Beijing, October 14 - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Beijing Dr. Plant Biotechnology Co., Ltd for collaboration in biodiversity conservation. The cooperation will serve as an example of public-private partnership to achieve the SDGs in China through shared expertise and innovative solutions.

“China is one of the mega-biodiverse countries in the world[1], endowed with 11 percent of recorded plant species worldwide,” said Beate Trankmann, UNDP Resident Representative in China. “Many of the ecosystems and species found in China are of global significance. Despite some progress, China is still facing threats to biodiversity, including habitat conversion, ecosystem degradation and over-exploitation of natural resources. The partnership we are forging today speaks to the heart of this issue — by joining hands today we are taking a step forward towards the SDGs.”

Dr. Plant’s commitment to the conservation of alpine plants, biodiversity and the championing of the SDGs makes it a suitable partner for UNDP’s efforts in sustainable development. The partnership aims to set industry standards for private sector practices in biodiversity conservation, engage local residents in rainforest restoration and conservation, and raise public awareness of biodiversity through education advocacy. The partnership will adopt a community-based approach: it aims to combine conservation efforts with increasing incomes, building resilience in the local community and protecting ethnic minority culture.

“Dr. Plant believes in the importance of social responsibility and protection of ecosystems,” said Xie Yong, President of Beijing Dr. Plant Biotechnology Co., Ltd. “We are committed to promoting innovation in biodiversity conservation; to protect biodiversity is to protect our future.”

The partnership comes at an opportune time, when biodiversity conservation is high on both the global and national agenda. As the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity draws to a close, the United Nations General Assembly has declared 2021–2030 to be the ‘International Decade on Ecosystem Restoration.’ Furthermore, the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention of Biodiversity (CBD) will be held in Kunming in May 2021, where a post-2020 global biodiversity framework (similar to the Paris Agreement) is envisaged to be negotiated.

[1] https://www.iucn.org/asia/countries/china

For more information and interview requests, please contact: Beijing: Yue Zhao, yue.zhao@undp.org