Governance of Biodiversity Conservation in China And Taiwan

environmental activism has had repercussions (with his ENGO being called an
‘extremist organization’ by local authorities)^48 , he communicated concerns at a
series of water fora in Kunming, Shanghai and Guangzhou. He organized
reporters from national media outlets such as People’s Dailyand CCTV to tour
the Nujiang area, and staged photo exhibitions in supermarkets and on the
Internet. Yu also communicated with members of the Chinese People’s
Political Consultative Conference who were preparing a report on the Nu
project.
In September 2003, the SEPA invited 30 experts in zoology, forestry,
farming and geology to a closed-door meeting on the Nu River dam. The
Beijing-area scientists opposed the construction because of its likely adverse
impacts on biological as well as cultural resources, its impact on migratory
species throughout East Asia, and their concerns that dam construction would
cause increased flooding, as had been the case with the Sanmen Gorge Project
on the Yellow River several decades previously. The subtext of some of the
opposition was concern about the long-term effects of large dam construction,
such as the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River.^49
Scientific opinion was not unanimously opposed to dam construction.
Scientists in the Yunnan Province tended to support the economic develop-
ment objectives of the provincial and local governments, and downplayed the
likelihood of adverse environmental impacts. Yet one prominent biological
scientist in Yunnan, Yang Yuming, took a leading role in opposition to dam
construction. Yang is the Vice President of the Southwest Forestry College of
Yunnan, a specialist on the taxonomy, ecology, sustainable use and
conservation of bamboo, who had developed an ENGO on biodiversity
conservation in southwest China.^50 Yang’s advocacy for conservation efforts in
Yunnan gained him the Parker/Gentry Award in conservation biology in 2004.
The person who was most responsible for the media focus on Nujiang was
Wang Yongchen, a journalist who had worked for China National Radio for 20
years. Wang was the co-founder of Green Earth Volunteers, a Beijing-based
ENGO specializing in current environmental issues, and she won the Conde
Nast Traveler’s 2004 Environmental Award for her work on the Nujiang
controversy. The award recognizes her for setting the pace and shaping the
national campaign ‘by attacking on all fronts – using the media, lobbying the
government, appealing to international organizations, and informing residents
of the affected region. “She’s the one who links all the networks together”’.^51
Her comments on the role of the media reflect optimism:

‘I see a merging of the roles of journalists and activists here in China ... Journalists

see everything, and because of that, they have some power. Journalists are

considered kings without a crown in China.’^52

One tactic used to increase awareness was a study tour of the Nujiang area in

212 Governance of biodiversity conservation in China and Taiwan