On November 29, with the support of Sichuan Greening Foundation (SGF), the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Greenovation Hub (Ghub, an independent environmental think tank) jointly launched the research project on "Innovative financing mechanism of National Parks in China" in Beijing, aiming to systematically review international experience and domestic practices, and propose the potential mechanism and innovative model to diversify financing sources for China's national parks.

Source: Greenovation Hub (Ghub)

At the launch meeting, Dr. Wang Huidong, Chief Conservation Officer of TNC China Program, said in his opening remark that TNC has been continually carrying out various practices of multi-stakeholder’s participation mechanism and protection innovations in China's nature conservation efforts in the past 25 years, and contributed global wisdom and experience. TNC looks forward to providing guidance for the implementation of diversified and innovative financing mechanisms in China's national parks through the findings of this research.

Dr. Jin Tong, Science Director of TNC China Program, introduced the background and prospect of the project, stating that on the one hand, the project hopes to focus on the multi-stakeholders’ participation mechanism of national parks to explore the role of civic sectors in it; On the other hand, the project hopes to systematically sort out experiences and models in the management of national parks and protected areas internationally that can be used as a reference for the construction of Chinese national park system. 

In the coming year, the project plans to hold a series of workshops on the topic of innovative financing mechanism, combining literature review and field investigations, and plans to release the findings during the 16th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16) next year. During project implementation, we sincerely welcome experts from all parties to put forward their valuable suggestions and guidance on the project.

A corner of the mountains in the Giant Panda National Park  Source: TNC