1. Profile:
China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) is a national academic association and an environmental organization approved by China’s State Council and supervised by China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). Originated in 1985 for the reintroduction of Père David's deer back to China, one of the most successful species re-introduction practices around the world, CBCGDF has long been committed to conserving biodiversity and promoting green development with science and technology.
Today, under the leadership of Xie Boyang, Chairman, and Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary-General, CBCGDF continues to advocate the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and participate in global environmental governance, international communications, and public environmental awareness education.
2. Main Work:
(1) biodiversity conservation and scientific research
(2) Community Conservation Areas (CCAfa);
(3) environmental governance and Environmental Public Interest Litigations (EPIL);
(4) volunteering and Pro Bono services;
(5) promotion of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals;
(5) culture-based and faith-based conservation, featured by people and communities’ participation;
(6) green lifestyles;
(7) reduce & pick-up plastics initiative;
(8) climate change;
(9) good food (plant-priority);
(10) fighting illegal wildlife trade;
(11) green network for youth and green education bases for children;
(12) recycle & repurpose used clothing initiative;
(13) ecologically friendly Belts & Roads Initiative (EBRs);
(14) wilderness and connectivity;
(15) sustainable livelihood;
(16) clean and biodiversity-friendly energy;
(17) policy advocacy and think-tank; etc.
1) Biodiversity Conservation
CBCGDF has played a significant role in all three levels of biodiversity. On the species level, a core mission of CBCGDF is to protect the endangered species, such as pangolins, Yangtze River dolphins, Tibetan antelopes, przewalski’s gazelles, five-lobe maple (Acer Pentaphyllum), and many others. The Foundation also tries to mobilize public participation. It has launched dozens of projects and funded hundreds of grassroot NGOs and conservationists over the past years.
On the ecology level, CBCGDF has adapted an OECMs approach and launched an innovative “Community Conservation Area” (CCAfa). Local communities, volunteers, and ethnic groups and multi-stakeholders are largely mobilized to safeguarding their local ecological environment and habitats.
On the genetic level, CBCGDF is active in carrying out genetic conservation and research. It is also a co-organizer of the 15th International Conference on Genomics (ICG-15). The organization has maintained collaboration with many research labs and teams to conduct scientific research and conserve genetic biodiversity. The Foundation is an observer to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), and a partner to the Global Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN).
2) Sustainable Development
With regard to green development, CBCGDF, as a leading NGO, is devoted to the promotion and implementation of the UN SDGs in China. CBCGDF established the Good Food Fund (GFF) with a focus on research, communications, policy advocacy, events, public education, and incubating entrepreneurship related to the food system. It aims to facilitate shifts in food production, distribution, and consumption patterns towards a healthier, more environmentally friendly, and more sustainable food system.
As a qualified national group-standard development organization, CBCGDF has set up more than 10 national group standards by January 2021, such as the Green Meeting Index (GMI), Ecological Civilization Construction Guide, Biodiversity Adaptation Specification, Biodiversity Restoration Standards, Biodiversity Investigation and Monitoring Standards, Green School Evaluation Standards, Remediation Standards for Heavy Metal Contaminated Sites, and other dozens of national group standards, promoting sustainable development through the system of standards.
3) Policies Advisory and Legislative Proposals
CBCGDF actively carries out policy advice. Each spring, it sets up an annual policy dialogue platform for multiple stakeholders, grassroot organizations, scholars, experts, and lawmakers. The Foundation has for many years submitted motions to the members of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and proposals to the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). In addition, CBCGDF has proposed advice for over 40 laws, administrative regulations, local rules, and regulations, including the Wildlife Protection Law, the Law on the Prevention and Control of Soil Pollution, the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes, the Water Pollution Prevention and Control Law, the Biosecurity Law, and the Animal Husbandry Law. Its proposals were all partly or fully adopted.
As the first social organization in China to propose draft legislation, CBCGDF provided advise to enact a national law on the protection of biodiversity and invited the NPC, CPPCC, China’s Supreme People's Court, and other legislative, executive, and judicial departments to attend a relevant seminar. The Ministry of Ecology and Environment has responded positively that they would push for the formulation of a Biodiversity Protection Law.
4) Environmental Public Interest Litigations
CBCGDF is the leading NGO in the field of Environmental Public Interest Litigations (EPIL) since the revised Environmental Protection Law taken into effect in 2015. It has brought lawsuits in courts for the Tenger Desert Pollution, toxic school running tracks, preservation of Dalian’s historical city streets, Dezhou’s air-polluting factories, protection of pangolins, and Bohai Bay oil spill. CBCGDF devotes itself to safeguarding public interests and sets precedents for future environmental lawsuits.
Capacity-building: Collaborating with the international environmental advocacy group and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Foundation organized training of environmental public interest litigations for judges, prosecutors, and environmental lawyers from all levels of environmental courts. It invited authoritative experts, judges, prosecutors, and experienced lawyers of domestic environmental laws and environmental public interest litigations, offered targeted lectures and case discussions, and built a platform for learning and communications. With more than 70 professionals and practitioners have been trained, CBCGDF improved China’s judicial forces’ practices level on environmental public interest litigations.
5) Typical International Cooperation Projects
l Enhancing the Rule of Law and Access to Justice under the New Environmental Protection Law (2015-2017), a three-year project supported jointly by CBCGDF, UNDP and CICETE;
l <The China Environmental Pollution Crimes Investigation Report 2015>, published together by CBCGDF and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in 2016;
l A capacity-building project called "Seminar on Judicial Practice of Environmental Public Interest Litigations" was delivered in 2016 collectively by CBCGDF and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), with the participation of about 80 environmental lawyers, prosecutors, and judges;
l As a partner of the Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) (2015-2017), CBCGDF worked with other organizations, including the IUCN, and carried out pilot projects in some Chinese cities, aiming to measure the total economic value of all ecosystem products and services.
l The “Construction of the Yellow-Bohai Sea Spotted Seals Protected Area Network” Project was carried out by the CBCGDF in 2019, under the support and guidance of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), GEF Small Grants Programme, the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), and the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystems Phase II Project Office.
6) International Communications and Partnerships
In addition to domestic contributions to environment preservation, CBCGDF also actively takes part in global environmental governance. It has maintained collaborations with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) the International Dark-sky Association (IDA), and many other UN conventions and international organisations. The Beijing-based foundation is also a member of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the UN Global Compact, and the Global Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN). In 2019, CBCGDF successfully proposed to the UN to adopt "Ecological Civilization: Building a Shared Future for All Life on Earth” as the theme for the 2020 UN Biodiversity Conference.
As the leading biodiversity organization in China, CBCGDF dedicates itself to advancing the construction of an ecological civilization. Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, Secretary-General of CBCGDF, is also a member of Executive Committee of the Club of Rome and the Vice Chairman of the World Green Design Organization. He propels the UN and the world towards an international environment convention that can lay the foundation for the third fundamental right – the environmental right.
Today, CBCGDFhas about 50 staff and thousands of registered volunteers nationwide. With its efforts to create a better world for all life, CBCGDF will continue to promote sustainable development, protect biodiversity, and pursue green development.