China

China is home to over half of all rhododendron species, including the world’s largest – the Big Tree Rhododendron. Fewer than 100 trees of this remarkable species are known in the wild with any certainty, all in Gaoligonshan Nature Reserve in south-west China. FFI is working with local partners through the Global Trees Campaign to improve understanding of the ecology of this species, how to protect it and how to promote its regeneration.

Yunnan Province has the richest biodiversity and the most gibbon species in China. FFI is helping to coordinate gibbon conservation activities throughout the province, particularly for the western black crested gibbon. We are filling gaps in basic information on this species by actively collecting data in Ailaoshan National Nature Reserve while working with the government to develop and implement species conservation plans. In addition, FFI is working with the management authorities of Gaoligongshan Nature Reserve on the Burmese border in a transboundary training initiative to help conserve China’s only population of eastern hoolock gibbons.

The Critically Endangered cao vit gibbon (the closest relative of the Hainan gibbon) was initially believed to survive only in one location in northern Vietnam. In 2006, three more groups were discovered next door in adjacent forest in Guangxi Province, China. Since then, FFI has been active on both sides of the international border to improve the cao vit gibbon’s chances of survival. In Guangxi we have been raising awareness among local communities and government and supported the establishment of a protected area. In partnership with one of China’s leading gibbon experts we have supported detailed research and observations of this previously little-known species

The Hainan gibbon is considered the rarest ape in the world, with only two family groups known to survive in the core of Bawangling Nature Reserve on Hainan Island, off China’s southern coast. FFI is helping to increase awareness of the importance of this species through various initiatives, including supporting environmental education in local schools. FFI is also helping nature reserve staff improve their conservation skills in order to better protect the gibbon habitat that remains on Hainan.

FFI believes that the traditional Tibetan way of life, based around herding livestock on the high altitude grasslands, does not have to be lost to protect the region’s environment or to bring the communities out of poverty. We are working with local organisations and other groups to encourage grassland communities to form collaborative management committees, which serve as a forum for discussions on issues such as the predation of domestic stock by wildlife.

This European Commission-funded initiative aims to increase integration of biodiversity into the planning of economic and social development of the Chongqing Autonomous Municipality and Guangxi Province, the third most biodiverse province in China. The project is a collaborative effort between FFI and the Provincial Environmental Protection Bureaus to establish government biodiversity targets and other practical tools to support the mainstreaming of conservation into planning for the mining and tourism sectors.