- Qinghai Lake Flagship Species Protection Program
- Mount Qomolangma Snow Leopard Conservation Plan
Qinghai Lake is China's largest saltwater lake and also the largest inland lake in the country. Its watershed covers a complete hydrological system, stretching from alpine glaciers and snowfields to rivers and plateau lakes. Home to a unique ecosystem, Qinghai Lake is one of the most iconic inland lake basins in China and a reliable indicator of climate change. As temperatures continue to rise, however, glaciers are melting at a drastic rate, the surface runoff is increasing, and the lake level is going up. These changes are bringing new ecological challenges to the aquatic ecosystem, including greater risks of wetland degradation and grassland desertification.
Qinghai Lake is home to three flagship species: the naked carp, the Przewalski's gazelle, and the black-necked crane. The Przewalski's gazelle, in particular, has been classified as a first-class protected animal in China. Listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, the animal is found only around Qinghai Lake. Unfortunately, due to the combined impacts of climate change and human activity, its population has plummeted, and its range has shrunk sharply. Today, fewer than 3,400 Przewalski's gazelles remain in the wild.
In 2023, Vanke Foundation and China Minsheng Bank jointly launched the Qinghai Lake Ecological Protection Foundation, along with the Qinghai Lake Flagship Species Protection Program, to help build the Qinghai Lake National Park and safeguard the lake ecosystem. The program aims to build a robust monitoring and rescue system for the Przewalski's gazelle and put in place high-standard protection strategies for flagship species. It also focuses on improving the environmental awareness and professional capacity of local conservation partners, seeking synergies between ecological protection and community development.
With support from Vanke Foundation, the Qinghai Lake Ecological Protection Foundation is leading efforts in four key areas:
· Building a Multi-Stakeholder Conservation Platform
· Nature Education and Public Outreach
· Biodiversity Protection with Government Leadership and Public Involvement
Looking ahead, Vanke Foundation will continue to work closely with the Qinghai Lake Ecological Protection Foundation to advance the ecological protection of Qinghai Lake and help build the Qinghai Lake National Park, ultimately improving environmental quality and biodiversity throughout the watershed. We will continue to engage with all stakeholders, expand both the scale and channels of conservation funding, and explore green finance solutions to build a platform where everyone can come together to protect this one-of-a-kind ecosystem.
The Qinghai-Xizang Plateau is one of the most important, sensitive and fragile regions in the global ecosystem. Under the dual impact of climate change and development, local ecosystems and biodiversity are facing serious challenges. As one of the flagship species of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, the survival and healthy development of the snow leopard population is an important indicator of the local climate change and biodiversity status.
In 2013, the Vanke Foundation established a strategic partnership with the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of the Tibet Autonomous Region and jointly released the "Snow Leopard Protection Plan on Mount Qomolangma". Over the past 10 years, Vanke Public Welfare Foundation has donated a total of 11 million yuan to work with local governments, scientific research institutions and public welfare partners to carry out work in the areas of species investigation, public publicity and education, and capacity building of rangers, and jointly explore effective ways to protect the snow leopard and its habitat in the face of climate change.
The Qomolangma Snow Leopard protection plan is an important attempt by Vanke Foundation, as a social organization, to participate in the biodiversity protection of global climate change-sensitive areas by establishing a cooperation mechanism with the government, which has been affirmed by many parties. In 2021, the program was selected for the fifteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP15) "Biodiversity 100+ Global Examples". In 2022, in the first collection and selection of outstanding cases of biodiversity carried out by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the protection of Mount Qomolangma snow leopard in Tibet was commended and publicized as the only national exemplary excellent case selected by Tibet.
The year 2030 is a key time node for the global response to climate change and biodiversity protection, and the "Mount Qomolangma Snow Leopard protection Plan" has also entered a new journey, ushering in a new mission and strategy. In September 2023, Vanke Foundation signed a five-year memorandum of cooperation with the Forestry and Grassland Bureau of Xigaze City and the Qomolangma National Nature Reserve Administration, planning to adopt a strategy of horizontal integration and vertical extension in the process of transforming the Qomolangma Reserve into a Qomolangma National Park. Use the three-dimensional support tactics of Vanke Foundation to assist the Mount Qomolangma Conservation Area Administration, focus on assisting the application and construction of the Mount Qomolangma National Park, focus on the comprehensive upgrading of the patrol team of farmers and herdsmen, promote the initially established patrol network to play a greater role in biodiversity protection, climate change response, sustainable community demonstration and other fields, and incubate "snow leopard pioneers". We will build a beautiful home on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, and make the "voice of Mount Qomolangma" sound in China's natural protected area system and the construction of ecological civilization on the plateau.
