China Biodiversity Conservation Program at PERC
Anthony R. Brach (brach@oeb.harvard.edu)
Thu, 08 May 1997 10:32:57 -0700
>Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 11:26:23 -0800
>From: Pacific Environment and Resources Center <perc@igc.apc.org>
>To: ncuscr.environ@conf.igc.apc.org
>Subject: China Biodiversity Conservation Program at PERC
>Cc: chinatown@mendel.berkeley.edu, siecer@virginia.edu
>
>>From perc Wed Feb 21 10:20:47 1996
>>From perc Wed Feb 21 10:20:47 1996
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>Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 10:20:47 -0800
>From: Pacific Environment and Resources Center <perc>
>Message-Id: <199602211820.KAA12331@igc4.igc.apc.org>
>To: tadpole@nature.berkeley.edu
>Subject: China Biodiversity Conservation Program at PERC
>Cc: perc
>Status: RO
>
>
>February 1996 Update
>Protecting the Environment and Ecosystems of the Pacific Rim
>
>PERC LAUNCHES CONSERVATION PROGRAM IN CHINA
>
>Initial Focus on the Threatened Tumen River and Delta,
>A Region of Rich Biological Diversity on the Border
>Between China, Russia and North Korea
>
>PERC's China Biodiversity Conservation Program
>
>The Pacific Environment and Resources Center (PERC) proudly
>announces a new program in China. This program aims to
>strengthen biodiversity protection in China by coordinating
>conservation strategies among local and international stakeholders.
>To implement these strategies, this program will define
>opportunities for ecosystem protection, educate Chinese community
>leaders, build the long-term capacity of Chinese environmental
>organizations, and provide the international community with
>information about the importance of and threats to China's
>biodiversity. The China Biodiversity Conservation Program will
>build on PERC's existing environmental contacts and expertise in
>the Pacific Rim.
>
>Tumen Environmental Initiative
>
>The inaugural project for PERC's China Program is the Tumen
>Environmental Initiative (TEI). The TEI will build coalitions
>among partner organizations in China, Russia and North Korea, as
>well as U.S.-based environmental groups, working to protect the
>environment of the Tumen River Region. The TEI will: (1) create
>and distribute a comprehensive directory of environmental advocates
>working in the Tumen; (2) provide direct funding for Chinese,
>Russian and North Korean individuals and organizations working on
>scientific, policy and education efforts in the Tumen; (3) establish a
>Chinese-Russian-North Korean exchange program for environmental
>advocates; and (4) improve public participation in national and
>international agency decision-making. The TEI was launched with
>grants from the Trust for Mutual Understanding and Rockefeller
>Financial Services.
>
>Threats to Tumen's Environment and Biodiversity
>
>The Tumen River basin is a region of tremendous ecological
>significance. The river's headwaters are situated in the richly
>forested areas of the Changbai (forever white) Mountains on the
>border of North Korea and China. The Changbai Mountain
>Reserve is the site of Lake Tianchi (heavenly pool), the highest and
>deepest lake in China. The United Nations has given this area
>status under its "Man and Biosphere" program, sponsored by
>UNESCO. Four major tributaries meet the Tumen River as it flows
>to the Sea of Japan, gathering runoff from the forests, fields, and
>settlements in the basin. As it reaches the delta, the floodplain
>creates a vast network of freshwater lakes, brackish lagoons, and a
>productive wetland estuary that covers more than 40 square
>kilometers.
>
>These wetlands are habitat for hundreds of thousands of resident
>and migrating birds, including the endangered red-crowned and
>white-naped cranes. Tumen's wetlands are currently being
>considered for Ramsar status, an international designation for
>protecting wetlands of global ecological importance. Offshore, the
>Russian Far East Marine Reserve contains twenty species of marine
>mammals and 278 species of fish. Just north of the Tumen are
>several protected areas, such as Kedrovaya Pad and Barsoviy
>Zakaznik in Russia and Laoyeling Reserve in China. Stricter
>protection is needed for these adjoining territories, which provide
>critical habitat for the 30-40 last remaining Amur Leopards.
>
>Since 1992, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
>has been promoting the creation of an international trade zone in
>the Tumen region. UNDP's efforts culminated in December 1995
>when China, Russia, North Korea, South Korea, and Mongolia
>signed agreements to formalize and officially launch the Tumen
>River Area Development Program (TRADP). Between 1992 and
>1995, speculation about the proposed TRADP led to hastily planned
>industrialization in the region, especially in China's Jilin Province.
>In Jilin, pollution from paper mills and iron mines have degrade the
>Tumen's water quality and logging takes place in protected areas.
>TRADP speculation also prompted the construction of new seaports
>and railway lines in surrounding areas. So far, industrialization and
>construction has been launched without adequate environmental
>assessments or mitigation measures. By adding industrialization and
>development pressures, the TRADP will damage Tumen's
>environment and biodiversity even further.
>
>Despite the recent pattern of development, the UNDP has pledged
>to make the TRADP a model of "people-centered, environmentally
>sustainable development, with particular benefits to the poor and
>jobless in the region." Moreover, the TRADP nations have signed a
>Memorandum of Environmental Understanding, in which they
>pledge to work together to improve environmental quality and
>wildlife protection. Although these pledges and agreements are not
>yet being honored, they provide a framework and a forum for
>advocating environmental reform in the region. This reform,
>however, will only happen if citizens and environmentalists abroad
>and in the region, monitor development activities and participate in
>the planning and implementation process.
>
>PERC's Past Work on Tumen Environmental Issues
>
>In 1992, PERC created the Tumen River Watch to monitor the
>TRADP proposal and to collect and disseminate information about
>biodiversity and environmental threats in the region. The Tumen
>River Watch culminated in the publication of several articles as well
>as consultations with the UNDP. PERC representatives met with
>James Gustave Speth, head of the UNDP, to discuss environmental
>and human rights problems associated with several UNDP-
>sponsored river development projects. At this meeting, which was
>organized by International Rivers Network, PERC presented UNDP
>with aproposal for changing its role and priorities in the Tumen
>Region. The TEI will build on PERC's existing contacts and
>expertise in China and Russia, particularly those of PERC's Siberian
>Forests Protection Project. The TEI moves beyond the monitoring
>role of the Tumen River Watch, and strives to directly strengthen
>the efforts of Chinese, Russian, and North Korean citizens working
>to protect the region's environment.
>
>Directions for PERC's China Program
>
>PERC's China Program will focus in the first year on the Tumen
>Environmental Initiative and target several opportunies to help
>protect threatened rare species and ecosystems in northeast and
>southwest China. In the future, the China Program will:
> prepare and disseminate materials about China's Biodiversity
>Hotspots; showcase China's border wildlife (featuring
>Black-necked Cranes, Gazelles, Tibetan Yaks, Bactrian Camels,
>Asian Elephants, Far Eastern Leopard, Manchurian-Siberia Tigers,
>and others); promote Black-necked Crane conservation on the
>Tibetan-Qinghai Plateau, facilitate environmental education
>initiatives in Heilongjiang near the Amur River, and develop
>cooperative projects in other border regions (China has borders with
>Russia, Mongolia, DPRK, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Nepal,
>Bhutan, India, Laos, Burma and Vietnam).
>
>[PICTURE]
>
>
>China's wetlands, forests and mountains provide habitat for an
>astounding array of birdlife, including the hooded crane,
>black-necked crane, and Japanese crane pictured right (drawings
>reprinted from The Birds of China, 1984).
>
>The Director of PERC's Tumen Project and China Program
>
>The Tumen Environmental Initiative and the China Biodiversity
>Conservation Program is directed by Jeanny Wang. Ms. Wang
>speaks Mandarin and has a Master's Degree in water resources
>management and aquatic ecology. In addition to her work on
>Tumen issues, she has also conducted forestry and wetlands
>research, environmental impact studies, and worked with local
>groups in Southwest China. Ms. Wang served as the primary China
>researcher and consultant for PERC's Tumen River Watch program.
>
>Pacific Environment & Resources Center: Protecting the
>Environment and Ecosystems of the Pacific Rim
>
>Located in the Marin Headlands just north of San Francisco, PERC
>works to empower citizen efforts to protect the environment and
>ecosystems of the Pacific Rim. PERC focuses on those regions
>where there are major environmental crises, a potential for citizen
>activism, possibilities to develop ecologically sustainable economic
>alternatives, opportunities for governmental reform, and a need for
>PERC's expertise. The organization uses an integrated approach
>involving grassroots activism, environmental education, advocacy
>training, and law and policy analysis to achieve its mission.
>
>Currently, PERC is engaged in collaborative projects with groups in
>Russia, Canada, China, and India, as well as in the San Francisco
>Bay Area.
>
>PERC welcomes offers of information and assistance, as well as
>proposals for collaborative projects. PERC also encourages all
>persons and organizations who endorse PERC's goals in China and
>around the Pacific Rim to make direct financial contributions. As a
>non-profit, PERC relies on the support of progressive individuals,
>foundations, agencies and companies.
>
>Please contact us at:
>
>The Pacific Environment and Resources Center
>1055 Fort Cronkhite Sausalito, California 94965 U.S.A.
>tel: 415-332-8200 fax: 415-332-8167 e-mail: perc@igc.apc.org
>
>
*************************************************************
Anthony R. Brach, Ph.D.
http://www.herbaria.harvard.edu/~brach/