During the late 1970s, the country just began its reform and opening-up. Economic boosting was prioritized. The environment system in the government was still under construction and those who cared about environment were generally specialists.

 In May 1978, the Chinese Society For Environmental Sciences, the first civilian environmental-protection organization in China, was founded by some governmental agencies. Its funding was totally from national fiscal allocations and its members were primarily composed of environmental engineers, educator and managers. Several years later, the government established China Wildlife Conservation Association and China Wildlife Conservation Association and China Association of Environmental Protection Industry. Their activities were narrowly focused on the cultivation of the public awareness of environmental issues, and international exchanges.

Stage of Building (1990s – end of 20th century)

The whole 1990s witnessed China transforming into the “Market Economy”. The development of environmental NPOs manifested two features: (1) Regional variability. In eastern China where economy developed pretty fast like Beijing and Guangdong Province, NPOs were founded earlier than western and southern China; (2) Intellectual’s involvements. Friends of Nature was co-established by professor Congjie Liang with a university researcher and a writer. The founder of Global Village of Beijing, Xiaoyi Liao, once studied in the US with unique experience.

As the intervention and support from the government weakened, more and more NPOs began to rely on their own for funding. In 1997,  for the Chinese Society For Environmental Sciences, funding from the government fell from 100% to 35%. The remaining 65% was raised through business enterprises and charges of consulting services. Financial support for student environmental NPOs were mainly from the schools. Grass-root NPOs were in the worst situation. Sometimes, the leaders of the organization had to cover all activity expenses out of their own pockets.

 The activities were confined to scientific survey and environmental education. To illustrate, Friends of Nature was dedicated to working against environmental destroy and wildlife killing; GreenSOS promoted tree planting and youth education; Global Village experimented on the classification of waste and community participation mechanism; The Scientific Exploration and Outdoor Life Society of Beijing Forestry University aimed to raise the awareness of the students by organizing hikings to the wilderness regularly. At this stage, though they did not have very strong impacts on society or the government, the environmental NPOs were quietly building up their strength.

 Stage of Expansion (beginning of 2000s- present)

After entering the 21st century, with the GDP in China keeping skyrocketing, a number of significant environmental emergency happened all over the country. Examples included the Nujiang River hydropower development and ecological preservation action in 2003, “Setting air conditioner at 26 degree Celsius” campaign in 2004, move of Beijing Zoo in 2004 as well as the hearing of anti-seepage engineering project in Yuanmingyuan Garden in 2005. Environmental NPOs were involved in all those incidents to different extents. Environmental movement is no long just “bird watching, tree planting and waste picking-up”, but to represent public welfare and participating in the government decision-making.

Among all the above actions, the protection of Nujiang River is especially prominent. Following an upsurge in hydro-powered development, concerned parties set forth a plan to set up a hydro-power station on the Nujiang River, which is one of the only two rivers in China that boast intact ecological system. The GreenSOS was the first to alarm media about that news. It conducted site investigationnt and collected mass signature online for stopping the project. In December 2003, GreenSOS brought this topic to the International Dam Conference and won global support, including signatures of foreign dignitaries. As a result of high-profile social attention, Premier Jiabao Wen required that a discreet environmental impact assessment be conducted on the hydropower project before the official approval. Till now there are still heated debates going on.

 With respect to mobilizing resources, although NPOs were still obsessed by the shortage of funding, their mobilization ability builded up day by day. First, members of environmental NPOs become more and more diversified. In June 2004, a very special environmental NPO, the Society of Entrepreneurs & Ecology, or SEE) was established. SEE is China’s first  NPO consisting of mostly enterprises, nearly a hundred famous ones. SEE created the first “SEE Ecological Award” to encourage more people getting involved. Secondly, NPOs learn to utilize innovative method for social campaign and untilize media for bigger social impacts. During the period of hearing of seepage project in the Yuanmingyuan Garden, there were 12 related editorials in the New Capital Newspaper thanks to the effort of NPOs.

 To sum up, the power of Chinese environmental NPOs is gradually enhancing. They have shaped their own thoughts and started influencing pbulic policy through conversations with the government. Furthermore, they have aquired a clearer understanding of their own functions, distinct from government and needed by the public. It goes without saying that the growth of this crucial group of nonprofit organizations on environment issues will make the undertakings of environmental protection in China more promising. 

(Translated and compiled by Yongmei Shen base on research by Jialiang XU and Fang WAN: “An Analysis of the Evolution Stages of the Grassroot Environmental NGOs in China”, Comparative Economic and Social System, Beijing, Volume 2, 2008. 徐家良, 万方: “中国民间环境保护组织活动阶段性特征分析”, 经济社会体制比较，2008年第2期. With thanks to the kind contribution by Jialiang Xu to the Blog. )