Written by an American wildlife scientist who has considerable on-the-ground experience in western China, this book has something for everybody. Using a comparative framework largely targeting the USA and Canada while delving into social as well as scientific issues, Harris critiques China's conservation policy for attempting to separate wildlife and humans with punishment as the only means of implementation. The result is a thought-provoking read for both environmentalists and those interested in social policy.
The introductory chapter traces out the geography of western China, which Harris defines as “China west of the pandas”. Harris makes a good case as to why western China's environmental problems have little to do with an assumed recent desiccation of climate. He notes that moderate warming would not necessarily lead to drought or degradation, thus implying that it is human and other animal activity that is causing a change in western ecosystems. He concludes that if China's west could retain weak interaction with markets and/or a clear and stable land tenure system plus high precipitation, it would be likely to suffer less rangeland degradation.
Chinese perceptions of animal wildlife are portrayed as more utilitarian than Western views. Harris does not hold much stock in the idea that Chinese valued “nature and harmony” to an unusually high degree. He feels the concept of tuanjie, or unity above all, has made it difficult for Han Chinese to protest in the post-1949 era. At the same time, Tibetans, Kazaks, and in particular Mongols, have not been as kind to nature as is often the view presented to the outside world. For Harris there is no real serious discussion in China about the reasons for captive breeding. Economic profit is one reason. Most Chinese texts do not clearly distinguish between wild and captive animals. Reintroduction to the wild is taken seriously but the Chinese see a species as “saved” if there are significant numbers in captivity. Although economics and natural advantages lead to differing problems for individual species, Harris concludes it is not clear whether breeding in captivity helps preserve animals in the wild.
Individual chapters set out the legal framework for wildlife management, look at western nature reserves on the ground, and at specific animal species. The legal system looks like vague wish lists with little attention to implementation. The explanation of first-class and second-class animal protection in China is not clear except that second-class protection falls to the provinces to manage. The recently formed western nature reserves now make up the vast majority of national reserve area. Regulations are strict but enforcement is lax and nature reserves are portrayed as largely ineffective but better than not having nature reserves. Individual animal species (musk deer, Przewalski's gazelles, argali, chiru (Tibetan antelope), pikas, zokors, wild yaks, wild camels, wolves, dholes, brown bears, white-lipped deer, Tibetan gazelles, Tibetan wild asses and blue sheep) are discussed in terms of the differences and difficulties they face in an increasingly human-accessible environment.
Harris ties this discussion of animals to trophy hunting in a separate chapter. He makes a case that the positive aspects of allowing well-managed big game hunting often will outweigh the disadvantages. He concludes that the hunting system is not working because the money does not get to the local people to manage wildlife properly since provincial and central governments take a big chunk of the funds. Hence the system is milking rather than conserving. Still a “devil's bargain” could mean that some funds lead to benefits that would offset losses and preserve trophy animals in large enough numbers to guarantee hunting in the future.
Harris finishes with two hard-hitting broad-brush chapters. He describes Chinese wildlife scientists as researchers in search of certainty within a fuzzy field. To achieve certainty, Harris says Chinese scientists ignore the quality of data and are weak on methods in their writing in comparison to Western scholars. He feels categories and taxonomic properties seem much more important than exploration of relationships and many Chinese programmes have gone forward based upon statements that have not been fully verified and thus wildlife are not managed in a sustainable fashion. Harris suggests that China use a larger amount of its wildlife resources by changing the system to one control of production and revenue at the local level. Unrealistic restrictions must be jettisoned, and land-use rights must be under the full control of local nature reserve managers. Trophy hunting for cash alone will not support a conservation programme in western China, subsistence hunting and ecotourism are both problematic, and most important, habits of eastern Chinese towards wild animal body parts and exotic plants must change. If this can be done, Harris feels the system can work for some animals.
The strengths of this book are also its weaknesses. There is generalizing about Chinese attitudes, but Harris is quick to point out that there are many exceptions to his generalizations. The excellent coverage of animal species is to some extent at the expense of limited content about vegetation. Still, this is asking for more from what is already a good, thought-provoking book.
