With the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP26) to be held in November 2021, there is a global fervor to mobilize all walks of life to protect the environment and combat climate change. The Chinese culture contains valuable wisdom based on traditions and beliefs, where human beings have been interdependent with nature for thousands of years, resulting in a way of life in which people live in harmony with the natural environment. These valuable beliefs and practices have important implications for building a global ecological civilization and a community of life on earth.

China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation has long been committed to solving environmental problems and promoting sustainable development, and has worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to promote the important role of traditional culture in environmental and biodiversity conservation, achieving a good international impact. We would like to invite groups and individuals who aspire to participate in the practice of ecological protection based on their traditional culture and beliefs, to join our program with the theme of "Addressing Climate Change, Preserving the Earth's Ecological Environment, and Ensuring the Long-term Development of Human Society", to actively participate in global environmental governance, and to tell the world about China in the form of civil diplomacy. In the form of civil diplomacy, we will tell the story of Chinese religions and faiths to the world and showcase the contribution of Chinese faith groups and individuals to sustainable development.

                        Traditional Culture and Faith Group of CBCGDF

                                               September, 22, 2021

If your association is interested in participating in related activities, please contact us via: v20@cbcgdf.org, 17701361225

A few of the best examples of CBCGDF's previous achievement in environmental governance based on traditions and faiths are as below:

The concept of Biodiversity Conservation in Our Neighborhood (BCON) was introduced by China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, which refers to helping wildlife to survive and thrive within our living area by minimizing invasion to nature and disturbance to wildlife, even when we cannot fully protect it. This concept is well promoted and applied among many Chinese minority groups whose main belief is "nature worship".

There is a "Dragon Mountain" in Xishuangbanna Dai, Yunnan Province, China, where numerous "Dragon Forests" are located in the dam area below 900 meters above sea level and in the low hills and mountains at the edge of the mountain, with the Dai (a Chinese minority group) as the main inhabitants. With the development of the villages, the development of rice fields, rubber plantations, tea plantations and fruit orchards, the "dragon forests" have gradually become fragmented.

China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation included it in the protected area system in 2016 and established the "Dragon Mountain Protected Area - Xishuangbanna Dai" to promote the cultural tradition of local people who have believed in nature for generations, and loved, worshipped and protected the mountains. In the meanwhile, CBCGDF organized residents to establish forest protection teams to manage activities such as logging, firewood collection and hunting in the forest, supporting local people's eco-environmental protection activities, and the habitat has been effectively restored in this way.

The Wuliang Mountain in Yunnan, China, is an important habitat for the western black crested gibbons rated as Critically Endangered species on the IUCN Red List. The local indigenous peoples believe in nature worship, and the western black crested gibbon is considered to be the ancestor of the indigenous peoples. Due to the backward economic development of the region and local financial difficulties, local residents sometimes have to use natural resources destructively to sustain their livelihood.

In 2020, China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation included it in the reserve system and established the "Western Black Crested Gibbon Reserve-Wuliang Mountain". It helps develop local green agriculture and promote ethnic culture, helping indigenous people to pass on their understanding of nature based on their traditional beliefs and to practice the concept of harmony between human beings and nature. The "Listen to the Gibbon's Song" concert and lecture activities initiated by the director of the indigenous reserve, singer A Duo, have been touring around the country for many times. More and more people around the world are seeing and hearing the story of the gibbons in Wuliang Mountain because of their efforts. In the future, the reserve also plans to offer training courses to forest rangers and promote order agriculture--- Dendrocalamus giganteus Munro and ancient tea cultivation, etc., which will strengthen the faith and confidence of local residents, thus achieving a virtuous cycle of sustainable development.

Original Chinese article: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/QC81UXx_nvx-N-EV1jqZqg

Translator/Samantha

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