Environmentalism in Developing China

We often hear the concept of environmental protection referred to as a luxury of sorts. In other words, a certain measure of economic security is required before one can even worry about the environment. This concept is often applied to developing countries, like China. However, throughout my experiences in China, I found this was not entirely the case. Even very poor people had certain reasons to support environmental preservation.

To understand this, we must restructure our understanding of the purposes behind environmental programs. Throughout the trip, I found myself viewing environmental protection with more clarity and understanding, as I learned to look at environmental projects from a new perspective: from the perspective of one with few luxuries and material means who must truly stand to gain from whatever environmental “investments” they make. I gained this more direct understanding largely from our visit to Qi Ao Island which hosts a substantial mangrove preserve.

(Qi Ao Island, the site of a large mangrove preservation and rehabilitation project)

In America, environmentalism often becomes a moral or ethical issue. It almost always transcends economics. Americans and other people around the world who live in developed countries can literally “afford” to protect endangered species who are neither integral to the local ecosystem or to their well being. This is a sort of environmental altruism, afforded by their relative security in life.

Given this, why don’t the poor villagers on Qi Ao Island consider their mangrove preserve essentially worthless? While there are some protests and abuses of the regulations of the preserve, the mangroves are an example of an ecological asset whose protection brings about real and dramatic benefits that can actually be worth the trouble for a poor Chinese fisherman. From this example a new concept emerges: there must be some sort of hierarchy in the realm of environmental preservation. The mangrove restoration and protection on Qi Ao Island obviously transcends many other projects that could have occurred. In fact, American environmental groups would do well to focus their energies on the projects that are most important, instead of those that arouse the most public sympathy.

That is not to say that mangroves do not have benefits ranging beyond direct economic improvement for poor fishermen. China is noticeably devoid of abundant “green” public space. I will not discuss the effects of this deficiency on human psychology here and now; there are plenty of other papers written on the subject. What I can say is that the locals in Shenzen seemed to be enjoying their own mangrove reserve, which also included a park adjacent to the shoreline. In fact, the park receives such an abundance of visitors that the number of visitors allowed has been restricted so as not to stress the already fragile ecosystem of the preserve.