Home to over 12,000 species of plants, the mountainous region of southwest China is believed to be one of the most botanically rich regions in the world.

In addition, approximately 50 percent of China's birds and mammals inhabit the area, as well as more than 30 percent of plants.

The region has been recently defined by Conservation International (CI) as one of 34 biodiversity hot spots in the world.

Biodiversity hot spots are considered the environmental emergency rooms for the planet. In the 34 regions worldwide, about 75 percent of the planet's most threatened mammals, birds and amphibians survive within habitats covering just 2.3 percent of the Earth's surface.

The idea of global hot spots is a widely used prioritization strategy for allocating conservation dollars to areas where they can do the most good.

As a result of rapid economic development and other outside factors in southwest China, the forest area in the region and the number of species living there have been decreasing steadily, and the local ecological system is under serious threat.

According to Professor Lv Zhi, CI representative to China and professor of College of Life Sciences with Peking University, traditional understandings of the value of the forest focuses on forestry products, but its greater contribution to mankind should lie in the production of oxygen, absorption of CO2, protection from erosion and provision of biodiversity.

"Today we are confronted with a number of environmental problems, such as erosion and floods, which are closely related to over exploitation of the forests. The environmental cost we are paying is quite serious and should not be neglected. Efforts to sustain a healthy forest ecosystem are beneficial to every person," said Lv.

In fact, a number of government departments already have set out to re-assess the environmental value of forests, and to build a sustainable long-term compensation system.

Devastating floods along the Yangtze River in 1998 led the Chinese government to launch several major programs, including the National Natural Forest Protection Program and Converting Sloping Farmland to Forest Program (Grain to Green).

With billions of dollars of investment, these programs aim to restore the region's degraded forests to prevent ecological crisis such as flooding and land erosion.

"However, most of the government's efforts to date have focused on forest plantations that are often composed of monoculture non-native tree species. The resulting simplified ecosystems often do not provide as many ecological services as offered by diversified natural vegetation," said professor Lv.

Studies have shown the tremendous benefits of natural vegetation and overwhelming economic value in protecting remaining forests and restoring their ecological functions.

Naturally regenerated vegetation absorbs more carbon dioxide, thus presenting better opportunity to mitigate global climate change.

Through a combination of field-based demonstration projects and dialogue with policy-makers, CI will partner with the forestry departments of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and other NGOs to promote restoration of natural vegetation in areas that are critical for biodiversity conservation.

The ultimate outcome of the project is the restoration of a landscape covering 2 to 3 million hectares in the mountains of southwest China, which will absorb and store an estimated 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide over 60 years.

"Meanwhile we are going to explore the possibility of a carbon trade in our project," said Lv.

The Tokyo Protocol, which came into effect on February 1, requires developed countries to reduce or limit their green house gas emission. They can also choose to do so by purchasing carbon credits from developing countries.

"The capacity of our regenerated forest to absorb carbon dioxide could be traded with the international corporations and it could bring in additional funding for natural regeneration and biodiversity conservation," said Lv.

Professor Lv appealed to the corporate community as well as members of society to join environmental protection organizations and assist the Chinese government with its research on how to deal with environmental and ecological problems while promoting economic development in local communities.

On Thursday, 3M, a multinational corporation, announced in Beijing that it had made a donation of US$3 million to sponsor a series of environmental protection programs in China. The programs, which will be undertaken in co-operation with CI, include a forestry project in southwest China, and is designed to support ecological development and safeguard biodiversity in the region. The move will not only support the government's own ecological project, but also create a solid foundation for sustained economic development in southwest China.

Kenneth Yu, managing director of 3M Greater China, said, "Protecting the environment while promoting sustainable economic development is a long-term commitment of ours as a responsible corporate citizen." He said he believed that sustainable economic development will become a reality if corporations are playing a vital role in environmental protection, and more companies integrate environmental awareness into its corporate culture and take solid measures.

In past decades, Chinese forest departments have received financial support of more than US$ 500 million from the international community for its forest restoration projects, according to Su Ming, director of the international co-operation department of State Forestry Administration.

(China Daily February 26, 2005)