protected areas. The SFA has compliance powers and a network of permit and
security (or police) officers to enforce laws and regulations pertaining to
endangered species and ecosystems.
A third agency involved in biodiversity conservation is the Ministry of
Agriculture (MOA). This department was once housed together with forestry,
but they have been independent since the mid-1980s. The MOA has an office
for endangered and threatened species and administers a small number of
protected areas, about 3 percent of the total. The MOA has primary
responsibility for plant species and fisheries; the national protection list
assigns aquatic species to MOA and all other terrestrial species to SFA. This
framework in the WACA does not account well for amphibians and reptiles,
which sometimes leads to disputes between MOA and SFA as to which agency
regulates what species.
A fourth agency is the Ministry of Construction (MOC), which is in charge
of China’s public construction, including national highways, dams (such as the
Three Gorges Dam) and ports and harbors. The MOC supervises national
parks registered with the UNESCO natural heritage sites, which are included
in the small number of protected areas it administers, about 3 percent of the
total. The MOC also regulates the Chinese zoo system, and all city zoos
belong to the MOC.^51
The fifth agency is the State Oceans Administration (SOA), which is a
specialized agency in the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources. Its
responsibility extends offshore China’s coasts to the 200-mile limit. The SOA
has responsibility for marine reserves and all endangered and threatened
marine species, but identification of such species is least well-advanced
among the categories of protected species.^52 The SOA administers a small
number of marine protected areas, but lacks compliance powers.
As mentioned in Chapter 3, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is one
of the earliest institutions to promote biodiversity research and protection in
China. The CAS has founded new institutes to expand biodiversity research,
and organized large field studies of biological resources. The State Commis-
sion of Science and Technology has funded part of this work.^53
A number of other agencies are involved in biodiversity conservation less
directly. For example, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is responsible
for international conventions in which China participates, and heads
delegations at international environmental conferences. Similarly, the Ministry
of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation has duties with respect to certain
environmental treaties, such as CITES. The Ministry of Education has training
functions with respect to environmental education, the Ministry of Finance has
responsibilities regarding environmental assessments, and the list goes on.
Altogether, at least one dozen central government ministries and agencies
have some duties in biodiversity conservation; none has a clear lead-agency
84 Governance of biodiversity conservation in China and Taiwan