SCIENTISTS AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS
In China
Most of the data on China’s species and ecosystems have been collected by
biological scientists, working in research institutes, universities, and
increasingly, private corporations. Natural science disciplines are organized
into research institutes under the umbrella of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS). The institutes have played a large role in policy
recommendations, as noted by the development of the China Red List and the
report on protected areas, issued by the Biodiversity Working Group in late
2004.
China’s scientists have created a new information system, called the China
Biodiversity Information System. More than 90 subcommittees worked on this
large project, which has produced one million records.^77 The Institute of
Botany of CAS alone has published more than 20 volumes on biodiversity
protection and it sponsors a biennial conference on this subject, which attracts
participation of scientists and government officials. As already mentioned,
biological scientists propose the addition of species to the national list. Also,
SEPA and the CAS have established the China EcoRegional Assessment with
foreign NGOs (particularly TNC) and other Chinese government agencies and
NGOs. This five-year action plan intends to create baseline data to ground
future conservation actions and investments.^78
Several of the biological science disciplines have professional associations.
One of the oldest is the Chinese Ornithological Society, formed in the 1960s.
Its members are researchers and professors who meet every four or five years
to report on research.^79 This association has limited contacts with foreign
ornithological associations; it does not take political positions. A veteran
scientist explained the limits on media reporting of environmental issues and
on scientific institutions:
‘(Press reporting on environmental issues?) This is just an escape valve, and the
government still does not allow any highly critical reports on environmental issues,
which would negatively connect the direction of the regime with any current
problem. You can read any number of reports on environmental issues, but none is
very deep. The regime tries to keep everything in balance and not disturb social
order. So the large environmental issues such as the Three Gorges Dam and species
loss are not treated exhaustively. Also, there is little specialized expertise among
journalists to cover these issues.
(Pressure of scientific organizations?) There are just a few of these scientific
associations, but none is truly independent. Scientists work through the different
institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and this is a government
organization. It is not like scientific academies in the US or other western countries.
It is government science.’^8060 Governance of biodiversity conservation in China and Taiwan