The Non-government Environmental Protection Movement in China

ON Environment Day (June 5) of 1993, a group of Chinese intellectuals sat in the ruins of a pagoda in the suburbs of Beijing, and discussed the current lamentable state of China's environment, and what common citizens could do to salvage and protect it. A year later, the Friends of Nature, the first non-government environmental protection organization in China, was founded. The organization, with its slogan "protecting and being friendly to nature," indicates the common recognition among Chinese people of the need for environmental awareness.

In the years that followed, Chinese non-government environmental protection organizations mushroomed. The most influential ones include the Friends of Nature, the Green Earth Volunteers, the Global Village of Beijing (GVB), and Senol. Members of these organizations look squarely at environment pollution and bravely admit the fact that the progress of industrialization generates negative effects. While struggling to find their own ways of dealing with this huge problem, they also hope to learn from the experience of developed countries in environmental protection.

In 2000, the Sophie Award and the Magsaysay Award, both world-renowned prizes for environmental protection, were given respectively to two Chinese -- Liao Xiaoyi and Liang Congjie. Both are leaders of Chinese non-government environmental protection organizations. This event greatly encouraged those pushing forward the undertakings of Chinese environmental protection.

Advocating Green Life

Members of non-government environmental protection organizations are mostly intellectuals, sensitive to the needs of the environment, with a strong sense of social responsibility. They may not be environmental protection professionals, but compensate for this in their enthusiasm and commitment to this undertaking.

The Friends of Nature is the most influential organization of its kind in China. Its main areas of concern are: the protection of world-level rare animals -- such as the Yunnan Golden Monkey and its habitat, and preventing its potential extinction from commercial logging in the forest it inhabits; the protection of the Tibetan antelope, and eliciting help worldwide to stop the killing of this endangered animal; protesting against the destructive felling of natural forests; and openly criticizing the industrial pollution that is spreading all over the China.

The Green Lecture is a form of education on environmental protection initiated by the Friends of Nature. Pan Wenshi and Lu Zhi, both experts on pandas, Dr. Jane Goodall, an English expert on chimpanzees, and Chagba Doje, protector of the Tibetan antelope, have all given lectures, relating moving personal experiences about human beings and nature.

The Friends of Nature has its own special coach, decorated with the image of a Tibetan antelope. Members of the organization simply call it the "antelope vehicle." At present, the Friends of Nature is cooperating with S.O.F., a German environmental protection organization, on a program named the "Antelope Vehicle Project." On this mobile propaganda coach, children can play games or watch videos about environmental protection. With the support of Project Hope, the "antelope vehicle" also goes to schools in remote villages. Since formally starting on May 31, 2000, the program has initiated activities in numerous schools in Beijing, Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Shanxi Province, and received a warm reception.

The main activity of the Green Earth Volunteers, commonly known as the Green Earth, is planting trees in deserts and on barren mountain slopes. The foot of the Badaling Great Wall in Beijing, the Enbeige Desert in Inner Mongolia, and the Hukou Waterfall area in Shanxi Province, all bear the traces of volunteers' footprints, among whom the youngest is only three years old.

Bird watching is another activity initiated by the Green Earth, as a means of understanding the relationships between humankind and nature. Professor Zhao Xinru of the Biology Department of Beijing Normal University has, since 1997, at the invitation of the bird watching group, given lectures and instruction to the group on birds and bird identification. After a period of study, group members can now distinguish almost 100 species of birds, including the whooper swan, the lapwing, and the heron. They have also twice participated in the Hong Kong International Bird Watching Contest and achieved impressive results. According to Wang Yongchen, founder of the Green Earth and journalist at the Central People's Broadcasting Station, the organization is currently engaged in the work of bird identification, with the aim of helping volunteers to gain a deeper understanding of birds and the relationships between birds and human beings. Through her knowledge obtained from bird watching, Zhong Jia, a volunteer with the Green Earth, has found that excessive land reclamation has caused the bird habitat in Beidaihe to shrink dramatically, hence the steady dwindling of their number. Zhong Jia made an appeal based on her findings to the relevant department, to protect this world-famous bird watching site. Her action concurs exactly with the Green Earth's guideline, i.e. providing a scientific basis for the department concerned to stipulate policies on managing bird resources and their habitat. In 2000, the Green Earth participated in work at the Beidaihe bird identification station, thus becoming the first bird identification group mainly made up of volunteers.

Unlike other environmental protection organizations, the Global Village of Beijing (GVB) is particularly concerned with human beings and their community, rather than certain species of animals, plants or water resources. GVB mainly engages in publicizing the 5R (Reduce, Reevaluate, Reuse, Recycle, and Rescue) green life style. Liao Xiaoyi, founder of the GVB, says that their main thrust is to help people make the decision voluntarily to choose a nature-friendly way of life, exercise their rights, and stand by their obligation to protect the environment. Since the day the GVB was founded, Liao and her colleagues have made investigations into garbage sorting in different communities, and helped neighborhood committees in Beijing's Xicheng District to establish pilot garbage sorting stations. The GVB has also cooperated with the environmental protection department to establish China's first pilot green community in the Jiangongnanli Community of Beijing's Xuanwu District. Liao Xiaoyi's dream is to make green communities into the most beautiful landscape in China in the 21st century.

More and more students are joining this drive to protect our environment. Environmental protection organizations made up of student volunteers play a vital role in arousing public environment awareness and social responsibility. Senol is the most influential school environmental protection group in Beijing. It was founded in 1994 by two students from the Beijing Forestry University.

Senol participated in the campaign to protect the Yunnan golden monkey, and in the investigation and exploration of the Beima Snow Mountain in western China. When a pair of wild geese laid eggs on a mid-lake island in Purple Bamboo Park in Beijing, members of Senol pitched tents there, guarding the birds in shifts for a month, in order to prevent the eggs being taken away by visitors, and to ensure that the goslings hatched safely. Many people were moved by their efforts, and began to reevaluate the role of human beings within nature.

Many individuals have attracted public attention in their dedication to environmental protection. In 1989, Yang Xin, a photographer on the Yangtze River rafting expedition, began recording changes in the biological environment on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. He later initiated a campaign to protect the river with the slogan, "protect the source of the Yangtze River and care for nature." This activity aroused the concern of people from all walks of life. A Green World Tour, written by Tang Xiyang, a distinguished environmentalist writer, is regarded as the encyclopedia of China's nature conservation, and a masterpiece on environmental protection education.

There are several programs on environmental education on Chinese TV, such as, "Stories of the Earth," "Environmental Protection Hour," and, "Animal World." There are also publications, including papers and magazines, advocating environmental protection.

Green Bridge

On the afternoon of January 12, 2001, the local residents and the municipal department concerned at the Chunshuyuan subdistrict office of Beijing's Xuanwu District held a hearing on garbage sorting. A Mr. An explained how he sorted his garbage, separating items made of tin, plastic, and paper, at home. He also openly criticized the shortcomings of government work on environmental protection, and made constructive suggestions. Many residents spoke up at the hearing, demonstrating how environmental awareness has taken root in people's consciousness.

In November 2000, the municipal government of Beijing adopted Green Earth's suggestion to carry out garbage sorting throughout the city, and received a positive response from the public. Liao Xiaoyi, initiator of the hearing mentioned above, believes that meetings such as this are the best channels of communication between the government and the common people. They indicate that green communities may fulfill their functions of monitoring law enforcement, and providing suggestions for the government's policy making.

"Non-government environmental protection organizations are bridges between the government and the masses. They developed rapidly during the 1990s in China, and play a vital role in mobilizing citizens to participate in environmental protection undertakings," says Qu Geping, chairman of the Environment and Resources Protection Committee of the National People's Congress, who started work on environmental protection as early as the 1970s, and who has won many awards from the United Nations.

Liang Congjie compares the government to a housewife in a big family. He says, "If only the mother of the family does the cleaning, while other family members thoughtlessly mess up her good work, then no matter how conscientious she is, it is impossible for her to keep a clean house. And a housewife also needs supervision and criticism."

5R & 5 Circles

Today, the Olympic Games is not simply a sports contest, but an event closely related to such factors as culture and the environment. The Chinese, who are actively bidding to host the 2008 Olympic Games, are well aware of this. In October 2000, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Bidding Committee, the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, and more than 20 Beijing-based non-government environmental protection organizations jointly signed the Action Plan for the Green Olympics.

The Global Village of Beijing introduced the 5R & 5 Circles concept. According to the GVB, the spirit of 5R should be transposed to the Olympic Games. Five Circles refers to the Olympic Games flag. Liao Xiaoyi believes that Beijing's Olympic Bid is a good opportunity for China to disseminate the 5R life style -- a way of life that the GVB has proposed from the very start.

To support the Green Olympics movement, the GVB has conducted a series of activities under the slogan "Green Olympics and Green Life." They sponsored special lectures on environmental protection at Universities, publicizing the relationship between environmental protection and Beijing's Olympic Bid, and discussing eastern culture and the essence of the Olympic Games. The GVB also mobilized college students in Beijing to publicize garbage sorting, the utilization of recycled paper, and the banning of disposable fast-food containers. Members of the GVB are steadfastly practicing what they preach, side by side with the students they recruited.

A Long Way to Go

Almost all non-government environmental protection organizations face the problem of funding. In China particularly, a suitable economic environment for non-government environmental protection organizations is yet to be created. Liao Xaoyi says, "At present, the shortcomings within our system of taxation constitute the biggest barrier in the development of non-government environmental protection organizations. The government gives no tax benefits to enterprises that make donations to such organizations."

The green bridge path does not always run smooth. The Friends of Nature once appealed for no further expansion of the Capital Iron and Steel Company in the downtown area, but received no response on this issue.

As fast as Chinese non-government environmental protection organizations may develop, they are still far short of China's need. Compared with their foreign counterparts in regard to educating the masses, supervising the implementation of environment-related laws and regulations, and pushing forward the policy-making of the government, Chinese non-government environmental protection organizations still have a long way to go.

This is current situation regarding China's environmental protection. On the one hand, some people already acknowledge how crucial environmental protection is, and understand that it requires a fundamental change in life style. On the other, many people are indifferent to ongoing environmental damage. It is obvious that environmental protection will remain an up hill task for the Chinese in the 21st century - one that endorses the imperative need for the existence of such organizations.

By staff reporter ZHANG HUA