The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) was the first NGO in China to offer environmental protection in co-operation with the Chinese government. Its chief rep in China, Jim Harkness, spoke to a reporter from the People's Daily about the achievements that have been made during its time here.

Effective Cooperation

The WWF has been acting in cooperation with the Chinese government since 1981 when it set about protecting one of China's most important national symbols, the panda. This national treasure is also the corporate image of the WWF. In 1996, a formal branch department of the WWF was established in China. Currently, the WWF have eight "broad-spectrum" environmental projects running here. These include 30 specific areas of species preservation, environmental protection, wetlands conservation and forest restoration. Both the Chinese government and the WWF consider their mutual cooperation to be an effective one.

In 1993, the WWF and the Chinese Forestry Ministry established a plan of cooperation to increase the number of giant pandas in China and protect their natural habitats. As a result of the second national panda survey, the "Plan for Preservation of Giant Pandas and Their Habitats" was ratified by the State Council. The effective implementation of the plan was to see an increase in the number of panda's natural habitat reserves from 11 to 33.

With the active support of the WWF, the State Forestry Administration of China designed 14 national wetlands projects that were to go on to be mentioned in The Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance on World Wetlands Day 2002.

In environmental education, the Chinese Ministry of Education worked with the WWF on a "National Environmental Education Guide" that was to act as a indispensable teaching aid for universities, middle schools and primary schools throughout China in order to further stimulate environmental education.

Bilateral Benefits

The chief representative of the WWF in China, Jim Harkness, has fully acclimatized to Chinese culture in his time here. As well as adopting a Chinese name, Hao Keming, he speaks confident and self-assured Chinese. He ascribed the success in the mutual cooperation between China and the WWF to a "participation protection mode" that effectively delivers WWF environmental policy.

Harkness talked about this policy and a specific example of land reclamation. The WWF has helped local government to implement a project for protection of the Yangtze River wetlands since 1998, in order to effectively restore the ecology of damaged dykes and return areas of farmland to natural lakes. As this was to present considerable problems to local farmers in the region of the Yangtze project, the WWF sat down and discussed the ways that they could continue their livelihood once the project was under way and the farmland had been reclaimed. Initially, it was explained to them the ecological importance of such a project and the alternatives that were open to them. In the course of these discussions the farmers showed enthusiasm for the alternatives presented to them of farmed fishing, pig breeding and ecology tours despite the fact that they lacked either the funds to implement them or the expertise to carry them out. Accordingly, the WWF and local government provided the funds to enable such projects and gave technical support, allowing the project to go ahead. Harkness commented on the project:

"Now, the problems have been solved and the government's objective has been realized. The livelihood of the farmers has also been restored now that the farmland has been returned to its natural water-based condition. Everyone is content."

During the flood season local farmers now have no reason to worry when the Yangtze River floods as they are protected from the damage it caused in the past while the wetlands restoration project continues accordingly.

"The priority doesn't lie in what method is being used as much as in the practical effect and feasibility of the project plan. We have never consented to adopt plans that are not field-based. We ask our staff to work from local sites where they can investigate the practical difficulties of how the project can be implemented. This is done together with the people it affects and whose interests are related to the project."

Harkness' love for the environment and Eastern culture began in childhood with his family's, and in particular, his parent's love of nature. He went on to study ecology at the University of Wisconsin in New York State and later embarked on a master's degree in sociology attempting to address the many social phenomena that contribute to the subject of environmental protection.

He is fluent in local Chinese culture and conditions as well as being a natural speaker of the language. He is modest of these talents that receive praise from both friends and colleagues.

"My grasp of Chinese and knowledge about China is far from adequate. I am always studying."

He is of the philosophy that knowing about the culture in which you work is vital for success. As such it is highly likely that the achievements of the WWF's work in China has been greatly influenced by his hard work and cultural understanding.

(china.org.cn, translated by Zhang Tingting, October 16, 2002)