Sateri and Conservation International has announced their partnership on the wetland conservation of Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake. This initiative aims to improve the ecosystem’s health, restore biodiversity and provide sustainable livelihoods to local people.
Located at Jiangxi Province, in the southeastern part of the country, Poyang Lake plays a critical role in regulating floods in the Yangtze River, and is a vital ecosystem for the environment, culture, and economy. The lake supports the livelihoods of more than 45 million people living in the province, and contributes more than 15% of the Yangtze River’s annual runoff. It is also a wetland of national and global importance – providing a habitat for flora and fauna of high conservation value, including the critically endangered Siberian crane and finless porpoise.
The five-year partnership, which began in 2019, evaluates the health of Poyang Lake and develops strategies for managing and protecting it, while also supporting communities to live in harmony with nature. To guide this work, a preliminary assessment of the Poyang Lake was conducted using Conservation International’s Freshwater Health Index. This scientific tool analyses the health of the freshwater ecosystem, and measures human uses, needs and impacts providing decision makers with clear, scientific guidance on how best to sustainably manage these wetlands.
Richard Jeo, field division senior vice-president, Asia-Pacific, Conservation International, commented: “Water security and biodiversity loss are two of the most pressing challenges facing humanity and the environment. Our strategic partnership with Jiangxi Provincial Forestry Bureau and Sateri at the Poyang Lake, China’s largest freshwater lake, demonstrates how government, corporate and communities can work together on conservation, and will go a long way towards addressing these challenges, and finding solutions that benefit both people and nature.”
This project also supports the United Nations’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals and China’s commitment at the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP 15) by improving protection and management of the Duchang Nature Reserve and Poyang Protected Areas Network for these important wetlands.
Allen Zhang, president of Sateri, concluded: “The protection of biodiversity and the sustainable use of resources in production must go hand-in-hand. The Poyang Lake initiative is a good example of how manufacturers can support nature-based solutions in parallel with community development. It also aligns with our Vision 2030 aspiration to be net-positive, giving more than we take.”
