The Increasing Costs of Development - Threats to China’s Biodiversity- Benjamin Anderson Kaitlin Dodds Amanda Ribeiro Environ 111 GSI: Menan Jangu

Biodiversity Population Growth Urbanization Energy Consumptio n Deforestation

1949: The end of a revolution… Increased health standards… Population Hiccups… Source: “Data Population Growth.” IIASA. China's Total Population by Sex and Age, Census 1990

Pre-1958: China’s economy is based on agricultural production Great Leap Forward –Goal: Surpass Britain’s industrial output by 1972 –Method: Focus on steel production and coal and energy output

Industrial yields increased… China’s agricultural production decreased… Massive demographic shock… Effects of the Great Leap Forward (Crude Birth and Death Rate, ) Source: “Data Population Growth.” IIASA.

Biodiversity Population Growth Urbanization Energy Consumptio n Deforestation

Why the Change? –The Great Leap Forward? –Cultural Revolution? –Deng Xiaoping? Rapid Urbanization: Source: ArcGIS data

Urbanization: It’s Contagious Robert Blair: “Birds and Butterflies Along an Urban Gradient Expansion of the Urban Sector in China Source: Pannell, Clifton and Jeffrey S. Torguson. “Interpreting Spatial Patterns from the 1990 China Census”. Geographical Review. Vol. 81, No. 3. (July 1991), p. 309

Biodiversity Population Growth Urbanization Energy Consumptio n Deforestation

 “The increase in per capita energy use prior to the last two decades of the 20th century is related to the evolving nature of societies as they move from primitive, to agricultural, to industrial, and then to technological.” James Galloway (1998: 18) Pictures: Microsoft PowerPoint Clip Art

China: Before Mao to Now Powering the nation… with COAL!!!

China contributes the second largest amount of carbon emissions. Emissions are still growing!!!

Biodiversity Population Growth Urbanization Energy Consumptio n Deforestation

China is one of the world’s major centers of biodiversity * –Forests have a rich array of species –China possesses ~2,800 tree species * China’s forests and biodiversity have long been under threat due to logging and hunting, as well as the “conversion of habitats to form fields and human settlements.” * At least eight large mammal species are thought to have been exterminated since imperial times* * Harkness, James. Recent Trends in Forestry and Conservation of Biodiversity in China. The China Quarterly, No. 156, Special Issue: China’s Environment. (Dec., 1998), pp …on China’s Biodiversity

High rate of deforestation (~1.2% per year)** Problems with Protected Areas: –Remoteness and poverty of regions –Poorly paid and trained staff –Gaps in protected area system Poor regeneration –“estimated that due to inappropriate logging practices, one-third of all forests cut before 1979 were replaced by degraded mountain slopes” * –Replanting “green deserts” Lack of biological diversity * * Harkness, James. Recent Trends in Forestry and Conservation of Biodiversity in China. The China Quarterly, No. 156, Special Issue: China’s Environment. (Dec., 1998), pp **Li, Jing-Neng. “Comment: Population Effects on Deforestation and Soil Erosion in China.” Population and Development Review, Vol. 16, Supplement: Resources, Environment, and Population: Present Knowledge, Future Opinions. (1990), pp

Biodiversity Population Growth Urbanization Energy Consumptio n Deforestation

In China, we have seen that… –Population keeps growing –Urbanization keeps growing –Carbon emissions keep increasing –China is committed to addressing failures, such as its commitment to replanting forests.

Threats to Biodiversity –Population Growth… –Affluence… China has experienced rapid growth in its economic sector in conjunction with rapid growth in energy consumption During the economic slowdown in the late 1990s… China saw energy and CO2 emissions decline. –Counteract Affluence… Garbaccio et al. –Possible to control carbon emissions through taxation.

References “An Energy Summary of China.” Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum. 7 April Blair, Robert B. “Birds and Butterflies along an Urban Gradient: Surrogate Taxa for Assessing Biodiversity.” Ecological Applications. Vol. 9. Iss. 1. (Feb, 1999), pp “China: Environmental Issues.” Energy Information Administration. 7 April “Data Population Growth.” IIASA. 7 April Galloway, James N. “The Global Nitrogen Cycle: Changes and Consequences.” Environmental Pollution. 102, S1 (1998), pp Garbaccio et al. “Controlling Carbon Emissions in China.” Environment and Development Economics 4 (1999): 493–518 Harkness, James. Recent Trends in Forestry and Conservation of Biodiversity in China. The China Quarterly, No. 156, Special Issue: China’s Environment. (Dec., 1998), pp Joseph, William A. “A Tragedy of Good Intentions: Post-Mao Views of the Great Leap Forward.” Modern China. Vol. 12. Iss. 4. (Oct., 1986), pp Li, Jing-Neng. “Comment: Population Effects on Deforestation and Soil Erosion in China.” Population and Development Review, Vol. 16, Supplement: Resources, Environment, and Population: Present Knowledge, Future Opinions. (1990), pp Ma, Laurence J. C. “Urban Transformation in China, : A Review and Research Agenda.” Environment and Planning. Vol. 34. (9 Jan 2002), pp McKinney, Michael L. “Urbanization, Biodiversity, and Conservation.” Bio Science. Vol. 52, Iss. 10.