Traditional cultural values must be blended with modern science for conservation efforts in China to be successful, says Jianchu Xu from the World Agroforestry Centre and R. Edward Grumble from Kunming Institute of Botany in the latest issue of the journal, Biological Conservation.

The environmental ramifications of China’s immense economic development are of global importance yet the country has a mixed track record solving its own domestic environmental problems. Some of the world’s worst air and water pollution occurs in China, and despite the central government’s efforts, biodiversity protection shows both progress and decline.

There is no doubt that China will continue to grow; one out of every two buildings under construction today are located in China. How then is the country to progress in conservation when foreign models do not seem to be working in the Chinese context?

According to the authors of this paper, the answer lies in combining the best of China’s cultural traditions of working alongside nature with science-based conservation lessons imported from the rest of the world; a ‘Conservation with Chinese Characteristics’.

“There are valuable concepts to procure from outside sources but China must construct its own solutions,” says Xu, who has been engaged with conservation in China (and Asia) for 20 years. “China has an opportunity to create a truly unique conservation that can influence both domestic and international affairs.”

“It is possible to incorporate elements of traditional cultural values which place humans in partnership with the land and combine these with contemporary conservation science and ecosystem-based management practices.”

The authors argue that conservation needs to be reframed in terms of a tian ren heyi (heaven and human oneness) working partnership that recognizes the inseparable bonds between heaven and earth, nature and people. Through adopting this ancient ideal as a national framework, contemporary conservation concepts such as functional ecological landscapes and adaptive management could be better embraced by Chinese citizens as the next evolution of national social norms and behaviors supporting ren (humankind).

The concept of payments for ecological services is used as an example of how Chinese policy makers could stimulate environmental partnerships across China. There are schemes already in operation for large-scale environmental restoration programs in China and these could be rolled out across China’s hinterlands in order to protect water resources or store carbon.

In compiling the paper, Grumble and Xu reviewed scientific, conservation planning, and environmental history literatures on Chinese conservation and held discussions with people at local, provincial, and national levels including scientists, government officials, park managers, village chiefs and elders, and farmers and NGO staff. They found that China has taken numerous positive steps to increase its commitment to conservation such as supporting a protected area system, conducting biodiversity research and management, and implementing environmental education programs. But such conservation programs based on Western models and supported by international NGOs do not necessarily match Chinese values regarding nature and how to practice environmental management. The authors argue that when implemented under the unique set of conditions in China, these programs are unlikely to successfully conserve the country’s diversity of species, ecosystems, landscapes, and cultures into the future.

“Given the rate and scale of environmental change that the country faces now and into the next few decades, no single element of traditional Chinese values whether Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist or vernacular is sufficient to support the behavioral change necessary to place the country on any road toward sustainability,” the authors write. It is only through a combination of traditional values with modern science-based conservation efforts that this could be achieved.

The article is available to subscribers of the journal:

R. Edward Grumbine and Jianchu Xu (2011) Creating a ‘Conservation with Chinese Characteristics’. Biological Conservation Volume 144, Issue 5, Pages 1347-1355