China: Protecting Nature, Powering Change

Why This Matters

As a vast country encompassing both land and sea, China is home to rich and unique ecosystems, diverse species and genetic resources, ranking among the world's most biodiverse nations.

In recent decades, China has rapidly advanced its industrialization and socioeconomic development, achieving remarkable accomplishments that have lifted more than 800 million people out of poverty and strengthened its role on the global stage. At the same time, this rapid development has placed increasing pressure on the natural environment, creating serious challenges for climate and biodiversity conservation. Rare species, such as the giant panda, and nearly one-tenth of all plant species have been affected. Industrial development, intensive agriculture and rapid urbanization have contributed to ecological degradation across land and water ecosystems, affecting biodiversity and the natural hydrological processes of major rivers such as the Yangtze River.

Today, China is one of the world’s largest sources of carbon emissions. As a result, global goals for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation cannot be achieved without China’s participation. China plays an irreplaceable and vital role in global environmental governance.

But things are changing. China is taking action to turn the tide—rapidly investing in renewable energy, advancing natural climate solutions, strengthening the protection and sustainable management of lands and rivers, and pursuing an ambitious effort to build the world’s largest national park system.

Our Role

Since 1998, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has been a trusted conservation partner in China, contributing more than 75 years of science and conservation expertise to help expand national parks, strengthen nature reserves, restore rivers and scale up natural climate solutions.

Over the years, TNC has built strong credibility in China through deep partnerships, scientific expertise and field experience. TNC addresses the escalating challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss through science and innovation, while working closely with local partners to achieve lasting, long-term impact. Together, these strengths position TNC as a leading and trusted NGO in the region.

Together, we inspire a conservation ethic across China—one that resonates far beyond its borders. Join us as we build a better future.

Our Mission

For nearly three decades, we have worked hand in hand with partners across various sectors to advance conservation across climate, land, water, urban development and marine ecosystems. TNC remains committed to collaborating with local communities, businesses and policymakers to address a wide range of conservation challenges. Throughout this work, TNC has stayed true to its commitment to science-based conservation principles, with a consistent focus on protecting China's most critical ecosystems and biodiversity.

Looking forward, we will continue to focus on two core priorities: addressing the climate crisis and conserving biodiversity. TNC will focus our resources and expertise to support the global 2030 goals and build a portfolio of innovative pilot projects with strong potential to deliver meaningful, scalable impact.

What We Are Doing

Protecting Lands

By 2030, China aims to protect 304 million hectares of land—including 110 million hectares of national parks—an area eight times the size of Japan. Drawing on decades of experience, TNC is advancing mechanisms such as the Ecological Conservation Redline, a national framework for identifying ecologically valuable areas for protection, to help expand and strengthen the protected area network. Within existing protected areas, our work includes improving biodiversity policies and demonstrating effective, community-based conservation practices.

Healthy Rivers

The Yangtze River is an economic and ecological lifeline for China, supporting two-thirds of the country’s rice production and more than 4,300 species. However, pollution, dam construction and overfishing have driven many species such as the Chinese paddlefish to extinction, and in 2019, the river received the lowest possible ranking for ecological integrity.

Working with key partners like the Institute of Hydrobiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, TNC has supported dam removal and ecological restoration along one of the Yangtze’s major tributaries, the Chishui River. More than 90% of dams have been removed or phased out, enabling fish populations to recover. Building on this success, we are exploring innovative funding mechanisms and improving water governance to ensure durable, long-term impacts.

Natural Climate Solutions

Natural climate solutions (NCS), such as large-scale reforestation, can deliver up to one-third of the global emission reduction targets needed and are essential to achieving China’s net-zero emissions goals by 2060. 

Focusing on forests and grasslands, TNC is developing scalable NCS pilot projects that can accelerate progress toward net zero and elevate the role of NCS within climate policy. We also support widespread NCS adoption by providing training and technical guidance to governments, communities and other partners, while advancing innovative financing mechanisms such as carbon credits.

Resilient Greater Bay Area

In southern China’s Greater Bay Area (GBA), TNC is advancing the protection, sustainable management and restoration of ecosystems for greater climate resilience. Starting in the Shenzhen River Basin, we are co-developing pilot projects—including rain gardens designed to absorb floodwaters—to demonstrate the benefits of nature-based solutions. Our goal is to scale these approaches across the GBA through sustainable financing mechanisms and by integrating nature into climate adaptation and urban planning frameworks.