China's conservation efforts recognized on 'green list'

Eleven of China's protected areas have been recognized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature for delivering "ongoing results for people and nature in a fair and effective way".

"The amount of experiences, the amount of lessons in China is enormous, is incredible, so if we internationally can learn from those experiences, and help share global experiences, and help those exchanges, then everybody benefits," James Hardcastle, head of IUCN's protected and conserved areas team, told China Daily.

Qianjiangyuan National Park in Zhejiang province, Huangguoshu Scenic Area in Guizhou and Guangzhou Haizhu National Wetland Park, were among the recipients Saturday of the coveted international status.

Protected areas are internationally recognized as one of the best methods for safeguarding biodiversity. The core proposal of the UN biodiversity conference, or the COP15, which is being held in Montreal until Dec 19, is to preserve 30 percent of land and ocean by 2030.

But one of the challenges for governments to meet the ambitious goal is the implementation of effective management of protected areas.

The IUCN's "green list" is the first global standard of the best practice for area-based conservation. It certifies effectively managed and fairly governed protected areas that also deliver conservation outcomes.

China's protected areas made up the bulk of the 16 sites that won the ICUN recognition. The other sites that reached the organization's green list standard came from Zambia, Mexico, Peru and France.

"We are looking to China to show us how you are implementing effective nature conservation in China, and for us to help connect those lessons to our standards internationally, and then take those standards to other countries," Hardcastle said.

Hardcastle said China was one of the first countries to be on the "green list" when it was first developed in 2014. The ICUN recognized six flagship protected areas in China that year, including the Mount Huangshan World Heritage Area, the Eastern Dongting Lake National Nature Reserve, and the Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve, an important habitat of giant panda.

As of 2019, China had established over 18,000 protected areas, including nature reserves, forest parks, wetland parks, scenic areas, water parks, et cetera, accounting for more than 18 percent of the country's terrestrial territory and 4.6 percent of its sea area.

"China has one of the biggest contributions to nature conservation in the world, and the Chinese commitment to that is strong," Hardcastle said.

During a visit to China, Hardcastle was "amazed" by how staff at Huangshan minimized the impact to the landscape's environment despite the large number of visitors that come to the popular site, he said.

"The tourists go to this area, but the rest of the park is free for nature, so they manage a large number of visitors, and they are low impact; other countries, sometimes they are still working (on) how to do that," Hardcastle said.

He also acknowledged China's use of technology to support natural conservation. For example, a fire-control system in Sichuan sends early warnings for fire directly to rangers' phones, which enable them to act quickly, he said.

There is also a high level of understanding and awareness among Chinese about climate change, which links to biodiversity, he said, adding, "that is something in China that is really informing other countries".

"For nature conservation, China is winning the World Cup," Hardcastle said.