It is estimated that collisions with glass kill around a billion birds in the US alone (see here and here). The issue is particularly acute where major migratory routes overlap with urban centres. Light pollution causes migratory birds to become disoriented and, often exhausted, they drop down into urban green spaces. It is here that they are exposed to a raft of anthropogenic threats, including the risk of collision with glass. Most collisions happen in daytime during foraging, and at lower levels (particularly the first five floors). The main issue is the reflection of habitats that causes birds to see potential shelter and foraging sites and, flying at full speed, impact can often be fatal.
There are few data from China on the scale of bird collisions but, given that many of China’s major cities are located on a major flyway, it is reasonable to assume that the scale could be similar to North America.
A few months ago, at a meeting of Ambassadors for Nature, Bruno Angelet, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to China, told me that his Embassy had experienced a few bird strikes (bird collisions with glass). Although sad to hear, it was not surprising given the new Embassy building is glass-intensive with large glass windows adjacent to the embassy garden, in which can be seen reflections of trees, shrubs and sky.
The embassy’s new buildings are glass-intensive, increasing the risk of bird collisions. Photo courtesy of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium.Tell-tale sign of a bird collision on one of the windows at the embassy. Photo courtesy of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium.A Spotted Dove (Spilopelia chinensis 珠颈斑鸠 Zhū jǐng bān jiū), one of the victims of collisions with glass at the Belgian Embassy in Beijing. Photo courtesy of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Belgium.
I mentioned the work that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) had implemented earlier this year, in partnership with local NGO – ShanShui Conservation Center – and TenCent Foundation, following the discovery of bird collisions around their headquarters in central Beijing. The AIIB bird collision project was inspired by the nocturnal migration project, that was conducted from the roof of its HQ near the Olympic Park. That project raised awareness about the extent of nocturnal migration over the AIIB’s HQ and led to staff taking more notice of migratory birds in the vicinity of their workplace, finding victims that had collided with glass, and wanting to do something about it.
Bruno was keen to draw on that experience to reduce the risk of bird collisions at his Embassy.
Volunteers fitting patterned film to glass at the headquarters of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in central Beijing following the discovery of victims of collisions with glass. Photo courtesy of ShanShui Conservation Center.Fitting patterned glass to AIIB’s headquarters. Photo courtesy of ShanShui Conservation Center
A few short weeks later, thanks to the Embassy staff in cooperation with ShanShui Conservation Center, work has just been completed to retrofit patterned film to the highest risk windows at the Belgian Embassy. The film is essentially a pattern of dots that helps to break up the reflection, reducing the risk of birds mistaking the reflection for suitable habitat.
Patterned film is effective at breaking up the reflection sufficiently to significantly reduce the risk of bird collisions.The building after the retrofit. It’s clear that the pattern does not affect the aesthetics whilst reducing the risk to wild birds.
The Belgian Embassy’s work to tackle the risk of bird collisions is the latest in a string of high-profile projects in China.
In 2023, tech giant TenCent retrofitted its flagship HQ in Shenzhen with patterned film following the discovery by concerned staff of dead birds around glass windows.
This year, TenCent went a step further and retrofitted glass around its Beijing office in a similar way.
The glass wall around TenCent’s Beijing HQ was fitted with patterned film and gorgeous bird images to reduce the risk of bird collisions. Photo courtesy of TenCent.
And, in addition to AIIB’s efforts on their HQ, Beijing Forestry University found a creative solution to addressing the risk of bird collisions on their campus following a campaign by students.
A high-risk building at Beijing Forestry University adorned with a beautiful natural scene, as well as patterned film, following a campaign by students. Photo courtesy of Beijing Forestry University.
These are just a few of the recent examples in China, many of which have been inspired by the work of the China Anti-Bird Collision Alliance, a group of volunteers, NGOs and academics coordinated by Duke Kunshan University.
Addressing bird collision risk is one of the elements of the Pledge for `Nature adopted by the Ambassadors for Nature initiative. Together with the New Zealand Embassy’s piloting of ultraviolet patterns to mitigate bird collision risk, the Belgian Embassy’s work sets a great example for others to follow and we expect that other Embassies with significant areas of glass will follow suit.
Thanks again to Bruno Angelet and his team and to ShanShui Conservation Center for supporting this work!
The French Embassy in China has officially opened its Biodiversity Garden, a 3,600m² urban green space created to enhance ecological resilience and environmental awareness within the city. Launched under France’s Green Embassy initiative — a program driven by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to reduce the environmental footprint of French diplomatic missions — the project transforms a former unused land lot into a biodiversity sanctuary for over 100 plant species, many of them native or endangered.
The project, developed in partnership with the Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, not only fosters biodiversity in an urban setting but also provides a model for nature-based solutions to climate challenges, including urban cooling, improved air quality, and water retention. It also highlights the importance of international scientific cooperation – in this case between France and China – to tackle global challenges such as climate change and the protection of biodiversity.
The initiative also forms an integral part of the Ambassadors for Nature pledge, reaffirming the Embassy’s commitment to biodiversity protection and sustainable urban living. Through this garden, France further seeks to carry forward the commitments successfully achieved in 2015 with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, whose tenth anniversary is being marked this year as well as the upcoming COP 30 taking place in Belem. By joining this collective diplomatic effort in Beijing, the French Embassy underscores the importance of international cooperation in addressing environmental challenges.
Together, these initiatives reflect a shared ambition to accelerate the ecological transition, promote science-driven solutions, and contribute meaningfully to the protection of our planet’s biodiversity.
H.E. Bertrand Lortholary, French Ambassador to China, inspects the new biodiversity garden.
Big congratulations to the French Embassy and, in particular H.E. Ambassador Bertrand Lortholary, for the leadership. The project demonstrates how we can all do something to support nature in our own communities, and I am certain it will inspire others to act!
The Beijing Swift (Apus apus pekinensis) is a special bird. I remember Australian evolutionary biologist, Tim Flannery, saying that the swift is at the vanguard of evolution, the species that is closest to conquering the air. There are species that have their whole life cycle in the ocean and on land but no species, yet, has its whole life cycle in the air. The swift, landing only to lay its eggs and feed its young, is pushing the boundaries and it is possible to envisage a world in which, eventually, the swift will evolve to give birth to live young on the wing that can immediately fly and support themselves.
On 7 June, appropriately World Swift Day, international cooperation on the Beijing Swift formally resumed, with the fitting of 41 new, state of the art, loggers to birds at the Summer Palace involving a team from China and Belgium. These loggers will provide rich data about the migration and foraging patterns of these unique birds that spend only three months on the breeding grounds in Beijing, before heading on a c30,000km round trip to southern Africa. Some of the new loggers include accelerometers that will tell us whether these birds – that eat, drink and sleep in the air – make that journey to Africa and back without landing, as many suspect.
The KuoRu Pavilian at the Summer Palace at 2am, as preparations began for the day’s banding.
The catch at the Summer Palace, coordinated by the China Birdwatching Society, the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center and the Beijing Municipal Academy of Forestry and Landscaping, was joined by UK-Belgian swift expert and veteran bird bander, Lyndon Kearsley.
Lyndon retrieving a swift from the special net, assisted by one of the young volunteers.
The banding at the Summer Palace was the culmination of a week-long programme of engagement by a visiting Belgian delegation involving Lyndon and Martine Wauters, founder of Swifts Without Frontiers and creator of World Swift Day. The project, spearheaded by the Belgian Ambassador to China (and lifelong swift fan), Bruno Angelet, will run for three years with the aim of discovering more about the ecology of the Beijing Swift, including both during the breeding season in Beijing and during the non-breeding season in Africa. After the initial fitting of the loggers at the Summer Palace, the plan is to return next year to retrieve the data and, at the same time, involve African scientists from Botswana, Namibia and South Africa (the core wintering range). The scientific knowledge gained from the new loggers will not only help to inform actions to support swift conservation across its range but will also create the foundation for greater people to people connections, including schools and conservation organisations, in Beijing and southwest Africa.
Belgian Swift fanatic and founder of World Swift Day, Martine Wauters, with Jane Goodall.
Lyndon and Martine began their week in Beijing with a visit to the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center (the bird banding authority), after which a day-long symposium on the Beijing Swift was held, involving senior government officials, scientists and civil society organisations.
The International Symposium on the Beijing Swift, involving government, schools, NGOs and scientists, heard a dedicated message from Jane Goodall about the Beijing Swift project.
Field visits to Yeyahu and Miyun Reservoir were followed by a training session for volunteers from the China Birdwatching Society, hosted by the Belgian Embassy, on how to fit the loggers.
Lyndon Kearsley explaining to volunteers how to fit the loggers, using a life size model of a Beijing Swift, at a special training session at the Belgian Embassy. Photo by Zhao Xinru.
The Belgium-China cooperation on this project is being implemented under the auspices of the Ambassadors for Nature initiative. It is a wonderful example of how countries can work together to support biodiversity conservation. It recognises that to conserve migratory species, there is a need to understand the ecology and to protect habitats not only on the breeding grounds, but also at the non-breeding grounds and important stopover habitats along the way. And, at the same time, involve more people to raise awareness of the incredible wildlife we have all around us, even in major cities, thus building support for policies and measures to protect it.
This project builds on the international cooperation on the Beijing Swift that took place from 2014-2017 which, thanks to new technology, discovered for the first time the incredible migration route from Beijing to southern Africa.
Huge kudos to H.E. Bruno Angelet, the Belgian Ambassador to China, for his enthusiasm, determination and leadership to make this happen. It is exceptional for a senior diplomat to put such energy into a project about nature, and I am sure that it will inspire others to follow. He was supported by a wonderful team at the embassy that crossed political, communications and logistics teams.
H.E. Bruno Angelet, Belgian Ambassador to China, with Professor Zhao Xinru at the Summer Palace. Photo by Gao Jingxin.
Huge thanks also to the Beijing Forest and Parks Bureau, the Beijing Municipal Academy for Forestry and Landscape, the Beijing Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center and, of course, the China Birdwatching Society, including the legendary Professor Zhao Xinru and his team of volunteers.
You can hear Jane Goodall’s special message for the Beijing Swift Project below:
As we head into a new year, it’s traditionally a good time to reflect on the previous 12 months. After three difficult years of pandemic restrictions, 2023 was a welcome return to at least some kind of normality in China, with the borders opening up and physical meetings again being possible. I have been incredibly fortunate to be involved in some exciting and innovative projects and to work with some of the best people I’ve ever met. I haven’t been very efficient at updating the blog part of the website this year, so here are a few selected highlights from 2023.
First, the nocturnal bird migration study in partnership with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Peking University. Spring 2023 was the fourth consecutive season of recording nocturnal bird sounds from the rooftop of AIIB’s headquarters in Beijing. In total, we recorded more than 83,000 calls from at least 111 species, all from just one building.
Spectograms of the some of the species recorded at night from the roof of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).
A draft scientific paper, led by Peking University, has been submitted to a journal for consideration and, in late November, Liu Shuangqi presented the results to the British Ornithologists’ Union (BOU) conference. This is the first study of its kind in East Asia and, as well as helping to raise public awareness of the ‘invisible miracle’ that happens over our heads as Beijing’s residents sleep at night (thanks to media articles in China and even in The Economist), it has demonstrated the diversity of birds passing over the capital and, importantly, the diversity of their habitat requirements. It was instructive that the top three species recorded by volume were Olive-backed Pipit Anthus hodgsoni 树鹨 Shù liù (woodland species), Eurasian Skylark Alauda arvensis 云雀 Yúnquè (grassland species) and Black-crowned Night Heron Nycticorax nycticorax 夜鹭 Yè lù (wetland species). This illustrates that if Beijing is to fulfil its role in the flyway – to secure safe passage of migratory birds – it must provide a balance of natural habitats to help these extraordinary travellers to cross what is, to them, a hostile urban environment. Encouragingly, at the summer 2022 workshop in AIIB to present the initial results, the Beijing municipal government recognised the value of scrub and grassland habitats (until recently classified as ‘waste land’) and committed to integrate the findings of the nocturnal migration project into the way they manage green spaces in Beijing. Given that the Beijing Municipal Forest and Parks Bureau manages 71% of Beijing’s land, that is a big step. The last few decades have seen a heavy emphasis on tree-planting in the capital, often at the expense of scrub and grassland, driven by the use of ‘tree-cover’ as the overriding measure of the quality of the environment. In most cases, when trees are planted, it has usually involved single species monocultures, all the same age and in straight lines, with undergrowth and fallen leaves removed to keep the trees ‘tidy’, resulting in very little biodiversity. We very much hope that this is a turning point towards a more balanced and qualitative approach to habitat management. It’s going to take time to see significant change but, as the capital city of the country that presided over agreement by more than 190 countries on the new Global Biodiversity Framework under the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, it would be fitting if Beijing led the way towards aligning the city with biodiversity goals by integrating the needs of migratory birds into urban planning.
We are planning to continue monitoring nocturnal bird migration from AIIB’s roof and have received tremendous support from Cornell Lab (Andrew Farnsworth and Benjamin van Doren) to help with automated detections and identifications, which will make processing the recordings more efficient (thus far, all processing has been done manually). Once we have the automated processing working effectively, we plan to explore the potential for schools to deploy recorders on their campuses as a way to expand the monitoring of migratory birds.. and potentially even set up competitions, for example to see which school records the most Olive-backed Pipits in a season. Huge thanks go to my partners at Peking University, especially Professor Hua Fangyuan and Liu Shuangqi, to AIIB staff for their invaluable support, especially Sir Danny Alexander, Alberto Ninio, Tian Hua, Yan Bo and Li Zeyu, and to the Beijing Municipal government, especially Wang Xiaoping, for the wonderful cooperation and positive response to the findings.
Second, the Ambassadors for Nature initiative has gone from strength to strength. Launched in July 2022 by Clare Fearnley, the former New Zealand Ambassador to China, with 14 founding members, as of 31 December there are 35 ambassadors signed up to support the “pledge for nature”, committing to manage their diplomatic green spaces in a more friendly way for nature. Events this year have been hosted by the Irish, Swiss, Belgian and Slovenian Ambassadors focusing on migratory birds, pollinators and guidance for embassy gardeners, with a field trip to Miyun Reservoir hosted by the Beijing Municipal government.
The Ambassadors for Nature group at the Qingshui River, Miyun District, May 2023.
In addition to encouraging actions – such as planting native pollinator-friendly species, keeping areas wild, reducing and eliminating the use of pesticides, monitoring wildlife and erecting insect hotels, bird and bat boxes to support biodiversity in diplomatic green spaces – the initiative has been a great way to get biodiversity onto the agenda of senior foreign policy officials and to promote international cooperation. For example, thanks to Bruno Angelet, the new Belgian Ambassador, there are plans for a new international cooperation project to study the Beijing Swift involving Chinese, European (Belgian, UK and Swedish) and African (Namibian) scientists, with political support from the Beijing Municipal government and the relevant embassies. And it was thanks to this network of ambassadors that I was honoured to go birding with US Ambassador Nicholas Burns and his wife, Libby, to Shahe Reservoir in Beijing. Following that, Ambassador Burns invited me to a reception at his residence in honour of visiting California governor, Gavin Newsom. I briefed Governor Newsom on the incredible story of one particular migratory bird that connects China and the US (Alaska) – the Bar-tailed Godwit – and discussed the potential for a three-way ‘(Inter)National Park’ involving New Zealand, Yellow Sea of China and Alaska to celebrate this incredible bird as a way of celebrating biodiversity and building bridges. I believe Gavin has high political ambitions, so maybe it planted a seed!
California Governor Gavin Newsom at a reception at the US Embassy in Beijing at the end of his visit to China in October 2023.
The Ambassadors for Nature initiative has also provided opportunities to engage on biodiversity with visiting ministers from a range of participating countries, including the New Zealand Foreign Minister and the Canadian Environment Minister.
With the visiting Canadian Environment Minister, Steven Guilbeault, at Shahe Reservoir
In addition, building on the success of the Ambassadors for Nature initiative in Beijing, I understand that the New Zealand ministry of foreign affairs is considering the idea of encouraging ALL of its embassies overseas commit to the ‘pledge for nature‘. And the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in the Republic of Korea is planning to begin a similar initiative with foreign embassies in Seoul.
At the same time, several schools have adopted the ‘pledge for nature‘ and are applying it to their campuses. It has been wonderful to work with students and teachers, including at the Western Academy of Beijing (WAB), where different groups of students have led on implementing each aspect of the pledge. Helping nature is infectious!
This group of students at the Western Academy of Beijing has taken responsibility for identifying a suitable area to leave wild and to monitor changes in the wildlife, especially insects, for comparison with the remainder of the campus.
Third, I’ve been part of a small group pushing for the control of the sale of mist nets. Despite strengthened wildlife protection laws, improved law enforcement and greater public awareness, mist nets remain one of the biggest killers of migratory birds in China (and SE Asia). Even in Beijing, poachers still operate. In the capital, these criminals target mainly Siberian Rubythroat and Bluethroat for the cagebird trade but data from prosecutors show that mist nets have been used in many large-scale trapping efforts, both for the cagebird trade and for exotic food, all across China. Twice this year I have personally encountered poachers using nets to trap migratory birds in Shunyi District. The map below, produced by Gu Xuan, shows the locations where poachers have been apprehended in Beijing in 2023 alone.
A map showing the locations where poachers have been caught in Beijing in 2023 (Gu Xuan).
The good news is that there is determination to tackle this illegal activity and there is a lot going on behind the scenes that I hope to be able to talk about in a future post. Needless to say, action is starting and, today, if you search for mist nets on e-commerce platforms, a warning appears that it is illegal to capture wild birds, and this is just the start.
At the same time, it is likely that the UN Convention on Migratory Species will promote tackling the illegal killing of birds, including with nets, at its next meeting in February 2024, so I am optimistic that further progress will be made this year both in China and internationally.
Fourth, over the last few years it has been the privilege of my life to work with ShanShui Conservation Center to help set up the “Valley of the Cats” project in Qinghai Province on the Tibetan Plateau. This is the community-based conservation and wildlife-tourism project, working with a village of Tibetan yak herder families. The herder families host visitors in their homes and guide them to look for the special wildlife they have in the area, including snow leopard, wolf, lynx etc. Many visitors remark on what a privilege it is to experience authentic Tibetan hospitality, as well as having the opportunity to see the elusive snow leopard. At the end of 2023, the project is close to passing the milestone of 4 million RMB (GBP 440,000) of revenue, 100% of which has stayed in the community. The project was showcased at the 2nd National Parks forum in Xining in August 2023 as an example of sustainable tourism and a way to bring income into local communities to reward them for their stewardship of important and fragile landscapes, and has won a host of national awards. In late August 2023, following the National Parks Forum, with ShanShui Conservation Center I visited two other (spectacular) villages that are interested in setting up similar initiatives.
A glacier at 5,000m asl near Diqing, Qinghai Province
One of the spectacular valleys in Diqing at 4,900m asl.
There is no doubt that the Valley of the Cats model, focusing on low volume and community-led tourism, can help to bring income to relatively poor communities while protecting fragile ecosystems. However, it is not a model that will work everywhere. In my view, three conditions are required for success: first, the presence of sought after wildlife (to create demand); second, a robust and established community structure that is able to handle decision-making and deal authoritatively with any issues that arise; and third, a supportive local government (essential in China). It will take time to establish similar projects in other villages but the high interest from other communities reflects the potential of this approach to engage and support communities inside China’s national parks. ShanShui Conservation Center, powered by a terrific group of enthusiastic and dedicated young people, is doing brilliant work and I cannot praise them enough for the contribution this NGO is making to conservation in China.
It was during the September visit to Qinghai that we were fortunate to enjoy a stunning encounter with a female snow leopard next to the track.. Alerted by the alarm calls of several marmots as we were driving, we stopped to check whether there was a predator in the vicinity. Looking at the directions faced by the calling marmots, and triangulating their lines of sight, we were able to spot the big cat as she stalked one of the rodents. When just a few metres away, she made a dash but the marmot disappeared down its burrow in a cloud of dust in the nick of time. The video below (low resolution for ease of uploading) was taken just after the failed hunt using my iPhone attached to my Swarovski ATX95 scope.
Watching a snow leopard from the track in the Valley of the Cats, August 2023
Special thanks to Shi Xiangying, Zhao Xiang, Yuqiu (Iris), Jun Yi (Audrey) and Qiuni for their hard work and for a wonderful trip in August.
Fifth, after my brush with TV in 2019 when I enjoyed the incredible experience of filming with Ray Mears as part of his Wild China series, I seem to have somehow become a (somewhat reluctant!) TV presenter in China. In April I spent a week at Tiaozini, Dongtan, Jiangsu Province, with CCTV4 making a documentary to highlight the importance of coastal wetlands and migratory birds. Tiaozini is at the heart of the East Asian-Australasian Flyway and is a vital stopover for millions of migratory shorebirds – natural heritage that is shared by 22 countries from New Zealand in the south to Arctic Russia and Alaska in the north. The programme aired in June on prime time TV. And September saw the launch of National Geographic/CICC’s “Road to Carbon Neutrality”, a two-part documentary series. The two episodes, hosted by China-based photojournalist Sean Gallagher and me respectively, focus on nationwide efforts to reduce China’s carbon emissions in order to meet the twin goals of peaking emissions by 2030 and achieving net zero by 2060. Filmed in 2022, navigating all manner of pandemic-related restrictions, the documentary has been shown in more than 50 countries worldwide. And in November I appeared in an episode of UK explorer, Ash Dykes’ series “The Great Wall with Ash Dykes”, speaking with Ash about the wildlife of the Great Wall around Beijing. Later that month I was invited to the studio of CCTV’s international channel, CGTN, to film a talk on the importance of biodiversity and what people can do to help. That aired in early December. It is encouraging to see the growing media interest in biodiversity in China and, although I am not a natural in front of the camera, I am happy to do anything that will help to advance the interests of nature.
Filming in Tiaozini about the importance of coastal wetlands and migratory birds, April 2023
Finally, at the end of the year, I was able to spend Christmas with my family in Norfolk for the first time since 2019. It was a wonderful chance to spend time with my elderly parents and to catch up on some of the incredible wildlife experiences in north Norfolk, especially the spectacular flights of Pink-footed Geese at Holkham.
This year, I was keen to record the awesome sound of the geese and the 22-min soundscape below starts with the wakening of the local Eurasian Wrens and Blackbirds before the Pink-footed Geese begin to lift, passing over in groups, their calls slowly growing in intensity. At 07m50s the local Jackdaws leave their roost and, towards the end, the calls and song of Goldfinches tinkle as the last of the geese leave the roost. Best enjoyed with headphones! Thanks to Holkham Nature Reserve manager, Jake Fiennes, for tips on where best to record the geese.
As if that experience wasn’t incredible enough, for a few days before Christmas, rare nacreous (“mother of pearl”) clouds were visible, providing a stunning backdrop as the geese returned to their roost at dusk…
Pink-footed Geese returning to Holkham National Nature Reserve just after sunset against a backdrop of nacreous ‘mother of pearl’ clouds.
A lone Eurasian Curlew going to roost at dusk as nacreous clouds light up the evening sky.
It was a fitting end to 2023, a reminder of the breathtaking beauty of nature and why I do what I do.
As we begin 2024, I would like to acknowledge the brilliant, and growing, group of conservationists in China who are doing wonderful work to celebrate and protect the special wildlife we have all around us, and the places it needs. It is an ongoing privilege to support what you do!
Finally finally, some of you may have noticed that Birding Beijing has evolved into Wild Beijing. This reflects the broadening interest and coverage of the website. As well as the branding, the web address has also changed from birdingbeijing.com to wildbeijing.org. There will be an automatic redirect for a few months but, in due course, only wildbeijing.org will be accessible, so please update any bookmarks. Subscriptions for alerts about new posts have been automatically transferred to the new site.
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and nature-filled 2024!
Watercolour of an (Amur) Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis, 豹猫, Bàomāo), January 2024. This small cat (around 50% bigger than the average house cat) is native to Beijing and can be found in the mountains and in some wetlands where there is lots of cover. As an ambush hunter it needs scrub and grassland, both habitats that have decreased significantly in lowland Beijing due to development and tree-planting. Primarily nocturnal, sightings during daylight hours are rare. This small painting is in celebration of an incredible sighting in Tongzhou District in December 2023. More details here.
Title image: a Beijing Swift (Apus apus pekinensis 北京雨燕 Běijīng yǔyàn) flying through a rainbow, Wenyu River, June 2023.
The Ambassadors for Nature initiative is one year old! To celebrate, H.E. Dr Ann Derwin, Ambassador of Ireland to China, hosted a seminar to commemorate the occasion.
Speakers included 王小平 Dr. Wang Xiaoping, Deputy Director General of Beijing Forest and Parks Bureau, 钱时雨 Qian Shiyu from the Urban Biodiversity team at ShanShui Conservation Center, Chris Liu, a grade 10 student from the Western Academy of Beijing and Irish artist Niamh Cunningham.
H.E. Dr. Ann Derwin, Ambassador of Ireland to China, speaking at the opening of the one year anniversary event.
We heard how the initiative has expanded from 14 original members to 32 today, all of whom have signed up to the Pledge for Nature at ambassadorial level, and about the individual actions at embassies in Beijing, including:
The Irish embassy allocating a wild area with an area greater than 10% and, in spring, it was awash with colour and a haven for pollinators.
France initiating a ‘green embassy’ initiative looking at reducing emissions and supporting biodiversity to align with the Paris Agreement on climate change and the Global Biodiversity Framework
The New Zealand embassy piloting ultraviolet patterns on glass windows to help reduce bird collisions
The Swedish embassy’s elimination of pesticide and herbicide use
Indonesia’s planting of the embassy grounds using only native species
The US embassy’s creation of a wildlife pond and planting of native trees and replacing of traditional vehicles with electric vehicles
UNDP holding capacity building events for staff and making and erecting bird boxes and insect hotels
Belgian embassy hosting a seminar for embassy gardeners to help share best practice
…and many more!
The participants also heard about efforts to ‘export’ the initiative to the diplomatic network beyond Beijing, with efforts underway in Seoul, Republic of Korea.
Dr. Wang Xiaoping thanked the embassies for contributing to Beijing’s biodiversity and briefed about the new guidelines for the management of parks in Beijing, in particular the recommendation that 10% of the area of parks in urban Beijing should be left ‘wild’ with minimal management, with the target figure increasing to 20% for suburban parks. This was all part of the vision to make Beijing “a capital of biodiversity”.
Dr. Wang Xiaoping, Deputy Director General of the Beijing Forest and Parks Bureau (which manages 71% of Beijing’s landmass) briefed on the city’s efforts to make Beijing “a capital of biodiversity”.
Chris Liu, a grade 10 student at the Western Academy of Beijing, spoke about how the school had adopted the Pledge for Nature and had teams of students leading on various aspects of implementation, including ‘rewilding’ an area around their ‘duck lake’, monitoring wildlife using infrared cameras and photographing and identifying plants and insects using an APP called “Seek”, designing insect hotels and erecting swift boxes.
Chris Liu gave an overview of actions to support biodiversity at the Western Academy of Beijing
Qian Shiyu of ShanShui Conservation Center, who arrived straight from a pollinator survey in the Botanical Gardens, briefed about the ‘audits’ of embassy grounds undertaken at the German and Danish embassies and how the team was working with the embassies to implement the recommendations.
Qian Shiyu from the urban biodiversity team at ShanShui Conservation Center
Irish artist, Niamh Cunningham, presented samples of her work promoting nature through art, including ‘tree stories’, short videos produced by members of the public about special trees.
Niamh Cunningham gave a thought-provoking presentation on the power of art to promote nature
During the discussion, attention focused on how to build on the year’s achievements, including the potential for an annual award to recognise and highlight extraordinary efforts, a series of interviews with ambassadors to explore why biodiversity is important to them and to learn more about individual embassies’ activities, the potential to design a short leaflet with the pledge for nature that could be translated into multiple languages to help spread the word, and the importance of involving diplomatic children in embassy initiatives.
It was wonderful to receive a written message of support from Clare Fearnley, former NZ Ambassador to China, who was the driving force behind the establishment of the Ambassadors for Nature and who did so much in the early days to build the momentum.
With the enthusiasm and energy from the embassies, there is no doubt that year two promises to be an exciting journey!
Thank you so much to Dr. Ann Derwin, Ambassador of Ireland to China, and her brilliant team especially Fergus Scott, for hosting the event, to the Beijing Municipal Government and ShanShui Conservation Center for their incredible support, to WAB for the excellent collaboration and to all the embassies for fabulous work throughout the last 12 months.
On Friday 28th April the Irish Embassy in Beijing arranged the first Ambassadors for Nature field trip. Hosted by the Miyun District Foreign Affairs Bureau, the group of Ambassadors and senior diplomats visited the QingShui River, one of the rivers that drains into Miyun Reservoir, Beijing’s most important drinking water source and a hotspot for migratory waterbirds.
As well as a two-hour bird walk guided by local experts – Zhang Dehuai of the Miyun Reservoir Forest and Parks Bureau and local bird photographer 安妮 “Annie”, the group enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant, two expert presentations and a discussion on how the international community can share good practice in support of the local government’s efforts.
We totalled 26 species during the bird walk – see below for a full list – with the undoubted highlight being the sighting of two Oriental Scops Owls (Otus sunia 红角鸮 Hóng jiǎo xiāo) roosting close to the path. This species is a summer visitor to Beijing and it’s likely that this pair has recently arrived in the capital after spending the winter in S China or SE Asia.
A pair of Oriental Scops Owls roosting close to the path was a definite highlight.
The first presentation was by Zhang, including a short video of the rich biodiversity of Miyun Reservoir and a summary of the actions being taken to monitor and improve the habitat for water birds, especially cranes.
A lecture by Miyun Forest and Parks Bureau about efforts to manage the area for wildlife
The second was by Tan Lingdi, leader of the urban conservation programme at ShanShui Conservation Center, who spoke about the recent ‘wildlife audit’ of the German Embassy compound and the recommendations developed to help make the compound more friendly for wildlife.
Tan Lingdi from ShanShui Conservation Center presented the results of a ‘wildlife audit’ of the German Embassy compound.
During the discussion there was a commitment from the diplomats to identify and share good practice to help inform the actions of the Miyun local government and great demand for ShanShui to conduct similar ‘wildlife audits’ of other embassies in Beijing. The next such audit will take place on Friday 5 May at the Danish Embassy.
Huge thanks to Ambassador Ann Derwin, Ambassador of the Republic of Ireland to China and her team, especially Fergus Scott and Li Meng, for the arrangements, to the Miyun Foreign Affairs Bureau for hosting, to Zhang and Annie for guiding the bird walk, to Tan Lingdi of ShanShui Conservation Center and to all the ambassadors for senior diplomats for participating.
The Ambassadors for Nature is an informal network of ambassadors in Beijing committed to managing their diplomatic green spaces in a way that is consistent with the new Global Biodiversity Framework agreed by more than 190 countries at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in December 2022 under China’s presidency. See this dedicated page for more details.
Title image: the Ambassadors for Nature group at the Qingshui River, including ambassadors and senior diplomats from Ireland, Denmark, Japan, Latvia, United Nations and United States of America.
Last September Clare Fearnley, the New Zealand Ambassador to China, hosted a fantastic event called “Friends of the Flyway“, inviting Beijing-based ambassadors from the East Asian-Australasian Flyway countries to celebrate their shared natural heritage. It was a wonderful way to raise the profile of the Flyway and put migratory birds on the foreign policy agenda.
At that event there was a discussion about how embassies could do more to promote migratory birds and biodiversity in general. Recognising that diplomatic premises are important green spaces, one idea was to start an initiative to encourage embassies in Beijing to manage their green spaces in a more friendly way for nature. Clare loved the idea and with her usual enthusiasm and drive, pulled together a few contacts and experts to develop some draft terms of reference:
Embassies and their grounds can be important refuges for urban wildlife. In recognition of the global biodiversity crisis, the Global Biodiversity Framework due to be agreed at COP15 in 2022, and the importance of contributions from all sectors of society we, as ambassadors in Beijing, intend to support nature. Our Embassies will make choices that advance biodiversity. For example, we will seek to:
– Undertake an audit of the wildlife in the grounds of the embassy and other diplomatic premises at least once in each season of the year (this can take as little as one hour per season, ideally on the same date and at the same time to enable comparisons over time);
– Keep records of wildlife sightings by staff
– When planting, choose native species of tree, shrubs and other plants. We will also assess the plant species already on the embassy grounds and, where practical, over time remove non-native species
– Take at least two of the following measures to support wildlife:
o Reduce and, as far as possible, eliminate the use of pesticides;
o Allocate an area (for example, 10% of the overall area) that can be kept ‘wild’ with minimal management and erect signage explaining this to residents and visitors;
o Make and erect nest boxes for birds and/or insect hotels;
o Help to reduce the risk of bird collisions with glass by using bird-safe glass, ultraviolet patterns or other mitigation measures.
– Promote awareness among diplomatic staff about biodiversity, including information about urban wildlife that can be found in Beijing, and the actions the embassy is taking to support nature.
– Nominate a point of contact responsible for this initiative who can report to the network on the actions of the embassy, arrange the audits and report records of wildlife.
Fast forward to Wednesday 6 July and the New Zealand embassy hosted the first meeting of the “Ambassadors for Nature” initiative. Ambassadors and senior diplomats participated from Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, Croatia, Finland, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Latvia, Norway, Peru, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, UK and the United Nations, alongside the Deputy Head of Beijing’s Forest and Parks Bureau (responsible for managing 70% of Beijing’s land), Professor Lu Zhi of Peking University and Professor Yolanda Van Heezik of Otago University and a group of young people from diplomatic families.
The energy in the room was palpable with wholehearted support for the initiative and a raft of positive suggestions about how to take it forward. Already sessions are being planned to provide training on how to conduct surveys of wildlife, tailored resources about the wildlife to be expected in Beijing city centre, and lists of native plant and tree species to guide diplomatic gardeners. The Beijing Municipal government offered to host a field trip for ambassadors to showcase Beijing’s biodiversity and WeChat groups have been set up to bring together contact points from each embassy, as well as plans to outreach to more embassies to encourage them to join.
There was even a suggestion that, once up and running, ambassadors could promote the initiative with their capitals to encourage ALL embassies and other diplomatic representations overseas to follow suit. Just imagine, for example, if all of the UK’s 160 embassies and high commissions overseas (as well as 186 consulates) committed to do the same. That would add up to quite a significant area of land!
It’s heartening to see this initiative getting off the ground and huge kudos must go to the New Zealand Embassy, especially Ambassador Clare Fearnley and Svar Barrington, for ensuring an idea discussed over coffee last year is coming to fruition – it is a terrific way for Ministries of Foreign Affairs to make a practical contribution towards the goals of the forthcoming Global Biodiversity Framework, due to be agreed by more than 190 countries at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity meeting (COP15) in Montreal in December.
