Pride Campaign: Mountains of Southwest China
Country: China
Partner: Roots and Shoots - China / Jane Goodall Institute
Campaign Manager: Zhang Zhe
Project Area: Baishuihe National Nature Reserve (BNNR), Sichuan Province
Principal Threats: Threats identified during the stakeholder meetings and questionnaire surveys included in the concept model include firewood collection, poaching, animal and plant disease, illegal logging, illegal mining, harvesting of bamboo shoots and plants for Chinese medicine, and tourist litter.
Campaign Goal: To conserve the habitat and biodiversity in Baishuihe National Nature Reserve (BNNR), home of the golden pheasant and giant panda, for the sustainable benefit of the community
Flagship Species: The golden pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus)
Campaign Slogan: I’m Proud of My Hometown!
Notable Information from the Questionnaire Survey:
- Tourists come to Jiufeng Mountain of BNNR because of its cool climate. While the population of the five villages is only around 10,000, the number of tourists can swell to over 25,000 per day in the summer. The impact of these tourists is a source of ecosystem degradation.
- Over 70% of those surveyed get most of their information from television.
- Chinese medicine farming, mainly of the “Golden Thread” (Rhizoma coptidis), requires removing other grasses/plants and the use of a lot of chemical fertilizer. This represents a source of degradation.
- Logging is a direct factor to BNNR upland forest cover according to the pre-project survey. 5.5% of the sample population use wood to construct new buildings.
Campaign SMART Objectives:
- Objective 1: By the end of 2005, at least 50% of students in 5 villages bordering BNNR will understand the importance of conserving BNNR and will be able to give 3 reasons for conservation (e.g. home for wildlife, resources for local people, sustainable tourism)
- Objective 2: By the end of 2005, 80% (up from 68%) of farmers in 5 villages bordering BNNR will know BNNR by name and why/how it was established and will be able to state at least 2 ways in which farmer's daily life depends on natural resources (e.g. use water from mountain, water forelectricity. Also - 40% (up from 12%) will know 2 main threats facing BNNR (e.g. unsustainable tourism, collecting NTFPs, monoculture forestry)
- Objective 3: By the end of 2005, 50% of farmers in Jiufeng village who have homestays and the Bayoshan tourist company will understand the importance of conserving the biodiversity of BNNR and they will participate in Pride campaign activities
Highlights from the Results (based on pre- and post-campaign surveys:)
- After the campaign, 56% (up from 2%) of students correctly named the protected area.
- 84% (up from 44%) of students named the golden pheasant as an animal that can be found in BNNR. Similarly, knowledge about the existence of other important species also increased – the giant panda (82% up from 60%) and the golden monkey (63% up from 15%).
- 86% (up from 70%) of farmers recognized the importance of BNNR as provider of water for daily use; and 80% (up from 60%) recognized the water’s importance as a power source for electricity.
