Great news! The Environment Protection and Resources Conservation (EPRC) Committee of the National Peoples Congress (the lawmaking body in China) has pledged to protect Jankowski’s Bunting under a new law it is developing on biodiversity.
Last week I co-organised a conference in Beijing involving 35 countries to share experiences on climate change laws, at which the National Peoples Congress gave an update on the progress with China’s national climate change legislation. In the margins I met with the key staff of the EPRC and discussed their current work programme which, in addition to the climate law, includes a new law on biodiversity. The staff had heard about my campaign to help save Jankowski’s Bunting from extinction and wanted to find out more… Of course, I was only too happy to oblige and after showing them pictures and video, playing sound recordings of the bird and explaining about the perilous status of the population and my recent visit to Inner Mongolia and Jilin to survey the bird, they were enthused about helping… After about an hour of conversation, they pledged to ensure that Jankowski’s Bunting was given special protection under the new law and even went so far as to say that they should set a target to double the population…
Details are still to be worked out, and it’s likely to be some time before the law is complete and approved, but extra legal protection for this bird will certainly help to ensure the local authorities prioritise the conservation of this species and will hopefully help them to secure the necessary resources from central government to implement conservation measures.
I took the opportunity to brief the Committee staff on two other birds in desperate trouble – Baer’s Pochard and Streaked Reed Warbler – and I will follow up with another meeting soon to explain more about the plight of these birds.
Watch this space!
Well done indeed Terry, we will continue to support you and make similar donations next and future years.
Thank you Vaughan.. your support, and that of your clients, is very much appreciated. There is so much work to do here in China to save Jankowski’s Bunting, and several other species, so although we should celebrate good news, we shouldn’t let it distort the overall picture, which is still terribly bleak for these endangered birds.
Congratulations Terry. Thank you for your amazing support as a BirdLife Species Champion and working so hard to galvanise support and advance conservation for Jankowski’s Bunting and other threatened species. This is a fabulous personal contribution and we are all extremely impressed here at BirdLife in Cambridge. Respect!
Thank you, Jim! It’s been a tremendous team effort but, as you know, the job is only partly done.. there are still, as I write, almost no practical measures being taken on the ground to protect the remaining habitat. Until that is happening, we must keep on working! I am looking forward to continuing our partnership.. Best wishes, Terry
Excellent work Terry! Well done!
Great news indeed Terry! As you say its still early days – but your stalwart & continuing efforts in promoting awareness of this terrifyingly rare species and galvanising support for its research and protection are to be applauded! Great news & great job!
I am late on this but… very well done Terry !