Genhe, Inner Mongolia, China, June 24, 2018 – A conference to share the lessons learnt and best practices from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project, ‘management effectiveness on protected areas in Daxing’anling’ was held in Genhe on June 24.

More than 50 representatives from project management offices, academia, research institutions, NGOs, local communities and media attended the event.

UNDP Programme Director Dr. Ma Chaode shared insights into the project outcomes. “At UNDP we highly value the projects achievements in expanding protected areas, increasing capacity building for nature reserve management, encouraging scientific innovation and raising public awareness.”

The project has supported six successful integrations including “integration between Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang, integration of multi-nationalities, integration between wetlands and forestry, integration between logging history and conservation practices, integration between conservation and development, integration between lucid waters/lush mountains and Gold/silver mountains”. This has expanded Daxing’anling protected areas from 3.1 million hectares to 4.2 million hectares

President of the Academy of Forest Inventory and Planning of SFGA Mr. Liu Guoqiang noted that the project, has brought international best practices into Daxing’anling for the first time. “This project carries special meanings at a time when the local community is struggling to transform its commercial logging economy into one that promotes ecological conservation.”

With the efforts made by UNDP and implementing Chinese Government partners, the Daxing’anling Biodiversity Conservation Committee was established to facilitate inter-provincial wetland biodiversity conservation coordination and landscape conservation between Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang

“The connection between Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang Province was enhanced by the project, and scientific findings produced during project implementation would be highly applicable in conservation efforts” added Deputy Director General of Inner Mongolia Daxing’anling Forestry Management Bureau Mr. Tian Fengqi.

Moreover, local wetland conservation regulations and a biodiversity monitoring system covering 12 protected areas in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang were developed alongside a biodiversity information management system, and research on assessment of ecosystem services value, permafrost evolution and carbon sequestration was conducted.

Eco-tourism and ecological farming have also played a crucial role in the project demonstration sites and more than 1,500 wetland management practitioners received capacity training. A number of public outreach activities were also organized to raise public awareness on ecological conservation.

Through this Daxing’anling demonstration project, it is believed that Daxing’anling will play an important role to contribute to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, UNDP is implementing similar projects in other provinces under the umbrella “China Wetland Protected Area System Programme”, including Hainan, Anhui, Xinjiang and Hubei, to strengthen management effectiveness of the wetland protected area network, to protect the environment and biodiversity with global significance.

Looking forward, UNDP hope the project can provide insights for promoting “Ecological Civilization” in Daxing’anling and other parts of China, and lessons learnt from the project’s implementation can be shared with the global community.

Background Information

The project is one of child project under the UNDP/FAO-GEF China Wetland Protected Area System Programme, which covers 5 years implementation from September 2013co-financed by Chinese government. The project implementing agency is UNDP with partnership with the Office of Wetlands Conservation and Management, as well as Academy of Forest Inventory and Planning of SFGA, Inner Mongolia Daxing’anling Forestry Management Bureau and Heilongjiang Daxing’anling Forestry Management Bureau. Inner Mongolia Genheyuan National Wetland Park and Heilongjiang Duobukuer National Nature Reserve were selected as demonstration sites for the project.