"Wetlands in Crisis in the Yellow River Basin: A Chinese NGO Seeks Bottom-up Solutions"

On Tuesday January 24, 2012, 3-4pm, a talk by Zhao Zhong, co-founder and director of the Chinese grassroots environmental organization, Green Camel Bell, was held as a CAS Tier 3 event, in Guggenheim 201E.   There were about 25 people in attendance at the lecture/discussion (the small seminar room was packed, and extra chairs had to be found), including undergraduate and graduate students, faculty from a number of different departments, as well as off-campus members of the general public.  Zhao Zhong’s delivered his lecture “Wetlands in Crisis in the Yellow River Basin: A Chinese NGO seeks bottom-up solutions,” for about ½ an hour. This was then followed by 30 minutes of enthusiastic questions and discussion from the audience.

After an analysis of the basic threats to the wetlands of the upper reaches of the Yellow River (Machu), including climate change, solid waste disposal, hydropower development, changing energy structure, and ecologically harmful grassland policies, as well as a discussion of local Tibetan people’s livelihood needs, particularly women’s burden in retrieving domestic water, Zhao Zhong turned for the bulk of his talk to Green Camel Bell’s efforts in Community based natural resource management. He discussed their efforts at promoting solar energy use, creating wells to solve household water needs, documenting traditional ecological knowledge, and encouraging households to re-collectivize their grassland.  Most of the question and answers revolved around herders’ understandings and perceptions of the NGO, as well as the role of environmental NGO in China’s broader policy-making.  The audience was engaged and interested in the talk from a variety of perspectives, including wetland management and policy, Tibetan culture and community, and the Chinese environmental movement.