China: often seen as an environmentalist’s worst nightmare with its huge, sprawling, polluted cities, its poor environmental regulations, its culture of using rare and endangered animal parts in traditional medicine, and its reluctance to play along with climate negotiations or curb its fossil fuel use. Not exactly a shining CV. But the news this week that the IUCN has reclassified the symbol of conservation, the poster-boy of animals destined for extinction, the giant panda, from endangered to vulnerable perhaps gives us a more nuanced picture of the environmental efforts of the world’s most populous country.
This reclassification is a huge achievement for everyone involved as the conservation of pandas has not been without its detractors. A vocal group of conservationists have the view that the millions of pounds spent on panda conservation could be put to better use elsewhere, and there are some who would say a creature so doggedly determined to resist captive breeding efforts should accept the fate coming to it. But as a symbol of conservation, and a unique branch of the evolutionary tree, I for one am glad that there were determined individuals who were not going to let that happen. And let me be clear, the lion’s share of the work that has led to this reclassification has been planned, funded and implemented by the Chinese themselves. A combination of a successful captive breeding program in dedicated Chinese panda sanctuaries and the protection and improvement of vast swathes of habitat is the key behind this success. The latter in particular, will have dramatically positive effects for other animals in the temperate bamboo forests of China.
China is also currently leading the charge in re- and afforestation, bucking the trend of tropical countries like Brazil and Indonesia. After suffering landslides and the silting up of rivers because of denuded hills and mountains, the Chinese government has implemented a huge new wave of tree planting across hundreds of acres of countryside and is one of the few countries to be seeing a rapid gain in forest cover. And regarding its carbon emissions, whilst it may have the highest overall carbon footprint, its huge population means it is well below the USA in the per capita rankings. It should be remembered that large amounts of emissions are the result of the manufacture of goods destined for Western markets, emissions which, in fairness, should arguably be accounted for by the consuming countries rather than the producer. And Chinese investment in solar energy has seen the price tumble in recent years, making renewable energy economically competitive with fossil fuels.
China still has a long way to go in terms of environmental protection, particularly in regards to regulations and curbing the absurd practices of traditional medicine, which are driving extinctions across the world. But it is my hope, at least, that the achievements of those protecting the giant panda can be emulated and replicated across this huge country, filled with potential.