China’s conservation challenges

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China’s conservation challenges

15/07/2009

Mark Rose, CEO, reflects on conservation in China as the SCB meets in Beijing.

As the world’s conservation professionals and students come together at the Society for Conservation Biology’s Annual Meeting in Beijing this year, FFI Chief Executive Mark Rose reflects on our China programme and the conservation challenges China faces:

“As you might expect of a country the size of a continent, China supports a rich diversity of habitats and over 10% of the world’s known animal species, many of which are threatened.

“Fauna & Flora International is proud to have been working in China for over 8 years now. Our work sees us engaging with the conservation agenda in China at many levels, from developing environmental policy, to building the capacity of China’s conservationists to carry out their vital work.

“We are working with communities and government agencies to help ensure the effective conservation of the critically endangered cao vit and Hainan gibbons, the two rarest apes in the world.

“Through our Global Tree’s Programme we are helping conserve China’s remaining magnificent Magnolia tree species – almost half of which are currently threatened with extinction in the wild.

“And on the Tibetan plateau, our local team is empowering rural herding communities to better protect the grasslands they rely on, enabling them to continue their traditional and ancient way of life.

“After years of rapid economic growth and booming trade, China faces many challenges over how it manages its remaining biodiversity and wild spaces. For truly sustainable development, China must make biodiversity considerations central to its economic policy. FFI is on hand to provide support and assistance to national and local authorities to facilitate this in any way we can”.

Help us continue conserving China’s precious natural habitats – make a donation to FFI today:

FFI Communications Contact:
Rebecca Foges
FFI Communications Officer
Tel: +44 (0)1223 579 491
rebecca.foges@fauna-flora.org

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