With anticipation, the spring of 2019 has finally arrived.

Let us reflect on some of Shan Shui’s memorable experiences in the past three months.

Thank you for supporting us all along. We sincerely look forward to seeing you again in the upcoming season.

To learn more, please read our [Q1 2019 Quarterly Briefing]

“Talking About Grasslands Together”

Grassland Governance and Sustainable Livelihood Workshop

On January 14-16, 2019, the “Grassland Governance and Sustainable Livelihood Workshop” was held inside the Conservation Biology building of Peking University. This event was jointly organized by Party Committee of Chengduo County, Government of Chengduo County and Shan Shui Conservation Center.

Representatives from National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Party Committee of Chengduo County, Government of Chengduo County, together with grassland ecology and sociology scientists, NGOs from Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and Inner Mongolia, as well as local herders have been invited. The Workshop offered a great opportunity to discuss a wide array of topics, including ecological status of grasslands, climate change, grassland management and community governance, and sustainable livelihoods.

After three days of packed agenda, every participant has gained a lot. The lingering presentations and Q&As, and the inspiring focus discussions have all reflected the complexity of grassland issues. They also represent multifaceted perspectives from a diverse range of participants when viewing grassland issues. Under ever-changing circumstances, an integration of science and tradition, together with community-based practices and experimentations, still lie at the heart of all discussions. It will be a long journey, but we will make it if we keep going.

We sincerely appreciate Sanjiangyuan Project Center of SEE Foundation, Oxfam, China Green Carbon Foundation and Yushu Ecological Protection Association for their support for this Workshop!

Community Protected Areas +1

Launching of the Community Protected Area Project of Heping Village, Pingwu County

On the morning of March 22, 2019, the Community Protected Area Project of Heping Village, Pingwu County was officially launched.

Representatives from the following institutions attended the launching meeting: Forestry and Grassland Administration (FGA) of Pingwu County, Department of Reform and Development for Forestry and Grassland (DRDFG) of Pingwu County, Government of Muzuo Township, the Two Committees of Heping Village, as well as Village Group Leaders and villagers. During the meeting, Party Secretary Yu of Heping Village first introduced the participants and laid out the agenda. After which, Feng Jie, Project Director from Shan Shui Conservation Center explained the background of the project. Representatives from both Pingwu FGA and Pingwu DRDFG spoke in support of the project in Heping Village. Party Secretary Du of Xinyi village and representatives from Guanba Community Protected Area shared their experiences and difficulties encountered when balancing conservation and development. In the end, representatives from Heping Village discussed the possible impacts of the project enthusiastically. The Township Government as well as the Two Committees of Heping Village expressed their willingness to cooperate with Shan Shui in order to foster the development of Community Protected Areas.

Four Years along the Lancang River

Summary Meeting of Lancang River Conservation Fund Program

Between 2014 and 2018, Shan Shui Small Grants Program for Lancang River Conservation has funded various institutions and organizations. These include communities, scientific institutes, NGOs, social enterprises and other organizations that work to conserve ecological and cultural diversity along the Lancang River. The goals of the Small Grants Program are to raise awareness of ecosystem services of the Lancang River, promote sustainable conservation and development, and respond to environmental threats in the region.

Until now, all projects are completed. On January 27, 2019, the Summary Meeting of Lancang River Conservation Fund Program was held in Dali, Yunnan. Project evaluation experts from Lancang River Conservation Fund, representatives of conservation projects, NGOs and scientists from all over Yunnan were invited to discuss conservation of the Lancang River. The Meeting included four main themes: species survey and conservation, community-based conservation, ecosystem management, environmental pollution and public participation. 24 project representatives who implemented conservation projects along the Lancang River Basin reported their results respectively, and shared lessons they have learnt with the other guests and members of the community who also attended the Meeting.

The Man behind the Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkey

Crowdfunding for Habitat Monitoring System for Yunnan Snub-nosed Monkeys Goes Online

In 2017, Yunlong Tianchi Multi-Benefit Forest Restoration Project was officially launched. This project was initiated by GAC TOYOTA and China Green Foundation, and implemented by Shan Shui Conservation Center together with Yunlong Tianchi National Nature Reserve. Its goals are to improve ecosystem services of the forest through scientific restoration, to evaluate the effects of restoration using scientific research and monitoring, and to improve community livelihoods and build conservation capacity with public participation and local community developments. On March 12, 2019, Shan Shui joined the Suning Yi Pin Program, and launched a crowdfunding campaign on Suning Commerce Group’s charity platform. The funds will help to enhance the Habitat Monitoring System for Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys and develop environmental education programs in the Reserve.

Ecological Pioneer Healthy Living

In order to promote public participation in nature conservation, at the end of 2018, Shan Shui joined P & G (China), Yonghui Superstores and China Environmental Protection Foundation in launching the “P & G, Yonghui, Ecological Pioneer, Healthy Living” Project. Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys and lady’s slipper orchids represent endangered species from forest ecosystems in Mountains of Southwest China; In turn, Meconopsis barbiseta (a species of Himalayan poppies) and Eurasian otters are representatives of endangered species in grassland ecosystems. The Project focuses on these flagship species, and aims to build awareness and capacity of local communities in conserving endangered species. Combining community-based conservation and citizen science, the Project will utilize species conservation case studies to help raise awareness among the general public.

Launching of the Community Protected Area for Meconopsis barbiseta

Patrols and monitoring of Yunnan snub-nosed monkey habitats in Naren and Sayong Communities

Shan Shui Conservation

Monthly Patrons

We chose February 4, 2019, a special day (Chinese New Year’s Eve) to launch the Shan Shui Monthly Patron Campaign. In just over one month, there has been 236 donors, of which 221 are monthly patrons. The amount of monthly donation has reached 8619.11RMB and a total of 67001.88RMB has been raised.

We sincerely appreciate Shanghai United Foundation and lianquan.org for providing Shan Shui Conservation Center with this monthly patron platform. A heart-felt thank-you also goes to all of you who has supported the Monthly Patron Campaign. We would love to invite more people to become a monthly donor and join Shan Shui Conservation Patrons.

Shan Shui Conservation Center | First Quarterly Briefing of 2019 (January-March)