to a more regional, landscapeapproach incorporating all relevant stakeholders, both government and non-government, Chinese and international, to ensure that specific problems aredealt with at grass roots level. Laws will need to be drafted, and amended soas to minimize loopholes and weaknesses. Effective enforcement and moresevere penalties are essential. The test will be if laws and policies actuallyachieve what they set out to achieve.

3. PROTECTED AREA MANAGEMENT

3.1 A Variety of Nature Reserves

China has had a nature reserve system for over fifty years, and it is nowhuge. The first nature reserve was set up in 1956. According to a World

78 Id. at 207.79 Agenda 21—White Paper on China’s Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century

was compiled in the wake of the United National Conference on Environment and Development in1992.

80 Program of Action for Sustainable Development in China in the Early 21st Century, XINHUA NEWS

AGENCY, 26 July 2003.81 Conservation International. China Program. http://www.conservation.org82 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Hotspot. Ecosystem Profile.1, 16 (2002). http://www.cepf.net83 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY, supra note 80.84 Id.

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Bank-sponsored Sichuan Forestry department and CI survey in 2003 Chinahad a staggering 1,999 natural protected areas (most established in the lastten years), covering over 12 percent of China’s total area and protecting over300 wild animal species.85 The Chinese government Wildlife and ProtectedAreas Programme (2002–2012) targets 15 flagship species.86 China arguesplacing so much land in nature reserves proves its commitment to biodi-versity protection.87 Nature reserves are specially managed areas recognizedor delimited by a government for biodiversity protection. In China, theirestablishment and development play an important role in protecting thenatural environment and natural resources, reducing pressure and damagefrom economic development and preserving precious species of fauna andflora and ecosystems.88

In the 21st Century, the proper development of nature reserves is con-sidered so important it is included in all national short and medium-termeconomic plans. For the longer term there is the “National Ecological En-vironmental Construction Plan (1995–2050).” Additionally, each province,autonomous region, and municipality prepares it own development plan forthe reserves under its administration. The State Environmental ProtectionAdministration (SEPA) oversees the development of all reserves, which shouldprotect national ecosystems and the environment and China’s animal and plantresource, lay scientific and technological research foundations for further cul-tivation and protection of resources, meet the needs of economic development,promote harmony between human beings and nature (through conservationeducation and ecotourism), and develop ideas of sustainable development.89

However, it was found in 2003 that in most nature reserves monitoringand patrolling for poachers was minimal, regulations on poaching, fellingand collecting were weakly enforced and management staff was poorlytrained in conservation and management involving local communities andmultiple stakeholders.90 SEPA has stressed that, although more and morenature reserves are being quickly established, the relevant laws still cannot befully observed and enforced. In some areas, local authorities only have theireyes on immediate, temporary or partial interests, illicitly exploiting resourcesand carrying out destructive construction within nature reserves.91

Therefore, a Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund (CEPF)-backed CIproject: Capacity Building for Newly Established Nature Reserves in

85 China Moves to Save Endangered Wildlife, CHINA DAILY, 4 October 2004.86 Id.87 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.), 29

(2002).88 GEOFFREY MURRAY & IAN G. COOK, THE GREENING OF CHINA 126 (2004).89 Id. at 128.90 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Biodiversity Hotspot: Ecosystem Profile 1,9 (2002).

http://www.cepf.net91 MURRAY & COOK, supra note 88, at 129.

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Southwestern China provided training for reserves in Ganzi Tibetan andLiangshan Yi Autonomous Prefectures.92 CEPF works with community groups,non-government organizations (NGOs) and private sector enterprises to com-plement existing strategies and frameworks established by local, regionaland national governments. It also liaises with research institutes, universities,associations, community groups and individuals.93

3.2 No Protected Area Budget

A further complication is that since there is no stable financial mechanism inthe central government’s budget to support protected areas, they are forcedto generate income.94 In 2002, China’s nature reserves were being usedto support economic activities, viable habitat was being lost, sometimesat a greater rate inside the reserves than outside, and reserves failed toprotect species.95 The National Environmental Protection Agency counteredthis reproach saying: “The government cannot supply enough financial supportfor nature reserves and under a policy of multifunctional use the managementis expected to use the reserve’s resources to promote conservation, scientificresearch, education and publicity, production and tourism.”96 This meant thatneighbouring communities who had for decades or centuries collected plantsand runs livestock were allowed to continue, ostensibly only in designatedzones. This could not be controlled, as the government did not have the fundingto relocate or compensate local people when reserves were established. DrJim Harris, director of the International Crane Foundation (ICF) noted thatthe conflict between nature protection and subsistence for local people can beseen at most nature reserves in China.97

3.3 Crossed Lines of Authority

The administrative lines of authority of up to 13 different agencies involved inprotecting biodiversity often cross, with little cooperation, and this frustratesefforts by nature reserve managers to do their job.98 Some protected areas havemultiple designations, each managed by a different government department.For example, Jiuzhaigou is a scenic area, forest and tourism park, and anature reserve.99 China’s nature reserve management system combines routine

92 Conservation International. China Program. http://www.conservation.org93 CEPF. Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund. http://www.cepf.net94 Id.95 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.) 27

(2002).96 Id. at 28.97 Id. at 30.98 Id. at 32. .99 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Biodiversity Hotspot: Ecosystem Profile 1,13 (2002).

http://www.cepf.net See the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas guidelines. http://www.unep-wcmc.org/protected areas/categories/eng/c2.pdf

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management by environmental protection agencies with specialized manage-ment by administrative sectors such as forestry, agriculture and geo-mineralsectors. Coordination by political units ensures that biodiversity protectionwill not interfere with national economic development.100 Nor is there astandard evaluation of the effectiveness of nature reserves.101 Conflicts evenexist among stakeholders.102

3.4 55 Panda Reserves

The earliest giant panda reserves, the Wolong, Wanglang, Baihe, and LabaheNature Reserves, were declared in 1963.103 Just over forty years later, thereare 55 panda reserves.104 The National Conservation Program for the GiantPanda and its Habitat is one of the highest profile programs in China. The FirstNational Panda Survey in the 1970s and the Second in the 1980s estimatedabout 1,100 wild pandas. Satellite imagery analysis showed 50 percent lossof occupied habitat over that time. China’s Third National Panda Survey in1999–2003 used Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Infor-mation System (GIS) technology to show there are now almost 1,600 wildgiant pandas in China.105 Artificial breeding also plays an important role inincreasing numbers, with the ultimate aim that offspring should return to theirnatural environment wherever possible, meaning protection areas should bedesignated free of human activity.106

3.5 ICDP in Wanglang Nature Reserve

The National Biodiversity Conservation Action Plan (1995), supported bythe Global Environment Facility (GEF) of the World Bank, was developedfollowing China’s ratification of the Biodiversity Convention.107 In 1996 WWFand the Chinese government launched an Integrated Conservation and Devel-opment Project (ICDP) community-based conservation program in Pingwucounty.108 Aiming to protect panda habitat without compromising economiclivelihoods, the project provided training in sustainable logging, introducednew income-generating activities such as ecotourism and raised local conser-vation awareness.109 From 1996–2000 WWF trained over 300 panda reservestaff and local government officials in nature reserve management, wildlifemonitoring and anti-poaching. There was cooperation between Wanglang

100 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.) 67(2002).

101 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Hotspot: Ecosystem Profile 1, 20 (2002). http://www.cepf.net102 China Establishes over 1,700 Protected Areas . CHINA RADIO INTERNATIONAL, 9 September 2003.103 “Wolong Giant Panda Breeding Centre.” http://www.giantpandabear.com/DHTML/wolong.html104 WWF China. History of the panda—Timeline. http://www.wwfchina.org105 WWF China. New Survey Reveals Nearly 1,600 Giant Pandas in the Wild. http://www.wwfchina.org106 GEOFFREY MURRAY & IAN G. COOK, THE GREENING OF CHINA 126 (2004).107 CEPF, supra note 101.108 WWF China. Panda Conservation in the Minshan Region. http://www.wwfchina.org109 WWF China. Panda Conservation in the Minshan Region. http://www.wwfchina.org

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and Si’er pilot reserves, communities, tourists, enterprises, governments, andnon-government organizations, to strengthen nature reserves and developalternatives to environmentally-damaging activities inside protected areas.Since 2001 WWF has trained further nature reserve staff in Shaanxi andSichuan in wildlife protection and reserve management.110

The World Bank/GEF and Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer TechnischeZusammenarbeit (GTZ) funded the largest multilateral and bilateral aid con-servation programs in the region, such as the 1997–2001 GTZ-funded pandareserve program in Sichuan province, enhancing nature reserves by improvingcommunity livelihoods.111

In 2002 WWF launched the “Qinling Panda Protection Network,” bysigning a Memorandum of Understanding between with the Shaanxi Forestrydepartment to create twelve new panda reserves and five ecological corri-dors and incorporate sustainable tourism and poverty alleviation.112 Shaanxiprovince has the highest panda population density in the world. WWF is work-ing with traditional partners such as local communities and businesses, andnon-traditional partners such as national and regional governments, to changepolicies, decision-making, management, investment, and consumption113 as a“win-win solution to reconciling conservation and economic development.”114

Glacy would counter that the model that integrates actions that prioritizedevelopment at the expense of conservation, under the rubrics of tourism,ecotourism, and poverty alleviation remains unchanged115 and that wildlifewould lose-lose.

3.6 MAB in Wolong Nature Reserve

Wolong Nature Reserve is perhaps the main protected area that people any-where have heard of. In 1963 it covered an area of 20,000 ha, but only 12years later in 1975 was enlarged to 200,000 ha.116 In 1979 WWF was the firstinternational conservation organization invited to research giant pandas.117

It offered training, equipment, and veterinary help, jointly conducted thesecond and third National Panda surveys and in 1992 drafted the NationalConservation Management Plan for the Giant Panda and its Habitat, whichcalled back then for more nature reserves and migratory corridors to reconnectisolated populations.118 WWF now plans that by 2012 giant panda populations

110 Id.111 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Hotspot: Ecosystem Profile 1, 20 (2002). http://www.cepf.net112 WWF China. Qinling Panda Focal Report. http://www.wwfchina.org/english/pandacentral/htm113 Id.114 Id.115 Id. http://www.wwfchina.org/english/pandacentral/htm116 Personal communication. Zhang Liming, director of Wolong National Reserve Administration

(6 January 2006).117 WWF China, supra note 112.118 WWF China. Panda Facts at a Glance. http://www.wwfchina.org

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and habitats will have increased by 10 percent from what they are today, inselected priority areas, Minshan in Sichuan, and Qinling in Shaanxi.119

Wolong is a World Heritage Site and Man and the Biosphere Re-serve under participatory management, reconciling conservation and eco-nomic development.120 There are over 140 wild pandas, already a distinctincrease from the 1980s. Problems today include land, water and habitatdegradation, deforestation, visitor and protection management, and enforcinglaws and regulations.121 Zhang Liming, director of the Wolong NationalReserve Administration now sees the major problem as a conflict betweenconservation and community development.122

It is easy to see why there is a public perception that Wolong itselfcaters more for people than pandas and that by focusing on captive breeding,tourism and revenue-raising for local people, management may be neglectinghabitat protection and restoration. Wolong Nature Reserve has been busilydeveloping tourist infrastructure.123 The China Research and ConservationCentre of the Giant Panda in Wolong has cared for 98 captive pandas, andproduced 90 cubs. New modern facilities, including naturalistic enclosuresand a new visitor centre and museum have been constructed.124

The Chinese are demonstrating how economic and infrastructure devel-opment, increased local population and increased tourism can protect pandasin captivity. Since 1984 the captive panda population has tripled. However,all is not well with the 185 captive pandas worldwide. Due to concerns aboutconditions in captivity and neglect of pandas in the wild, Taipei City Zooseems to be reconsidering whether it will accept the two pandas Wolong hasalready offered.125 American zoos are expressing dismay at the high expenseof loan payments, infrastructure and care, for the little revenue they accruein return, as renewal of their 10-year loan agreements falls due.126 There maybe heavier international pressure on China to improve conditions for pandasboth in captivity and in the wild.

119 WWF China. History of WWF’s Support of Panda conservation in China. http://www.wwfchina.org120 Zhang Liming (2005). Wolong National Nature Reserve. Participatory Management. Sichuan Forestry

and Tourism Centre. Wolong Management Office. CD-rom.121 Id.122 Personal communication. Zhang Liming, director of Wolong National Reserve Administration (6

January 2006).123 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.), 39

(2002).124 Zhang Liming, supra note 121.125 Mark Magnier, Taiwan Agonizes over Embracing a Gift from China of Its Most Precious Weapon.

LOS ANGELES TIMES, 26 March 2006. China’s State Forestry Administration offered a breeding pairof pandas to Taipei City Zoo on 6 January 2006. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/03/26/MNG

126 D’Vera Cohn, Zoos Fnd Pandas Don’t Make the Cash to Cover Their Keep, WASHINGTON POST,7 August 2005. Some American zoos may want to renegotiate their loan agreements. http://www.washintonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/06/AR

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However, scientists with the Ecological Environmental Research Centerof the Chinese Academy of Sciences verified that the reserve’s living area forwild pandas has diminished to only 47.6 percent of the reserve’s total landarea,127 and that activities of local residents have interfered with about 500square kilometers.128 Nearly 4,500 mainly ethnic Tibetan farmers and Qiangpeople live in the reserve. Land use includes natural forest, stock grazingand cultivation. More than 3,000 ha of farming land has been converted toforest or bamboo, through the Grain to Green project since 1999. Today,farmers generate their income through crops in the permitted area, develop abamboo products industry and engage in panda ecotourism (farming familyhomestays), as well as in wild animal and plant protection.129 The reserveemploys local young people in forestry, trains them to rescue hungry, sick,and injured wild animals and to monitor and patrol for forest fires, engagestheir labour for construction and transport, and provides new technology forrural production. Consequently farmers’ incomes have increased dramaticallysince the reserve was established.130

The director, Dr Zhang Liming touts the official line that since thereserve has an increasing number of human inhabitants, Wolong is a typ-ically following the central overnment policy of “attaching importance towild protection, strengthening panda research, facilitating community de-velopment and insuring social stabilization.” Basically, it aims to mitigatehuman-wildlife conflicts, promote wild conservation by research and integrateconservation with community development.131 The sobering reality is thatfrom 1974–1989 Wolong and other giant panda habitat was reduced by50 percent, and that since 1989 new roads, hotels, restaurants, commercialbusinesses and a variety of timber and non-timber forest products extractedfrom the forest for commercial sale have contributed to habitat degradation andloss.132

Wolong still tries to convince the public it wants to conserve giant pandasin the wild. And it has the cash to prove it. News just to hand is that the “firstrelease of a captive-raised giant panda into the wild” occurred yesterday,28 April 2006 at the open air training centre at the now-named “Wolong GiantPanda Protection and Research Centre.” After three years training, XiangXiang (born in 2001) was released into Wolong Nature Reserve by staff and

127 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.) 40(2002).

128 Id. at 41.129 Zhang Liming (2005). Wolong National Nature Reserve. Participatory Management. Sichuan Forestry

and Tourism Centre. Wolong Management Office. CD-rom.130 Id.131 Personal communication. Zhang Liming, director of Wolong National Reserve Administration (6

January 2006).132 GLACY, supra note 127, at 41.

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the State Forestry Administration. Implementation of this project cost anestimated 100 million yuan ($ US 12.5 million).133

The WWF and the SFA consider the Wolong Nature Reserve the modelfor all future panda planning in China, calling for tourism development withinreserves and linking commercial-oriented poverty alleviation efforts withspecies protection.134 One questions the illogic of a plan calling for increasedcommercial activities to protect pandas already threatened by commercialexploitation.135

3.7 Damned If You Do

Is China using funding it receives from long-term panda loans in overseaszoos for conservation projects in nature reserves? Glacy says:

If there were a nail that sealed the coffin shut on China’s view of the functionof its conservation scheme, it would be how China plans to use the panda loanmoney required to be used for species protection. Uses of an economic character thatthreaten species would provide a strong argument that China’s conservation goal isto generate profits.136

The U.S. Fisheries and Wildlife Service Panda Import Authorized Funds(PIAF) are allocated for priority conservation projects in the National Plan(NP), National Survey (NS), and Conservation Based Programs (CBP).137

It seemed by 1999 that that projects proposed by the Chinese weredevelopment-driven. PIAF expenditure was on construction of administra-tive offices, roads, water and power facilities, fire protection, and tourismprojects—capital construction projects,138 to meet increasing tourist demandon the reserve.139 The Tangjiahe Nature Reserve year 2000 report includedplans for a tourist guesthouse, museum and telephone service. Was this aviolation of the CITES convention?140 Lu Xiaoping, director of the GiantPanda Conservation Foundation China office, said: “Conservation prioritiesin China are different than in other countries, such as the United States.Providing basic infrastructure to workers and families is critical to the successof conservation, otherwise you won’t get anyone to work in a nature reserve.”141

133 1st Captive-Bred Giant Panda Released into Wild. NEWS & INFO. China.com. (27 April 2006).http://english.china.com/zh cn/news/society/

134 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.) 28(2002).

135 Id. at 42.136 Id. at 56.137 Id. at 58.138 Id. at 61.139 Id. at 62.140 Id. at 64.141 Id. at 65.

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The PIAF budget proposal for Wanglang Nature Reserve 2000–2002 wastermed infrastructure related to tourism and included conservation stations,a boundary fence, monitoring and patrolling equipment, fire prevention,education, roads, and phones. These activities would jeopardize wild pandasby reducing available panda habitat.142 China has received the greater portionof its US$ 1 million per year under the 10-year panda loan agreement and hasspent the money principally on capital development and infrastructure. In a26 July 2004 interview, Don Lindbergh, director of the panda program of theDan Diego Zoological Society, said the FWS would withhold the panda loanmoney until China can offer a reasonable plan of expenditure directly relatedto and in compliance with the goals of the FWS panda policy and consistentwith the purposes of the import permit.143

3.8 Damned If You Don’t

Lucy Spelman was sent by the Smithsonian National Zoo to observe how theirloan money was being spent. In 2001 she said that Tangjiahe Nature Reservewas well run and fairly well developed and had potential for ecotourismand community conservation education. She said though that the other threereserves in the agreement were hard to get to and undeveloped. They lackedbuildings, access roads and equipment, were minimally staffed and wouldneed years of help to become effective nature reserves. “My hope,” she saidis that the money they receive as a result of our panda loan will make thishappen.”144

If people who are part of the same American program cannot agreeon what constitutes conservation or development, then how can China beblamed for the same mis-understanding? This is one of the main challengesin China, and indeed in all developing countries today. In an effort to providelivelihoods for the local human population, to harness the potential source ofincome from mass international and domestic tourism, and to use the expertiseand funding of non-government organizations involved in environmental andsocial programs, the Chinese government at national, provincial, county andcity level is trying to “please all of the people all of the time.” If such humanactivities cannot be controlled and managed efficiently, there is a chance thatpeople will win, and the environment, and especially the endangered animalswill lose out.145

142 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.) 66(2002).

143 Id. at 67.144 Panda Conservation Brings Lucy Spelman Back To China. GIANT PANDAS AT THE SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL

ZOO. http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Publications/Online Features/Spelman China.145 Personal communication. Zhang Liming, director of Wolong National Reserve Administration

(6 January 2006).

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4. NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATIONS

“In the West, individual local initiatives, powerful lobby organizations suchas Greenpeace and the Friends of the Earth, and political entities such as theGreen Party are involved in environmentalism. This has not happened to asignificant extent in China until very recently. Public awareness of the needto protect the environment has been weak, especially in the poorly educatedrural sector. Due to cultural traditions deeply rooted in China’s history, andlong-term autocratic rule, ordinary people have not been voluntarily engagedin public social welfare activities or used to consultation and cooperation.This situation is now changing, led by a well-off class benefiting fromthe economic reforms of recent decades. Increasing environmental mediacoverage in specialist newspapers and the general media and delegates to theNPC and to the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPCCC),which includes eight non-Communist parties and acts in an advisory role tothe government and NPC, are most active in raising ecological concerns.146

4.1 International NGOs

The two major NGOs in this region are WWF and Conservation International.Some believe the Chinese government realizes its ambitious plan for envi-ronmental protection exceeds its willingness or ability to provide finance.147

Reluctant to dramatically increase spending, and seeking more stakeholdercollaboration with wildlife conservation, the State Forestry Administrationintroduced a new Foundation Management Law in 2004, clarifying the legalposition of NGOs and encouraging private sector collaboration on projectsunder government supervision.148 Others believe the status gained throughcooperation activities with notable foreign NGOs, the support they are able toprovide, the educational opportunity for China’s nature reserve managementand other benefits influence China’s cooperation with NGOs.149

WWF writes that: “Forest loss and degradation resulting from unsustain-able development has led to growing conflict between wildlife and humans”in the introduction to its Minshan Initiative.150 Therefore the objectives of“Securing the Future for Pandas, Forests and People” in Sichuan and Gansuare participatory land use planning, improved management for biodiversityconservation and the promotion of sustainable community development.151

Working within existing Chinese government NNFPP, G2G and Wildlife

146 GEOFFREY MURRAY & IAN G. COOK, THE GREENING OF CHINA 13 (2004).147 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.), 52

(2002).148 Tougher Wildlife Protection Law Under Way, CHINA DAILY, 7 June 2004.149 GLACY, supra note 147, at 52.150 WWF China. Panda Conservation in the Minshan Region. http://www.wwfchina.org151 Id.

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Conservation and Nature Reserve Development programs, WWF seeks asustainable balance between development and wildlife conservation.152

To increase panda populations and create new panda reserves and ecolog-ical corridors, WWF collaborates with national, provincial and local forestryauthorities, social and biological research institutes, infrastructure and tourismdevelopment agencies and local governments, prioritizing sites where seriousconflicts exist between conservation and economic activities.153 WWF wants tonegotiate new local and national policies for forest protection and restoration,provide permanent funding to support nature reserves, make land use planningand management panda-related, involve more stakeholders and help peoplein the 500 priority villages to develop sustainable livelihoods.154 “Rather thanlosing out from the presence of pandas, local people should derive economicbenefits from improved ecological protection.”155

The WWF Panda Conservation Strategic Action Plan (PSA)156 coordi-nates ecotourism, monitoring and patrolling and community development toinfluence policy changes.157 It is due to be updated. Information from theThird National Survey on the Giant Panda and its Habitat will guide thedevelopment of a new conservation strategy.158 According to the WWF 2004Minshan Initiative progress report, China’s first “eco-regional,” landscape-level conservation project was a “successful partnership between the SichuanForestry Department, nature reserves, logging companies and NGOs.”159

Conservation International is an emerging force and major partner inCEPF, operating in southern-central Sichuan. CI runs field-based demon-stration projects promoting the restoration of natural vegetation in criticalbiodiversity concern areas (needing protection from free-range grazing, fu-elwood collection, burning and extraction).160 CI is particularly interested inrevitalizing traditional reserve management systems on Tibetan sacred landsand mainstreaming the conservation ethic onto China’s development agenda.161

Seeking partnerships with local grassroots Tibetan NGOs, CI’s mission is toconserve Earth’s global biodiversity and show that human society can liveharmoniously with nature. CI aims to improve the environmental regulatoryframework, institutional and technical capacity of both conservation and

152 Id.153 WWF China. Panda Conservation in the Minshan Region. http://www.wwfchina.org154 WWF China. THE MINSHAN INITIATIVE: SECURING THE FUTURE FOR PANDAS, FORESTS AND PEOPLE, at 11.155 WWF China. What Needs to Be Done: Participatory Conservation Approaches. http://www.

wwfchina.org156 Launched in 1999 and implemented since 2003.157 WWF China. Panda Conservation Strategic Action. http://www.wwfchina.org158 Id.159 WWF China. Minshan Initiative Progress Report (2004).160 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Hotspot: Ecosystem Profile 1, 20 (2002). http://www.cepf.net161 Conservation International. China Program. http://www.conservation.org

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development government agencies and NGOs, improve sustainable liveli-hoods for the local community and provide a scientific basis for decision-making, collaboration and the exchange of information between governmentagencies, environment and development NGOs and local communities.162

The Provincial Planning Committee of Sichuan, CI, The Nature Con-servancy (TNC) and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) organized theConservation Priority- Setting Workshop for the Upper Yangtze in Chengdu in2002 on forestry, environmental protection, tourism, and development. Therewas consultation with county officials, nature reserve staff, tour agenciesand operators, university environmental groups, local communities, local andinternational NGOs, bilateral and multilateral aid agencies and conservationexperts.163

4.2 Chinese NGOs

In the West, non-governmental organizations have canvassed environmen-tal issues, lobbied for environmental protection, publicized violations andheld industry and government accountable. In China, however, suppressionof grass-roots organizations has left the environmental bureaucracy poorlyequipped to mobilize popular support for environmental protection on itsown. Continued tight controls over freedom of information, despite inroadsby the Internet (which is also tightly controlled), make it difficult, at leastin the short term, for China’s citizens to reach across borders to participatein “global civil society.” In sum, many of China’s difficulties in dealingwith the negative environmental impacts of industrialization can be linkedto the Mao years, stifling intellectual freedom and hindering wise policy-making. The post-Mao crisis of values has created an often-cynical societyin which indifference to the public good has exacerbated problems withenforcement.

Whilst Chinese NGOs are not yet a major force in conservation in China,the number of NGOs is increasing and most universities and colleges havestudent environmental groups, such as Green SOS,164 sharing information andconducting joint projects with overseas environmental NGOs like the WorldResources Institute and drawing support from Western foundations such asthe Ford Foundation and WWF-Beijing.165 The Participatory Rural AppraisalNetwork in Sichuan has formed several NGOs and set up the Center forBiodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge and the Center for Community De-velopment Studies. Environmental NGOs, such as Green River and the Green

162 Id.163 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Hotspot: Ecosystem Profile 1, 20 (2002). http://www.cepf.net164 Id. at 20.165 JUDITH SHAPIRO, MAO’S WAR AGAINST NATURE, POLITICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN REVOLUTIONARY CHINA,

211 (2001).

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Plateau Institute organize volunteer projects for national and internationalNGOs.166 China’s promotion of democratic elections in villages and townshipsmay help integrate conservation and civil society capacity building efforts.167

The Global Greengrants Fund gives small grants to grassroots NGOs forcapacity building and has recently initiated support in China.168 Indeed, thecapacity of Chinese NGOs must be greatly enhanced to meet the increasingconservation needs in this region.169

4.3 CANGO and GONGOs

There are muted signs of hope that environmental problems have become agenuine central concern of China’s government. In 1998, the State Environ-mental Protection Administration was elevated to the level of Ministry.170 De-spite government nervousness about the institutions of civil society, environ-mental non-government organizations (GONGOs, or government-organizednon-government organizations, which are NGOs under the umbrella of exist-ing government organizations, focusing on environmental programs support-ing government goals of economic development.) were set up.171 What NGOsin China cannot do, however is oppose the Chinese Communist Party. Thisrestricts their actions to research and education, rather than direct involvementin the conservation of biological diversity.172 Whilst the China Associationof Non-Government Organizations (CANGO), states “it has always put en-vironmental protection as a top priority when executing projects assisted byinternational agencies and foreign NGOs,”173 the projects have little connectionwith the conservation of China’s biological resources. Dr Lu Xing fromthe Institute of Geography in Kunming defined the relationship between theChinese government and NGOs: “In the course of social development, non-profit organizations came into being as a result of government’s limitations toprovide various services to its citizens, or consumers, and are supplementaryto the government or enterprise.174 The purpose of NGOs was to assist gov-ernment with its work in poverty alleviation and environmental protection.175

There is definitely no shortage of NGOs operating in this region of China.However, it will be crucial that they consult with all stakeholders, on both

166 CEPF, supra note 163, at 20.167 Id. at 21.168 Id. at 20.169 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Hotspot: Ecosystem Profile 21 (2002). http://www.cepf.net170 JUDITH SHAPIRO, MAO’S WAR AGAINST NATURE, POLITICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN REVOLUTIONARY CHINA,

208 (2001).171 Id. at 211.172 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.), 53

(2002).173 Id. at 54.174 Id. at 54.175 Id. at 55.

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environmental and social issues, and that they communicate with each other.This requires a regional approach to problem-solving and collaboration notonly with the Chinese government, but also between Chinese and internationalnon-government organizations. If China’s leaders can see their way towardloosening controls on public participation, a government may yet evolve thatis environmentally responsible and responsive, backed by citizen awarenessof environmental issues and support for strong environmental enforcement.176

5. CONSERVATION EDUCATION

Conservation education has been implemented in Southwest China for over20 years, and is going from strength to strength. The Wildlife ConservationSociety (WCS) has sponsored and conducted wildlife research and surveysin Sichuan since the early 1980s and currently conducts nature reserve man-agement training and environmental education projects in Sichuan.177 From1996–2000, the WWF/ Pingwu ICDP in conjunction with Pingwu countyEducation Committee and Culture Bureau arranged educational programs fortourists, college and middle school students and local villagers, setting a basisfor long-term cooperation with stakeholders.178

WWF and the Jane Goodall Institute Roots and Shoots, China Office(funded by CEPF) are currently working with other organizations to conductenvironmental education programs in nature reserves in the Minshan.179 Theyuse an entertaining, creative approach in “Pride campaigns”180 to spreadmessages about a home for wildlife, resources for local people and sustainabletourism. They also explain how firewood collection, poaching, animal andplant diseases, illegal logging, mining, and plant harvesting, unsustainabletourism, and litter threaten nature reserves and biodiversity. The audiencesare not only school children, but also farmers with cottage NTFP industriesand tourism homestays and local tourism companies.181 Facilitators receiveintensive specialized training in social marketing as community educators topromote local pride in the environment in some of the planet’s most threatenedecosystems. The Kent University (U.K.) RARE course offers a Diploma inConservation Education.182

176 SHAPIRO, supra note 170, at 211.177 WCS Wildlife Conservation Society. China Environmental Education Program. http://www.wcschina.

net/china-home/china-education178 WWF China. Panda Conservation in the Minshan Region. http://www.wwfchina.org179 CEPF News. In Focus. Marketing Social Change. November 2004. http://www.cepf.net/xp/cepf/news/

in focus/2004/november feature.xml180 CEPF News. In Focus, Resource Centre Students Get Off to a Strong Start for Conservation Education.

August 2003. http://www.cepf.net/181 CEPF. Pride Campaign: Mountains of Southwest China. http://www.cepf.net/xp/cepf182 CEPF News. In Focus. Marketing Social Change. November, 2004. http://www.cepf.net/

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Contrary to a popular misconception that nature reserves and zoos arepoles apart, both Chinese and foreign zoos are actively involved in pandaconservation in nature reserves in China, precisely in the area of conservationeducation. American zoos, such as the San Diego Zoological Society, ZooAtlanta, National Zoological Society, and Memphis Zoo each contribute atleast $US 1 million a year to in situ panda conservation, in accordance withcaptive panda loan agreements.183 Zoo Atlanta runs conservation educationprograms for schoolchildren at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant PandaBreeding and Chengdu Zoo, and envisions expanding to zoos in Beijing andShanghai. There may even eventually be a China-wide network of conserva-tion education programs in Chinese zoos. The San Diego Zoo and the NationalZoo, Washington, DC, both organize scientific research and conservationeducation programs at Wolong.

The Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, strategicallyplaced in the capital city of Sichuan has been caring for captive pandas,supporting veterinary and scientific research and hosting national workshopsand international conferences, such as the annual meeting of the ChineseCommittee of Breeding Techniques for Giant Pandas, since the 1980s. Sincethe 1990s it has also jointly pioneered a conservation education program forschool children with Zoo Atlanta and sent staff to workshops in a large numberof panda reserves.

In 2005 various planning meetings have already been held with a viewto not only expanding the area of the panda base, (also known as the “PandaAdventure”) by three times after the third phase development project isfinished, but also to designing and building the major museum in the world ongiant panda conservation. Conservation education exhibits in the new museumwill present a unified picture of in situ conservation in panda reserves and exsitu conservation in zoos in China and overseas, and will include messagesaimed not only at school children, but also at foreign visitors and local people.In the same way that Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding andChengdu Zoo are piloting conservation education programs in Chinese zoos,the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding may, with its newmuseum encourage the other giant panda research and breeding bases inWolong and Fuzhou, and another envisaged for Shaanxi province to followsuit, and also expand their involvement in conservation education.

Currently in China, both the school system and the university systemtreat animals and their habitat as separate intellectual disciplines. Middleschool students learn chemistry, physics and biology, but not environmentalstudies. University departments teach “environmental engineering” and “zo-ology” as separate courses. Most research staff at zoos and breeding centres

183 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Biodiversity Hotspot. Ecosystem Profile 1, 20 (2002)http://www.cepf.net

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have veterinary training only. There is a need for courses such as ecology,conservation biology, protected area management, environmental studies, andex situ conservation (such as the captive management of endangered species inzoos and research and breeding centres). Accessing yet another conservationeducation opportunity, CI coordinates environmental education programs,which are designed and implemented in communities by Buddhist leaders.184

Conservation education is playing a vital role in making people in allwalks of life realize how they all impact on giant pandas and can help conservethem. In his history of the environment in China, Mark Elvin outlined theuncomfortable legacy of three millennia of human exploitation, the increasingcost of environmental restoration and that China had reached a time when thepotential for further improvements within the old technology without recourseto an external modern science was virtually exhausted, slowing the responseto the challenge of modernizing the rural economy at a critical time. He thensuggests that religious, philosophical, literary, and historical values and ideascould not explain why the environment was impacted the way it was. Thepursuit of power and profit seemed a more likely explanation. He then posesas devil’s advocate and asks what this implies for the realism, or otherwise,of the hope that we can escape from our present environmental difficulties bymeans of a transformation of consciousness.185

6. ECOTOURISM

High-end, small-scale ecotourism is being touted in this region as a panaceafor all ills, supposedly combining increased incomes for local people withincreased conservation outcomes. The Wanglang Nature Reserve had since itsdeclaration in 1963 been inaccessible to tourism. Under the WWF, State ForestAdministration, and Pingwu local government joint Integrated Conservationand Development Project (ICDP) at Pingwu (1997–2002), Wanglang pandareserve became a centre of excellence. Ecotourism management regulationswere implemented, trails designed, training workshops conducted for naturereserve staff. Wanglang reserve and the Baima community began hostinginternational tourist groups.186

The WWF launched its Qinling Nature Conservation and EcotourismDevelopment Project—Panda Corridor (in Laoxiancheng Nature Reserve) inOctober 2004, designed to integrate panda habitat conservation with eco-tourism development, and benefit local communities. Awareness raising andcapacity-building activities included training the local population in project

184 Conservation International. China Program. http://www.conservation.org185 MARK ELVIN, THE RETREAT OF THE ELEPHANTS: AN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF CHINA 470–471 (2004).186 WWF China. Panda Conservation in the Minshan Region. http://www.wwfchina.org

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management, ecotourism concepts, community development, and alternativelivelihoods, prior to erecting an ecolodge and laying a nature trail.187

Shortly afterwards, the China International Ecotourism Conference washeld in November 2004 in Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. The firstCertificates of Proficiency in International Ecotourism Standard (IES) trainingin China were conferred on delegates from government agencies, researchinstitutes, NGOs, communities, and enterprises based in southwestern Chinaand especially in panda reserves in Sichuan (Jiuzhaigou, Huanglong andWolong).188 In March 2005 Wanglang National Nature Reserve became thefirst organization to register for the Green Globe 21 (GG21)189 InternationalEcotourism Standard (IES) in China.190 A GG21 Panda Ecotourism Project isbeing planned for Changqing nature reserve in Shaanxi province.191

The Sichuan Forestry department drafted a tourism development guide-line with the Jiuzhaigou Tourism Administration for ecotourism on forestfarms. The first Jiuzhai Paradise International Environmental Forum was heldin October 2005, on the theme “Environmental Strategy in Rapid EconomyDevelopment” China.192 Most recently, the China International EcotourismConference held in November 2005 in Hangzhou was themed “Developmentand Management of Ecotourism: Win-Win Option for Eco-Environment andSocial Economy.” Topics discussed included ecotourism best practice andprinciples, and sustainable ecotourism.193

6.1 Wanglang and the Baima

Flavour of the month in panda reserves in China at the moment is the ecolodge.WWF, which provided start-up funding praises the Baima bed and breakfastdevelopment as people putting down their saws and embracing the panda’sbamboo forest habitat and the Wanglang Panda Reserve for its low-volume,high value tourism ecolodge renovation.194 WWF claims that from Wanglangto Jiuzhaigou, they are working with local authorities to green popular tourismsites, with yet another ecolodge at Zharugou.195

187 Hua Dong, Project to Benefit Environment, Tourism. CHINA DAILY: Special Supplement, 19–20November 2005, at S3.

188 Greenglobe Newsletter. No.20. November 2004. http://www.greenglobe21.com189 Greenglobe 21 is the worldwide benchmarking and certification programme that facilitates sustainable

travel and tourism. It is based on Agenda 21 principles for sustainable tourism endorsed at the Rio EarthSummit in 1992 and incorporates the World Tourism Organization Global Code of Ethics for Tourism.http://www.greenglobe21.com

190 Greenglobe Newsletter, No. 24. March 2005.191 Id. at No. 20. November 2004.192 Id. at No. 29. August 2005.193 Id. at No. 33, December 2005.194 Claire Doole WWF International office, Going Beyond the Great Wall: Ecotourism in China (2005).

aapn@yahoogroups.com195 Id.

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However, a recent local study196 alleges that, with high- speed devel-opment, and actual encouragement from the Pingwu local government, theBaima ecotourism project is undergoing a transition from ecotourism to masstourism.197 Large numbers of domestic tourists far outweigh foreign visitors,and local people are leaving farming to make profits from tourism.198 Far fromlaying down saws, they are using forest timber to erect myriad guesthouses.This study implies that, when a large human population undergoes rapideconomic development, such as in this poverty-stricken western region ofChina, not only do people in culturally-sensitive areas not want to controldevelopment, but this would be impossible to achieve. Precisely becausetourism can quickly sky-rocket local income, it needs to be carefully monitoredand controlled.

Although the WWF plan for Wanglang proposed limiting tourist num-bers, the Pingwu county government, local tourist bureau and Wanglangnature reserve staff are planning for mass tourism on a daily basis.199 Nowthat WNR is considering Greenglobe 21 accreditation, it will have to re-solve this conflict between small-scale ecotourism and mass tourism, andthe demand for increased consumption of over 400 or more usable forestproducts.200

Mass tourism is already a proven major threat in Jiuzhaigou, a WorldHeritage Site and the first declared Scenic area in China.201 Jiuzhaigou isconsidered to have lost much of its biodiversity, and no longer has resident wildgiant pandas. Increased tourism to Wanglang Nature Reserve will mean higherlevels of pollutants, oil, gas, garbage, noise, fire risk, soil disturbance fromerosion and compaction, and sewage. The Baima community development willimpact timber consumption for firewood, charcoal and construction materialsas well as degrade water resources with human and animal waste.202 Theseissues will need to be paid more than lip service, if WNR does in fact intendto follow the prescriptions required by GG21 accreditation as a world-classecotourism destination.

As is the case with laws on environmental protection, laws and regula-tions on tourism and ecotourism also need revising and ‘toughening up’, toensure that they herald sustainable development. These include the NationalPeoples Congress Cultural Heritage Protection Law and National Nature

196 Lian Yuluan, A Case Study on the Effects of Tourism on the Baima Community—Development of Toursin Ecologically and Culturally Sensitive Zones, 3 TOURISM TRIBUNE 20 (3) 13 (2005).

197 Id.198 Id.199 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.) 47

(2002).200 Id. at 48.201 WWF China. THE MINSHAN INITIATIVE: SECURING THE FUTURE FOR PEOPLE, FORESTS AND PANDAS.202 GLACY, supra note 199 at 49.

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Reserve regulations; National Hospitality Institute Scenic Area Managementregulations: Tourism Management Guidelines and Tour guide managementrules; National Tourism Ministry guidelines, such as the Tourism DevelopmentPlan Management Methods; and local provincial and county guidelines.203

Conservation International, with funding from the Bridge Fund conductsworkshops on ecotourism with Tibetan communities and is designing regionalstandards for tourism development.204

Recently, the Chinese government proposed to develop market-basedtourism and encourage private investment under the law. Sustainability wouldbe ensured, since the Chinese government insists only on transferring uti-lization rights to the natural area, while its ownership and managementrights would still be controlled by the government, requiring evaluation ofany tourism project by the environmental impact authority. Admittedly, thisprocess has not yet been perfected.205 Detractors view this as the privatizationof tourism management in natural areas, with little guidance on environmentalstandards.206

It is therefore essential that organizations such as WWF, CI and GG21continue to conduct training on the principles and implementation of “realecotourism,” and honestly evaluate the environmental and social sustainabilityof any projects they support.

7. POVERTY ALLEVIATION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Most would agree that people are the single most important environmentalvariable, especially in a country with such a long tradition of cultivation by anorganized peasant society.207 It was recognized early on that local participationand approval was absolutely vital if a nature reserve was going to succeed.Many ecologically threatening activities, such as excessive logging and killingrare wildlife, stemmed from local economic privation. Thus it was no usetelling villagers to stop cutting down trees for firewood or killing animals forfood if some better alternative was not on offer. Thus, the emphasis has beenon persuading villagers in the areas adjacent to even within the boundaries ofthe nature reserve that its presence is in their economic interests.

Theoretically, wildlife conservation is assured by reserve zoning. Thetypical reserve has a core area where the fauna and flora is heavily protected,either at local or State level and human exploitative activity is banned. Beyond

203 Lian Yuluan. Personal e-mail. lianyuluan@hotmail.com. (accessed on October 6, 2005).204 Conservation International. China Program. http://www.conservation.org205 Personal communication. Zhang Liming, director of Wolong National Reserve Administration

(6 January 2006).206 CEPF, Mountains of Southwest China Biodiversity Hotspot: Ecosystem Profile 1, 12 (2002).

http://www.cepf.net207 GEOFFREY MURRAY & IAN G. COOK, THE GREENING OF CHINA, 15 (2004).

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this, there are buffer and experimental zones, where carefully vetted humanactivity is allowed.208

WWF has been implementing sustainable development projects, asalternatives to logging and poaching as part of its Minshan Initiative: NTFPsand Biogas.209 The IFC-China Project Development Facility (CPDF)210 hasprovided business training and other forms of technical assistance since 2004to improve its supply chain so that Qiang and Tibetan villages around threenature reserves can market NTFPs: honey, wild peppers, mushrooms, andtea to Carrefour211 as part of a Corporate Alliance Program212 Two hundredand thirty-three biogas and 70 energy- saving stoves have been installedin villages, halving fuelwood collection for 250 households.213 The WWFQinling Focal project in Shaanxi also works with different stakeholders,such as local government, conservation, agricultural and poverty-alleviationinstitutions and businesses, to achieve social co-management, for long-termsustainable development.214

Some believe, however that business development is over-emphasized atthe expense of species protection. The continued overexploitation of resourcesout of ignorance, poverty, and desperation stems in part from a low level ofeducation in the countryside and from the significant gap in the ages ofhighly educated people, a lapse in skills created during Cultural Revolutionchaos.215 It is a concern that tourism, micro-credit, beekeeping and mushroomharvesting programs were being foisted on poorer government reserves, suchas Wanglang Nature Reserve. It seemed to have no budget. The managersknew little about resource, project and personnel management, and theirother responsibilities, such as community patrolling, micro-credit, summercamps, environmental education, training programs for other reserves, andlaw enforcement duties outside the reserve precluded them from efficientlymanaging resources under the reserve’s protection.216

The Ford Foundation has been active in China since the late 1970s,helping poor communities in southwest China make sustainable livelihoodsfrom natural resources and helping Chinese NGOs to influence govern-ment agencies, such as the Forestry department in the way they implement

208 Id. at 129.209 WWF China. Panda Conservation in the Minshan Region. http://www.wwfchina.org210 Personal communication. Cynthia Song CPDF. 26 July 2005.211 Carrefour is a French international supermarket chain with several stores in Chengdu.212 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.) 45

(2002).213 WWF China. Panda Conservation in the Minshan Region. http://www.wwfchina.org214 Id.215 JUDITH SHAPIRO, MAO’S WAR AGAINST NATURE: POLITICS AND THE ENVIRONMENT IN REVOLUTIONARY CHINA

206 (2001).216 Lawrence Glacy, China’s Nature Reserves: Protecting Species or Generating Profits? (unpub.) 46

(2002).

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government-funded projects.217 TRAFFIC recently conducted a comprehen-sive study of international trade in China’s traditional plant-based medicines,funded by the German Bundesamt fuer Naturschutz.

The China Council of International Cooperation on the Environment andDevelopment (CCICED) has also found that 53 percent of animal products inTCM production are based on nationally and internationally protected animalspecies.218 The TRAFFIC study determined the needs of local producers ofTCM, wildlife law enforcers, policy makers and consumers, and will be usedto make the wildlife trade sustainable and legal and reduce impacts on plantor animal species.219

It is important to realize that poverty alleviation includes not onlyproviding commercial alternatives to traditional logging, poaching and plantharvesting practices that damage wildlife habitat, but also ensuring that thosepractices, which will inevitably continue, despite legislation, patrols andconservation education, will at least be environmentally sustainable.

8. CONCLUSION

The giant panda, China’s national treasure is in a predicament. In the face ofincreasing demand for and pressure created by rapid economic development,panda habitat in the mountains of Southwest China Biodiversity Hotspothas rapidly dwindled. The new catch-cry of those wishing to effectivelyreconcile the needs of humans with those of endangered animals in andaround nature reserves in China is “integrating panda habitat and biodiversityconservation with sustainable community development poverty alleviation.”This has attracted not only increasing political and financial support from thecentral government of the Peoples Republic of China, but also the attentionof a wide range of foreign governments and non-government organizations.

Despite contradictory laws and policies, insufficient or inappropriatefunding in the past, aimed more at infrastructure than at management, andmore at companies and government departments than at grass roots levelstakeholders, the Chinese government is re-affirming its commitment toimproving this region as a home for people and pandas. Regulations, lawsand government policies on protected areas and wildlife protection are beingpostulated and revised, to be more specific and thereby more enforceable.

The number, area, and management capacity of nature reserves are beingexpanded. Scientific research is facilitating wildlife inventory. Monitoringand anti-poaching patrols and staff training programs hone a nature reserve’s

217 CEPF, The Mountains of Southwest China Biodiversity Hotspot. Ecosystem Profile 1,19 (2002).http://www.cepf.net

218 Id. at 19.219 Id. at 19.

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capacity to protect and manage ecosystems and wildlife, and minimize visitorimpact. It is hoped that a comprehensive legal and scientific framework will bedeveloped for protected areas, that wildlife ownership will be more accuratelydefined, that stakeholder collaboration will be at the regional, landscape leveland that permanent Chinese government funding will allow nature reservemanagerial staff to effectively implement this framework.

Foreign governments and NGOs are able to influence Chinese govern-ment legislation and policy, and help design and implement projects encom-passing nature reserves, conservation education, ecotourism, and poverty alle-viation and community development. It will be important that all stakeholders,whether Chinese or foreign, from grassroots to the Chinese government canappreciate the “big picture,” particularly the fragile balance between humansand wildlife, and above all foster communication and complementarity intheir plans and actions.

Conservation education actually means much more than teaching schoolchildren about saving the environment. In addition to courses run in schoolsand during conservation education camps, it includes vocational trainingfor nature reserve staff; guidelines and interpretive information for tourists;ecology for villagers, ecotourist guides and those with cottage industries; con-servation taught by Buddhist and Tibetan community leaders and importantmessages conveyed by museums in giant panda reserves and captive breedingcentres.

Ecotourism is providing an alternative source of income to loggingand poaching in panda habitat. Local people are changing their traditionallivelihoods and sometimes even their cultural practices, in order to escapepoverty and embrace new prosperity. Large numbers of Chinese domestic,as well as foreign tourists are impacting heavily on environmentally andculturally sensitive areas. It is perceived that the Chinese government wishesto privatize tourism in natural areas, without guidelines for sustainability.Whilst it is already too late for the first scenic area declared in China, andwhich has lost its pandas and much of its biodiversity, some protected areasin Southwest China are choosing to adopt IES (International EcotourismStandards), to ensure that they remain environmentally-friendly.

A variety of community development projects have been implementedin this region, involving the sustainable harvesting of TCM (TraditionalChinese Medicine) and NTFPs (Non-Timber Forest Products). Communitiesare also adopting Biogas, as an alternative to logging in forests. Wherepoverty is rampant, it is important to promote economic development, whilstemphasizing the conservation imperative.

It remains critical that the Chinese government at all levels, foreigngovernments and international and Chinese NGOs, foreign, and Chinesecompanies and organizations ensure that their efforts are complementary andenvironmentally and socially sustainable. These peace-building strategies in

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human-wildlife conflict situations may be able to control some of the damagewrought by rapid economic development, provided they are coordinated andconsistent, timely and well-financed.

8. Postscript

Reconciling people and pandas will not be easy.When writing this article I only had access to limited information and

every Chinese government and international non-government organizationI approached was too busy to contribute to, or correct, the draft article.Although Chengdu has a population of over 10 million people, SichuanUniversity library was unable to provide access to works in English by VaclavSmil, Richard Louis Edmonds, or Elizabeth Economy. Since I do not workfor a Chinese government department or an international non-governmentorganization and am not a doctoral student at a Chinese university, I was nottaken seriously. What you have read is an earnest account, compiled of bits ofthis and that, which provides some idea of the current situation’s complexityand confusion, and an introduction to various agendas, and their strengths andweaknesses. No-one is willing to lay it on the table exactly what they havedone or are doing, what has worked and why, or what mistakes have beenmade and why. They are too busy just doing it.

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