From this period to the present (2005), 15 laws^2 have addressed different
aspects of biodiversity conservation. Laws offer the strongest degree of
protection; they are enacted by the National People’s Congress, China’s
supreme legislative body. Although quite broad and often more in the nature
of policy statement than statute, the laws are transparent and enforceable. They
can be broadly classified into four types: general environmental protection,
pollution prevention, ecosystem protection, and species protection.
China’s basic environmental law is the Environmental Protection Law,
adopted in 1979 and amended in 1989. This legislation stipulates that
governments at all levels should establish nature reserves to protect important
natural ecosystems, habitats for rare and endangered wild animals and plants,
watershed and relic sites. One of the chief areas of emphasis in this law is the
environmental impact assessment methodology, prevalent in most western
nations by the late 1970s, which became a mandatory policy for all large and
medium projects in 1979. However, as Palmer notes, this is a requirement that
has not always been imposed on industries owned by governments, whether
central or local.^3
This and other gaps in the legislation (for example, omission of zoning and
other planning activities of governments from environmental examinations)
led to the passage of a new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Law,
which took effect in September 2003. The new EIA requires mandatory
environmental assessment studies by construction companies for all
construction projects. What has most interested observers is the new law’s
requirement that the construction company conduct a public hearing if a
project may have a major environmental impact, or otherwise collect
comments from the public, relevant parties and experts before seeking
government approval. However, the law makes exemptions in the cases of
national security and omits standards and tests for determining what are
‘substantial’ environmental impacts.^4 In Chapter 8, we review the impact of
the new law on the Nu River dam project in 2004.
Pollution is a growing threat to biodiversity in China, and three laws
provide some protection: the Water Pollution Prevention Law of 1984 (revised
in 1996), the Solid Waste Pollution Prevention Law of 1995, and the Air
Pollution Prevention Law of 1987 (revised in 1995). In addition, Art. 6 of the
Environmental Protection Law of 1989 as revised in 1996 allows individuals
or units to bring class actions against polluters.^5
In the 1980s, a series of laws focused on different ecosystem types, with
most pertaining to the protection of China’s forests. The first forest legislation
was enacted by the National People’s Congress in 1985.^6 This Forest Law
formalized the division of forests between the state and collectives (jiti). It
enunciated principles for forest management, set up a timber harvest quota
system, and required permits for shipping timber. Article 20 specifies that
The framework for biodiversity conservation 69