Nature conservation programmes will never be
successful if poverty still plagues the country, participants of a national
seminar on biodiversity and poverty alleviation said yesterday.
Better social awareness in protecting biodiversity along with poverty
alleviation should be promoted, Wang Dehui, vice-director of the Department of
Nature under the State Environmental Protection Administration, said at the
seminar.
Most of the country's nature reserves are located in poor and remote areas
where human beings always come into conflict with wildlife for survival, Wang
said.
The conflict of seeking living space between people and wild birds in
Weining's Caohai Nature Reserve, for example, has led to shrinking of
biodiversity and environmental deterioration in past decades, said Wu Daoquan,
vice-director of Weining County, in western Guizhou.
Dubbed as the "Heaven of Cranes," the 120-square-kilometre Caohai wetland
reserve is home to more than 450 wild species, including many of the nation's
top level of endangered birds such as the black-necked crane, the white marabou
and the white-headed crane.
However, fishing and farming activities by more than 6,500 households in the
reserve have greatly affected wildlife numbers and caused environmental
deterioration, which has finally affected the lives of locals, Wu said.
Thanks to several village development projects introduced in Weining in 1993
with the help of International Crane Foundation and Trickle Up Programme, the
lives of local farmers have improved greatly by shifting their work from fishing
and farming to other sustainable forms, such as tree-planting and breeding of
water fowl.
Christine Tam, director of conservation area planning with the Nature
Conservancy, a US non-government organization, said "poverty relief and
conservancy are tightly connected, and we need to find a way to ensure
sustainable development for both sides."
Tam told China Daily that her group has worked extensively with China in the
field of environmental protection, ranging from drawing up policies and
guidelines to carrying out specific projects on such issues as new energy
sources and biodiversity.
The theme of this year's International Day of Biodiversity, which took place
on May 23 is "Biodiversity and poverty alleviation - challenges for sustainable
development."