The Chinese Government has been effective at enforcing a national logging ban, creating legal nature reserves and parks, building infrastructure and providing hardware for conservation and enforcing protection of park boundaries. Currently, the Government is undertaking massive investments in reforestation projects and in conversion of pastureland to forest. All of this investment provides an opportunity for CEPF investment to focus on complementing this governmental effort in conservation by providing resources to build the capacity of civil society to implement smaller, more localized conservation projects and to nurture leaders who will be capable of interjecting biodiversity aspects into the larger development efforts. Regional planning authorities have requested civil society input on the best methods to employ in the future development and/or design of roads, dams and cities as part of the Great Western Development Program. Targeted CEPF investment can ensure that regional planning authorities are provided with suggestions and innovative approaches and applied models for best practices and recommendations on how to design and implement conservation-conscious development projects. CEPF's hypothesis for this region holds that investing and developing in a targeted group of individuals who will become conservation leaders capable of interjecting biodiversity concerns into government efforts will result in a significant measurable increase in conservation of biodiversity. In the face of massive governmental effectiveness in certain efforts such as enforcement of the logging ban, reforestation projects and governmental creation and enforcement of parks, the most major gap identified is the development of in-region capacity to complement these efforts.
The table below summarizes the strategic funding directions for the CEPF in the Mountains of Southwest China hotspot.
| CEPF Strategic Directions |
CEPF Investment Priorities |
| 1. Develop and operationalize hotspot-wide monitoring and evaluation projects |
1.1 Define five- and 10-year map-based conservation outcomes for the hotspot through a collaborative, participatory approach |
| 1.2 Support projects that utilize scientific tools to evaluate changes in land cover, spatial relationships and ecosystem health |
| 1.3 Establish a mechanism to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the site-specific projects and ensure adaptive management and sharing of lessons learned |
| 1.4 Provide resources to track human-induced environmental trends and high-resolution monitoring to report on site-specific impacts |
| 1.5 Scientific research and socioeconomic analysis to better understand biodiversity and conservation issues and threats in the region |
| 1.6 Improving the credibility and scientific methodology used for biodiversity conservation research in this hotspot |
| 2. Support site-related projects led by civil society to mitigate key threats to natural areas and species populations |
2.1 Effective nature reserve and community resource management |
| 2.2 Ecotourism and environmental education as a tool to support biodiversity conservation |
| 2.3 Ecosystem restoration, especially filling in the gaps in existing governmental programs |
| 2.4 Projects to reduce illegal and other unsustainable wild animals and plants trade |
| 2.5 Promoting biodiversity friendly "green" production or harvest of traditional Chinese medicines |
| 3. Build capacity of civil society to implement conservation efforts at a site and regional level |
3.1 Assess, develop and implement a series of training programs based on the training needs in the region. Training could focus on a number of topics including reserve management, the fundamentals of green businesses, business management for conservation and environmental education |
| 3.2 Provide resources for individuals in the region to participate in training opportunities |
| 3.3 Establish a trainers' training program in the region to multiply transfer of skills and knowledge to conservation professionals in the region |
| 4. Integrate biodiversity conservation concerns and benefits into the implementation of policies and programs at local, regional and national levels |
4.1 Demonstrate best-case innovative approaches for integrating biodiversity concerns into local, regional and national development programs |
| 4.2 Collect and disseminate information about biodiversity and socioeconomic benefits of conservation to improve implementation of existing government initiatives and influence national policies |
| 4.3 Communicate successful examples of innovative approaches to public-private efforts to better integrate biodiversity conservation into governmental efforts |
| 5. Develop and operationalize a small grants program focusing on conservation capacity-building and research projects |
5.1 Provide funding to individuals and institutions for research analysis or small-scale activities that will help build the conservation capacity of civil society and/or yield measurable mitigation of threats |
| 5.2 Provide technical support to trainees to enable better design and implementation of small on-the-ground projects |
CEPF will support a multistakeholder effort to develop, agree and map five- and 10-year conservation outcomes for this hotspot. Agreement on key conservation outcomes and locations would provide additional guidance for CEPF activities and priorities. Results from this process may be used to revise the ecosystem profile. As indicated in the priority setting process, results from this mapping process may indicate the need to prioritize investment within or for the development of specific corridors within the hotspot. Should this process and additional scientific research indicate that corridor development should become a priority, CEPF may re-examine investment priorities. Once this effort has been accomplished, CEPF will support monitoring and evaluation projects that track achievement of the desired outcomes, track long-term biodiversity health of the region and evaluate the managerial and operational effectiveness of conservation projects in the region. Toward this end, CEPF will support projects that evaluate changes in land cover, spatial relationships and long-term monitoring of trends effecting biodiversity and ecosystem health. In addition, CEPF will support projects that evaluate the effectiveness of conservation interventions, with the aim of encouraging adaptive management, sharing of lessons learned and improving threat mitigation. CEPF also will support research that will fill in gaps in knowledge of socioeconomic factors impacting biodiversity conservation in Southwest China, as well as other conservation-related research that helps improve the methodologies and credibility of scientific research in this region.
Ultimately, conservation in China will be achieved through projects that mitigate key threats affecting forest/habitat loss and viability of species populations. A number of civil society organizations in Southwest China are implementing successful portfolios of projects focused on regional planning, sustainable economic development, environmental education and research.
CEPF will support activities and projects that will ensure sound management of nature reserves and opportunities for more effective community resource management. CEPF will also support efforts to use ecotourism as an alternative source of revenue for local populations as a way to improve livelihood while increasing the value of green space and biodiversity. CEPF will provide resources for projects that will demonstrate how biodiversity concerns can be integrated into ecosystem restoration efforts, filling in the gaps in government restoration projects. Illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade is a key issue in the southwest region of China, both from a supplying and consuming perspective. CEPF will support efforts to stop illegal trade, keep harvest of nontimber forest products at sustainable levels and promote environmentally friendly sources for traditional Chinese medicine.
Historically, civil society efforts in conservation in China have not been well developed or supported. However, new organizations in China are making significant progress towards mobilizing civil society involvement and participation in conservation. Nevertheless, civil society still lacks sufficient access to information, training and opportunities to implement on-the-ground conservation projects. To address this gap, CEPF will support projects to assess and address training gaps in the region. The CEPF training effort will identify and support conservation-minded individuals in the region and provide them with access to information, training opportunities and skills that will help them anticipate, respond to and mitigate threats to biodiversity. These interventions might include on-the-ground projects, creation or modification of policies or interjection of biodiversity concerns into the implementation of existing policies.
To this end, CEPF will support the development and implementation of training programs focused on better reserve management, the fundamentals of green business, environmental education and management of collective natural resources. CEPF-funded training will favor projects that operate through train-the-trainer methodologies, ensuring that skills are shared and spread throughout the region.
Current government investment in this region managed by the State Forestry Administration, through multi billion-dollar programs, such as the National Forest Protection Program, Grain to Green and The National Endangered Plant and Wildlife Protection and Nature Reserve Program present perhaps the best opportunities to protect ecosystems and landscapes. However, conservation gaps remain unfilled through these programs and their implementation. CEPF will support projects that integrate biodiversity concerns into these large-scale efforts via demonstrating how conservation measures can add value to the implementation of policies at the local, regional and national level. For example, CEPF might support a project that broadens a tree plantation program into a program of forest or even ecosystem restoration. CEPF will further support efforts to communicate these success stories to a broader audience.
Small-scale efforts are the building blocks to successful conservation. CEPF will provide resources for a small-grants program in this region. Funds will be directed toward small-scale activities focused on capacity-building and scientific research projects. An institution in the region would manage the program. Guided by the CEPF Asia grant director, this institution would be responsible for defining the specific criteria and parameters to operationalize the small grants program.