In recent years, the mainland's reputation has been built more on its breakneck economic development than its wild, green natural beauty. But despite all the familiar images of poisoned rivers, polluted air and devastated landscapes, the mainland's conservation efforts are increasingly being hailed internationally. Among those spreading the word is Gavin Maxwell, producer and director of the BBC's six-part nature documentary series, Wild China, released last spring, shortly before the Beijing Olympics. Maxwell admitted, before making this landmark television project, his assumption was 'Quick, before it all goes'. He wondered if there was anything worth filming. 'My biggest surprise is how much is still there in China,' he said while in Hong Kong recently to address the local branch of the Royal Geographical Society. 'How many big mammals there are, how many key species . . . and how much habitat is actually protected now.' According to the most recent paper published by the State Council, nature reserves cover about 1.5 million sq km - 15 per cent - of the country. A network of national nature reserves is 'effectively protecting' 85 per cent of land-based ecosystems, 85 per cent of wildlife species and 65 per cent of the mainland's natural plant community, according to the same document. Rare species featured in the Wild China series, called Beautiful China in the version shown on the mainland, include Tibet's tiny jumping spiders - the planet's highest permanent-dwelling predators - the giant panda, the golden snub-nosed monkey and the Tibetan antelope (chiru). Maxwell said Chinese students at his London lectures told him they had no idea their country had such biodiversity. 'That's been extraordinary, how secret China has been even to the Chinese,' he said. The BBC and its CCTV production partners were given access to remote, mountainous and inaccessible areas where the wildlife had a natural protective barrier. Maxwell noted that a tenet of Chinese civilisation was the Taoist philosophy of harmony between man and nature. 'I think recently the Chinese government has tried to reinvigorate this concept and return to these values of harmony as a kind of metaphor for their renewed phase in terms of tackling environmental issues,' he said. Maxwell said the series, which has been sold to more than 100 countries, did talk about issues of deforestation, desertification of northern grasslands and pollution of rivers. But its primary focus was 'to celebrate what is still there rather than bemoan what's gone'. He is optimistic Beijing has the political clout, resources and manpower to act on conservation. 'If they decide 'we're going to do something about our environment and do it for the better', I feel China is one of the few places that could actually implement that.' In 2007, with official blessing, Future Generations China and Beijing Forestry University jointly launched the Green Long March, the country's 'largest youth conservation awareness movement'. So far, more than 5,000 students and young environmentalists have marched through 26 provinces and 22 nature preserves, and visited 700 communities. Organisers say they've brought their environmental message to more than 20 million people. This is an edited version of an article which appeared in the South China Morning Post on January 7, 2009
