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China
KANGHUA COMMUNITYDEVELOPMENT CENTRE
Empowered live
Resilient nation
Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions for people, nature, and resilient communities
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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES
Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo
or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth
their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition
themselves guiding the narrative.
To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser
that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ
to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models
replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power of Local Action: Lessons from 10 Years
the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.
Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.
EditorsEditor-in-Chief: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver Hughes
Contributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding
Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Sean Cox, Larissa Currado, David Godrey, Sarah Gordon,
Oliver Hughes, Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma
Mary McGraw, Brandon Payne, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding
DesignSean Cox, Oliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Loren
de la Parra, Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.
AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude Kanghua Community Development Centre, and in particular, the guidance a
inputs o Mr. Wu Jiawei. Photos courtesy o Kanghua Community Development Centre, Zhang Xuilei and Anthony B. Cunningham. M
courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.
Suggested CitationUnited Nations Development Programme. 2013. Kanghua Community Development Centre, China. Equator Initiative Case Study Ser
New York, NY.
http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=685http://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdfhttp://www.equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/Power_of_Local_Action_Final_2013.pdf7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: KANGHUA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTER, China
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PROJECT SUMMARY
Kanghua Community Development Centre (ormerlyKangmei Institute o Community Development andMarketing) assists villagers along the middle and upperreaches o the Yangtze River in establishing cooperativesand resource management plans that promote thesustainable harvesting o wild herbs and protect giantpanda habitats. Among other projects, the Centres work isaddressing the unsustainable extraction o medicinal plantsthat has threatened pandas and other wildlie by damagingtheir ragile habitats.
Through training, on-site guidance and the developmento standards or harvesting, Kanghua has successullypromoted a giant panda-riendly method or collectingmedicinal herbs, which has been adopted by over 20villages and has added value to medicinal plant productsbeing sold in national and international markets.
KEY FACTS
EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2012
FOUNDED: 2005
LOCATION: Sichuan Province, south-western China
BENEFICIARIES: Rural communities throughout Sichuan
BIODIVERSITY: Giant Panda, sustainable plant collection
3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background and Context 4
Key Activities and Innovations 5
Biodiversity Impacts 8
Socioeconomic Impacts 8
Policy Impacts 9
Sustainability 10
Replication 10
Partners 11
KANGHUA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTCENTREChina
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Kanghua Community Development Centre was established in
005 in Sichuan Province, south-western China. Although based in
Chengdu (Sichuans capital city), Kanghua works primarily with the
egions rural communities. It specialises in designing and executing
ural community development projects, providing training related
o the conservation o nature, and assisting nature reserves and
ommunities in designing and carrying out ecotourism activities to
romote sustainable development.
Threats to water and forest resources
Chengdu is one o western Chinas most important economic,
ransportation and communication centres. It was designated by
Chinas state council as the countrys western centre or logistics,
ommerce, nance, science and technology. The city is an important
ub or manuacturing, while the surrounding plains provide the
egion with much o its agricultural production. Chengdu is situated
n the upper reaches o the Yangtze River basin. Rapid economic
evelopment o the surrounding rural region has threatened
he integrity o this major watershed. River unctions are being
egraded, pollution rom non-point sources is increasing, and
he low conservation awareness o local communities has had a
etrimental impact on water quality. Similarly, orests in the region
re under a great deal o pressure or their resources, including, most
otably, those within the Mamize Nature Reserve, a 38,800-hectare
rotected area that is home to a number o important bird species.
Protecting the giant panda and conserving medicinal plants
he Upper Yangtze region plays an important role in the conservation
one o the rarest and most endangered animals in the world.
Critically, it is home to 80 per cent o the planets remaining
opulation o giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). Despite
isappearing habitat and declining populations, the giant panda is
onsidered a national treasure in China. The current wild population
umbers close to 1,500. To better protect this species, Chengdu has
stablished nature reserves in Dujiangyan City, Chongzhou City and
Dayi County. The largest o the reserves in the region, and the la
o its kind in the world, is the 200,000-hectare Sichuan Wolong G
Panda Nature Reserve, located only 130 km outside Chengdu.
The region is also home to more than 25 species o endang
medicinal plants. More than 45 traditional Chinese medicinal p
are still used extensively to treat illnesses. There is an active
thriving market or traditional medicinal plants at both local
national levels, but it has historically been subject to little tracea
and lax regulation. Consequently, it is let to community discre
to ensure that plants are harvested in a sustainable manner (o
leading to a tragedy o the commons outcome) and there
ew opportunities or harvesters to develop value-added msupply-chains.
Kanghua Community Development Centre
Kanghua Community Development Centre was created to add
a number o dierent issues, but has been particularly succe
at improving the sustainability and protability o medicinal p
collection while simultaneously protecting the habitat o
giant panda. The organization was originally known as Sich
Inormal Participatory Rural Assessment Network, an indicatio
its commitment to promoting bottom-up, community-based
development and conservation strategies. Kanghua is curr
involved in 52 dierent community development projects.scope o projects is impressive, covering village-level inrastruc
development; ecosystem conservation and restoration; ecotou
capacity building, training and peer-to-peer learning exchan
and supply-chain development. In most cases, Kanghua particip
in these projects as a partner rather than as the project initi
providing consultative services to local communities. Once invo
Kanghua takes responsibility or the design and implementa
phases o projects, in coordination with local stakeholders. S
o these projects have targeted communities o the Qiang et
people, who number around 200,000 and live mainly in n
western Sichuan province.
Background and Context
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Key Activities and Innovations
All o Kanghua Community Development Centres activities are
ocused on the twin objectives o conserving biodiversity and
cosystems while promoting sustainable livelihoods or rural
ommunities. While the organization provides unds and services
o communities, it is worth noting that it does not initiate all
projects; in many cases, Kanghua instead acts as a service provider
o communities and project unders, to help support grassroots
nitiatives through project development and implementation.
elow are our projects selected to demonstrate the range and scope
o activities undertaken by Kanghua Community Development
Centre, beginning with the project or which the organization was
warded the Equator Prize in 2012.
Giant Panda-Friendly medicinal plants
China is the worlds greatest consumer and trader o traditional
medicinal plant products. For a long time, however, the collection
o traditional medicinal plants in the wild went unregulated.
Harvesting happened in an uncoordinated ashion, with little
oversight and no enorced standards or social and environmental
ood practice. Markets or herbal medicinal products were also
nregulated, with dealers and consumers buying and trading with
ttle or no consideration or the sustainability o collection methods,
working conditions or source traceability. This disregard or
ustainability principles and lack o rules governing extraction led tohe degradation o many ecosystems and reduced the availability o
medicinal plant resources. As a result, many Chinese medicinal plant
pecies are threatened or endangered. Importantly, unsustainable
arvesting practices are also degrading the habitats o animal
pecies, including the critically endangered giant panda.
n 2008, in response to these threats, Kanghua Community
Development Centre participated in the Yangtze Upper Medium
River Traditional Medicinal Plant Biodiversity and Sustainable
Resources Project, supported by the Europe-China Biodiversity
Programme (ECBP), UNDP China and WWF. Following the re
o a baseline survey and needs assessment, Kanghua and part
selected a village in Pingwu County, Sichuan as their pilot
The pilot initiative was called the Daping Village Sustain
Management o Medicinal Plants Project, and developed a
protection model that successully combined the restoration
conservation o medicinal plant ecosystems, the protection o g
panda habitats, and the improvement o livelihoods or the
communities located in the ecological zones o the middle
upper reaches o the Yangtze River.
In the Daping Village pilot project, Kanghua helped local villa
to develop a sustainable collection agreement, which decommunity members rights and obligations with respect to
sustainable collection o wild medicinal herbs. The agreemen
pact, also outlines penalties or non-compliance with the meas
Community members, including the most impoverished househ
were ully involved in the development o the sustainability
ensuring that local support and engagement are high. The initi
also received the support o local government. As the Kang
initiative has expanded to additional villages, the village unit
remained the social unit around which new projects are plan
The views o each villager are sought when major issues arise
each project is headed by a local person who has been electe
the villagers.
Once implementation o the sustainability pact began, Kang
helped local villagers set up a Chinese medicinal herb associa
which was subsequently upgraded to a cooperative, legally ena
participating harvesters to operate commercially. One o the
benets o this legally incorporated status was collective barga
and negotiation powers. Traditionally, the collection and harve
o medicinal plants is carried out through townships, leadin
signicant variations in market prices and virtually no proce
set air standards. With the legal identity o a cooperative, medi
plant collectors were able to gain more certainty in terms o dem
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or their product and also the ability to get their products to market at
air price. Kanghua also provided members o the cooperative with
raining, study tours and hands-on demonstrations in sustainable
ollection practices and marketing. Importantly, the cooperative
was supported to secure organic certication or its herbal products
nd establish stable market links to increase harvesters resilience to
market shocks. The organization has beneted immensely rom the
upport o Kanghua, and has continued to recruit new members,
nd is gradually growing and expanding to scale.
The Daping model
ased on the overwhelming success o the pilot project in Daping,
Kanghua and its partners adapted the model or implementation
t other sites throughout Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gangsu provinces.
ince 2008, Kanghua has established a tried and tested three-phase
model: rst, under the guidance o an expert team, and with the
ull participation o local collectors, potentially popular species o
raditional Chinese medicinal plants are selected; next, working
with local collectors, producer associations are created to undertake
nowledge-sharing and set regulations on harvesting practices;
nd, lastly, supply-chain management is improved, enabling higher
roduct quality and better economies o scale.
he value o the Daping model lies in its wide applicability to many
are wild medicinal plants and its contribution to habitat protection.
he initiatives key aim is to use market orces to protect natural
cosystems. Currently, Kanghua is working with WWF to establish
nd promote the panda-riendly brand and certication standards
n the hope o producing more panda-riendly products. Kanghua
s also working with the Carreour Foundation to extend the Daping
model to other regions and to additional medicinal products.
Additional Kanghua initiatives
Yunqiao Water Source Wetland Reconstruction: Situated in Yunqiao
Village (Chengdu), close to the water intake o the Chengdu Sixth
Water Plant, the Yunqiao project area covers 3.73 hectares designated
s a drinking water source protection zone. The wetland is situated
t the intersection o the Baitiao River (one o the our mother rivers
Chengdu City) and Xuyan River (a tributary o the Zouma River).
Construction o the Chengdu Sixth Water Plant in the 1980s caused
signicant rise in groundwater levels, which gradually resulted in
he ormation o a natural mire wetland. Yunqiao Wetland maintains
he rich biodiversity typical o the region. Surveys conducted on the
wetland since June 2011 have identied over 118 wild plant species,
ncluding species belonging to the Machilus genus and Fagopyrumymosum, and 130 vertebrate species including seven mammal, 100
ird, ve amphibian, ten reptile and eight sh species.
In 2011, in collaboration with WWF and the local governm
Kanghua ormally began a process o implementing
coordinating recovery o the wetland. The project aims to pro
the wetland through building a drinking water saety bar
while also exploring new methods o water source protec
Additionally, Kanghua aims to enhance public awareness o the
o the Chengdu Plain wetlands in providing sae drinking wate
heighten public concern or water conservation, and to encou
the protection and sustainable use o water resources. Undeproject, Kanghua carries out activities in habitat managem
wetland monitoring and the protection o water resources.
Environmental Education on Wild Bird Habitats in the Yazi R
In 2011, Kanghua entered into a cooperative agreement with
Forestry and Landscape Administration Bureau o Guanghan
to conduct a series o public environmental education activitie
protect the Yazi River. The Yazi is known most amously or the
o thousands o migratory wild ducks that travel rom the nort
winter there each year. The rivers clear water, rocky beaches
expansive banks constitute the Yazi River Wetland, which is hom
abundant aquatic species and grassland resources and is one o
most important wintering grounds or water birds in the Chen
Plain. The Yazi River Wetland is one o the ew nature rese
in China to pass through a city, and this proximity has resulte
considerable damage to the wetland as local residents use i
shing, raising poultry, dredging and quarrying. The conseque
or wild birds include diminished habitat and interruptions to
normal reuge and oraging behaviours, constituting a serious th
to their survival.
Kanghuas involvement in the project began with an environme
impact assessment o how the activities o surrounding commun
were aecting the river. The objective was to identiy the ull ra
o man-made threats to the wetland ecosystem, and to mappotential win-win solutions. The result o this work was the
River Natural Conservation Manual, which lays out in some d
the key challenges conronting the ecosystem.
To address the problems identied in the manual, Kang
carried out a series o interventions in close cooperation with
local orestry bureau to enhance community awareness o
importance o environmental protection. Kanghua sought to m
beyond traditional outreach materials and employed a rang
innovative and interactive approaches to raising the prole o
the environment and the diversity o endemic bird species resi
in the Yazi. For example, Kanghua has completed two succe
rounds o bird observation training, which is oered to membethe public in collaboration with the Sichuan Aviation Institute.
the support o the Guanghan Forestry Bureau, bird observa
hides have been donated to local schools and classes o stud
supported to take eld trips to the wetland.
Post-Earthquake Rehabilitation o Napu Village and Wom
Empowerment: In 2008, Sichuan was hit by a strong earthq
and a number o atershocks, which devastated the regio
2009 and 2010, Kanghua worked in the two worst-hit Q
communities (Napu Village and Lili Villiage) to carry out post-dis
Policy making should be based on
the needs of communities
Mr. Wu Jiawei, Project Manager,
Kanghua Community Development Centre
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econstruction. Activities included rebuilding o inrastructure
including roads and water supply) and diversiying the economic
opportunities available to the local population, with a particular
ocus on women. Ater surveying community members to identiy
priorities or reconstruction, Kanghua assisted in building 3,000
metres o water pipeline, connecting both people and livestock
with needed water resources. Additionally, 4,000 metres o irrigation
piping was laid or 77 households in Napu Village, to irrigate over 40
hectares o armland in arid valleys. As a result, crop yields increasedby 30 per cent. The Water Conservancy Bureau o Maoxian County is
now using the project as a model or several other villages.
n addition to inrastructural improvements, Kanghua set out to
mprove the economic situation o the Napu community. One
example was in the area o pepper cultivation. In Napu village,
pepper cultivation has traditionally been an important source o
ncome or community members. However, poor transportation has
nhibited local access to markets. To overcome this barrier, Kanghua
helped to establish the Maoxian Goukou Town Pepper Association
(now Maoxian June Red Pepper Cooperative), which has success
created a market supply chain between community growers
major retail outlets, including Carreour, China Oil and Foods
Corporation, and Red Flag Chain Stores. The association was ab
attain certication as an environmentally riendly organization.
In the preliminary stage o the project, Kanghua condu
participatory community surveys and evaluations in which villa
voted or and rank-ordered priority project activities. Based onresults o these surveys, Kanghua helped to drat a detailed
o action. In parallel, a series o community conerences were
These bottom-up meetings helped to establish the param
o community sel-management and to standardize opera
principles o transparency and participation. A signicant dimen
o Kanghuas work in Napu village has been in social and econ
empowerment, particularly or women. Kanghua has ocusse
boosting womens participation in community management, w
also improving market supply-chains or sectors where wo
work.
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Impacts
BIODIVERSITY IMPACTSHome to three nature reserves, Pingwu County in northern Sichuan
harbours a signicant portion o Chinas great panda population.
While Wanglang Reserve (long supported by WWF), Xiaohegou
Reserve, and Sier Reserve each protect small numbers o pandas,
he majority o the countys individuals are ound outside o these
enclaves. The county also borders several other key reserves and
ontains important migratory routes, making it a priority area or
panda conservation. Pandas and their habitats ace threats rom
griculture, mining, poaching, and hydropower development, as
well as the potential or illegal logging. The giant panda population
o Wanglang Reserve was estimated to be 196 in 1968, but had allen
o just 19 by 1985 (estimate taken rom Chinas Second National
Panda Survey) and was just 27 in 1998 ( Third National Panda Survey,
lthough some recent doubt has been cast on the accuracy o these
estimates.)
ince the 1990s, WWF has led eorts to better monitor panda
populations and work with local communities to conserve this
endangered species. Key challenges included the lack o local land
ownership, low levels o unding or state reserves, and increased
economic pressures rom a growing rural population seeking
new income sources ater the nationwide ban on logging in 1998.
Underpinning this was the lack o awareness on the part o rural
ommunities regarding sustainable management o their orestesources.
ince 2008, Kanghua has helped to tackle these root causes o habitat
oss by providing support services to Pingwus rural communities.
Using its unique comparative advantage its experience working
with rural communities, rom conducting participatory needs
ssessments to improving market supply chains Kanghua has
been able to change both the economic drivers o orest loss and
he social actors aecting this. Through its work in Daping and
ubsequent replication sites, Kanghua has successully promoted the
cultivation o giant panda-riendly medicinal plants. The apprhas had signicant biodiversity impacts, rst, by encouraging
sustainable harvesting o traditional medicinal plants som
which are threatened and others o which are endangered
second, by conserving the ragile ecosystems that are home to
giant pandas. Through training, on-site guidance and the distrib
o guidelines on sustainable wild plant collection, communities
been taught about sustainable collection methods or harve
medicinal plants, including the identication and demarcatio
areas where harvesting can be undertaken without damage to t
branches, vines or endemic populations o wild animals. Part o
sustainable harvesting practice includes the re-seeding o land
collection has taken place to ensure the resources that are colle
are replenished.
A series o sustainable harvesting guidelines has been establi
to govern resource extraction and, importantly, to restrict med
plant collection in areas surrounding the core giant panda prote
reserve. According to a recent Wanglang Nature Reserve Dete
Report, the number o people entering the protected area
reduced signicantly since the sustainable collection method
applied. A 2003/4 study used DNA-based mark-recapture to esti
the Wanglang panda population at 66 individuals, indicatin
improvement in ormal conservation eorts. Encouraging
harvesting o medicinal herbs in designated areas has also gr
reduced the degree o orest destruction.
Policy makers must link traditional
knowledge with the promotion of better
livelihoods.
Mr. Wu Jiawei, Project Manager,
Kanghua Community Development Centre
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SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS
mproved incomes for harvesters
By promoting giant panda-riendly medicinal plant cultivation and
harvesting, Kanghua has not only helped to protect the environment
and a threatened population o wild pandas, but has also helped to
mprove the incomes o medicinal plant collectors, strengthened
heir collective bargaining power, improved inormation exchangebetween them, and created a lucrative and equitable market supply-
chain that connects local producers with new commercial outlets.
Many o the participating communities depend on the harvesting
and collection o medicinal plants as their primary source o income,
but have been limited by poor access to markets and are vulnerable
o price uctuations. Kanghua has provided these communities with
raining, an identity as a commercially viable cooperative, standards
or collection (and, in turn, organic certication), and a way to avoid
ocal discrepancies in prices oered or their products. By leading
he harvesters towards sustainable practices, and by carrying
out training activities in collection and marketing, Kanghua has
also improved their economic prospects and helped community
cooperatives in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gangsu to become important
actors in the marketing and sale o traditional medicinal plants.
Kanghua has also trained communities to meet higher international
tandards during ruit drying processes so that their products can
command higher prices.
As o September 2011, the Daping Village cooperative had sold six
ons o dried Kadsura herb to international and domestic markets.
The cooperative has also secured a ve-year memorandum o
cooperation with international buyers to supply ten tons o dried
Kadsura, ensuring a guaranteed source o income in the medium
erm. The stems o the plant, Caulis piperis kadsurae, are used to treat
heumatic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, joint pain andmuscle spasms.
Because Kanghuas approach involves community members in all
aspects o project planning and implementation, there is a strong
ense o local ownership over the sustainable harvesting approaches
hat are introduced and, as a result, resource management pacts are
trictly complied with.
Womens involvement
Women account or about hal o the membership o the Daping
Village association and cooperative, while the vice-president o
he cooperative is a woman. The participation o women in themplementation and decision-making process has elevated the
tatus o local women in their community. Womens involvement in
he production o medicinal herbs is most oten in the harvesting
and collection stage. As the labour intensity o sustainable collection
methods is lower than that o traditional collection activities,
he burden on women has been reduced, while at the same time
allowing them to generate more income or their amilies.
POLICY IMPACTS
The success o Kanghuas Giant Panda-Friendly Sustainable ChHerbal Medicine Products Project has raised its prole and broug
to the attention o local, national and international policy make
September 2011, the project won a national award or outstan
contribution to its eld, which was jointly presented by
Department o Environmental Protection o the Peoples Rep
o China, the Department o Commerce o the Peoples Repub
China, UNDP China and the European Union delegation in Chin
As a result o the success o the project, the Sichuan Province Ch
Herbal Medicine Administration included rules governing
sustainable collection o medicine resources into its administr
regulations. Also inuenced by the Kanghua project, the provi
Forestry Department incorporated the sustainability o medicinal plant collection as an index in its routine biodive
monitoring procedures.
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Sustainability and Replication
SUSTAINABILITYKanghua Community Development Centre was originally called
ichuan Inormal Participatory Rural Assessment (PRA) Network
a reerence to the organizations dedication to promoting the
articipation o rural communities in initiatives and projects that
ect them. The value Kanghua places on participatory methods
nd community engagement is reected throughout its work and is
n important driver o the sustainability o the giant panda-riendly
medicinal plants initiative. There is a strong emphasis on community
wnership in all o Kanghuas projects, and as a result, a strong
evel o community engagement and commitment. The village unit
emains the structure around which new projects are planned as thenitiative expands. The views o each community member are sought
whenever major issues arise and all community members, including
he most impoverished and marginalized, are included at all stages
project planning and implementation. Each project is headed
y a local person who is elected by their village. This approach has
trengthened local ownership and communities understanding o
heir common interest in the projects success.
Another actor driving the sustainability o Kanghuas initiatives is its
mphasis on capacity building at the community level, and building
nancial sustainability. Kanghua trained harvesters in sustainable
ollection and cultivation methods, but also gave them the training
hey needed to run businesses and achieve higher prices or theirroducts. With this capacity building and support, villagers were
ble to establish successul cooperatives and associations that allow
hem to operate commercially. Under this model, the participating
illages are now in a position to continue to market their sustainably
arvested medicinal plant products, even in the absence o
ontinuing Kanghua support.
table market contacts have been established and long-term
artnerships developed with domestic and oreign enterprises
nd, through organic product certication, the price o the product
is much higher than those o other products o a similar na
ensuring the continued sustainable operation o collection
the sustainability o villagers income. The initiative is success
leveraging the power o market orces to protect the na
ecosystems that support giant pandas and other wildlie
biodiversity.
REPLICATION
Kanghuas giant panda-riendly medicinal products project
case study in the replication and scaling-up potential o r
community-based development interventions. Since its pilotin
Daping village in Pingwu County, the cooperative establishedKanghuas support has continued to grow and recruit new mem
and is gradually expanding in scale. The sustainable colle
method has also expanded rom this initial site to more tha
villages throughout Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gangsu provinces a
benetting more than 500 harvesters in total.
Central to its transerability has been the development o
Daping model, which can be adapted to suit a range o die
regions and environments. The value o this simple model is
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1111
asis in assessments o locally available medicinal plant species with
igh commercial potential. This is important in China where there
re many areas rich in biodiversity that have aced or are acing the
hreats o resource depletion and environmental degradation by
he indiscriminate collection o wild medicinal plants. A medicinal
lant harvesters cooperative in Gansuwen County was deeply
nuenced by the Daping model, or instance, and has now agreed
o participate in sustainable collection.
he giant panda-riendly angle taken by Kanghua in promoting
ustainable harvesting o medicinal plants rom the wild also makes
he initiative attractive to businesses and consumers who easily
dentiy the iconic and treasured panda species and understand the
alue in its conservation. This has helped participating harvesters
o expand the markets or their sustainable products. Kanghua
currently working with WWF and the Carreour Foundation to
xtend the Daping model to other regions and medicinal products.
PARTNERS
n all o its projects, Kanghua Community Development Centre
works with a number o partner organisations, including Chinese
overnment agencies, domestic and international NGOs and
multilateral organizations. Partners to date have included both
he Forestry and Landscape Administration and the Environmental
rotection Administration o Sichuan Province. NGO partners
ave included the Ford Foundation, WWF, Chengdu Urban Rivers
ssociation (CURA), Hong Kong Bird Watching Society, and Ocean
ark Hong Kong. Kanghua has also partnered with the United
ations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO).
or the giant panda-riendly Chinese herbal medicine products
roject, Kanghua received support rom the ollowing partners:
hengdu University o Chinese Medicine: Provided proessional
upport to the project and together with other project-related
gencies developed a university textbook on Medicinal plant
esource conservation and sustainability. This was the countrys rst
extbook on sustainable wild medicinal plant usage, and will be used
o increase awareness o conservation and sustainable medicinal
lant collection in Chinese traditional medicine practitioners.
WWF: Managed the Daping village project on matters related to
nvironmental protection during its implementation process and
romoted the Daping model in other regions and elds.
he Forestry Department o Sichuan Province: Incorporated thewild medicinal plant collection condition as an index in its routine
iodiversity monitoring procedures.
he Traditional Chinese Medicine Ofce o Sichuan Province:
ncluded the conservation and sustainable use o Chinese herbal
medicine into its Regulations on Traditional Chinese Medicine o
ichuan Province.
arreour Foundation: Is working with Kanghua to extend the Daping
illage model to other villages, regions and medicinal products.
7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: KANGHUA COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTER, China
12/12
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perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.
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o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.
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Kanghua Community Development Centre Equator Initiative prole page at:http://www.equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=c
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