Large-scale environmental protection possible, profitable in China

Source: Global Times

By: Ding Gang

Updated: 2025-09-24 08:22

Wind turbines spin in the breeze on a mountain in Shangyou County, Ganzhou, East China's Jiangxi Province, on August 6, 2025. Photo: VCG

From Monday to Friday, the 5th World Congress of Biosphere Reserves was held in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, marking the first time the conference has been held in Asia.

This edition of the conference is the largest and most influential international meeting within UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme, which began in 1971.

China's entry into the programme in 1973, just two years after its launch, and the establishment of its national committee in 1978, marked the beginning of a new era in conservation. What followed was a revolutionary shift in our understanding of protecting wild places, especially in the last 10 years or so.

Before the congress opened, I had the privilege of previewing a documentary titled Diary of Biosphere Reserves. Produced by China Intercontinental Communication Center, the film provides a unique insight into China's network of biosphere reserves. What I witnessed challenged every preconceived notion I had about conservation.

This is not your typical nature documentary with sweeping shots of pristine wilderness. Instead, it's a meditation on management. The film follows China's approach to what we call "harmonious coexistence," a philosophy that sounds abstract until you see it in action.

Take Mount Tianmu in Zhejiang Province, where I wandered not long ago, enchanted by its mirror-like lakes and primeval forests. I left thinking I had experienced nature's pure gift.

The documentary revealed something more complex: This "natural" beauty is actually the product of decades of refined management, community partnerships and a delicate integration of advanced technology with cultural tradition.

What struck me most was the film's focus on that unglamorous word: management. From community co-governance to ecological compensation programs, from innovative monitoring systems to cultural integration, from Buddhist monks serving as forest guardians to farmers joining cultural creative projects - Every frame reveals the intricate choreography behind China's conservation successes.

The timing could not be more apt. As the MAB Programme reviews the past decade and charts the next 10 years, China offers a case study in what happens when a nation prioritizes environmental protection. The results speak for themselves: As of August 2025, China has 214 nature reserves, including 34 UNESCO World Biosphere Reserves, in its national network, covering virtually every primary ecosystem type and biodiversity hotspot in the country.

The approach has proven to be a resounding success. Species such as giant pandas, Siberian tigers and leopards, Tibetan antelopes and Yangtze finless porpoises, which were once on the brink of extinction, are now on the path to recovery. This is a testament to the effectiveness of systematic protection programs and the establishment of national parks and botanical gardens.

However, what makes this story more than a conservation success is that it showcases not just a modern China, but a country where mountains and waters continue to inspire wonder.

This is not accidental. It reflects what the documentary calls "precision governance" - the kind of detailed, long-term planning that China's recent Five-Year Plans have applied to environmental protection with remarkable results.The film's most compelling argument is not about policy or statistics. It is about a different way of seeing the relationship between humans and nature, one where active, thoughtful management is not the enemy of wilderness, but its most sophisticated guardian. As China's experience ripples outward through international networks, it offers the world something increasingly rare: Proof that large-scale environmental protection is not just possible, but profitable, beautiful and sustainable.

In an era when environmental news tends toward apocalyptic, China's biosphere reserves suggest a different narrative entirely, one where humans do not just retreat from nature, but learn to grow it with the care of master gardeners.

And it travels from the decision-makers in Beijing all the way down to environmentalists in the most remote mountains.

The author is a senior editor with the People's Daily and currently a senior fellow with the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at the Renmin University of China. dinggang@globaltimes.com.cn. Follow him on X @dinggangchina