Environment – Page 5 – Regional Knowledge Sharing Initiative

How Integrated Urban Solutions Build Inclusive, Sustainable, and Climate-Resilient Cities

An integrated approach to sustainable and inclusive development helps an oasis city in the People’s Republic of China overcome environmental challenges.

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Overview

Jiuquan was an oasis on the ancient Silk Road along the Hexi Corridor, an important trade route in the northwestern region of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Located between the southern limits of the Gobi desert and the Qilian Mountains, this city in Gansu province has faced development challenges because of its harsh natural environment. Yet, it has a thriving economy, and it is expected to play a strategic role in the socioeconomic development of the region.

A project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) supported Jiuquan city by implementing an integrated solution to promote environmentally sustainable and inclusive development through improvements in wastewater management, urban transport and related facilities, windbreak plantation, and other services. Climate change mitigation and adaptation measures were introduced in the project design to strengthen the city’s climate resilience and reduce carbon emissions.

The project also strengthened the capacity of the municipal government for sustainable urban planning and development.

Project information

45506-002 : Gansu Jiuquan Integrated Urban Environment Improvement Project in the People’s Republic of China

Project snapshot

- - Approval date: 14 Jun 2013
  - Closing date: 18 May 2021
  - Total project cost: $202.19 million
  - Executing agency: Jiuquan Municipal Government, Gansu Province, People’s Republic of China
  - Financing: Asian Development Bank

Context

Jiuquan is located about 730 kilometers (km) northwest of the provincial capital of Lanzhou. The city’s key industries are renewable energy equipment manufacturing and agricultural product processing. Tourism has increasingly contributed to the city’s economic output based on its rich historic and cultural resources, as well as its status as the launching site of the national space program.

The city has the potential to serve as a vital artery for the relatively less-developed northwestern region of the PRC. The National Strategy for Development of the Western Region sees the city as having a key role in aiding the region’s socioeconomic development.

Challenge

Jiuquan faces various environmental problems and urban development challenges. It has a continental desert climate with constrained water resources and high evaporation. Sand and dust are carried frequently by strong winds from the desert, causing atmospheric pollution, a high incidence of respiratory illness, and productivity losses.

Beida, the river that flows through Jiuquan, has been gradually polluted by discharges of untreated wastewater from the city. Its water quality is class II for the upstream reach of Jiuquan, class III through the city area, and class IV downstream.^[1]

As a water-scarce city undergoing continuous growth, Jiuquan must stem the gradual contamination of its water resources, which endangers public health and safety and constrains its sustainable development.

The increasingly congested urban roads and inadequate infrastructure also limit the city’s ability to promote greater links along the Hexi Corridor and enable socioeconomic development in the northwestern region.

Solutions

The project supported the city in addressing its challenges through an integrated approach to improving the urban environment and by involving the local community in project design and implementation.

Expand windbreak tree screens. About 60.5 hectares (ha) of windbreak tree screens were planted along the northern and southern banks of the Beida River to reduce the city’s vulnerability to desertification, enhance public amenities, and improve the living environment and public health of residents.

A windbreak plantation education trail was set up to improve public awareness where visitors can learn about the city’s exposure to desertification, the challenges that Jiuquan faces in managing its water resources and air quality, and the benefits of afforestation in protecting the environment and improving the city’s resilience to climate change impacts.

Improve wastewater management and resources reuse. A wastewater treatment plant with a capacity of 60,000 cubic meters (m3) per day and a wastewater collection network with a total length of 44.2 km were constructed. About 18,000 m3 of reclaimed water is used daily for greening and irrigation of the windbreak plantation. Reclaimed water reuse will be increased to 30,000 m3 around 2025. Sludge after dewatering with water content below 60% is disposed to a sanitary landfill. A road map for sludge reuse—such as land improvement, soil conditioner for the windbreak trees plantation, or other agricultural uses, was developed and will be implemented in the near future.

Improve urban road network and facilities. In the expanded urban area, about 15.7 km of roads and two bridges were constructed and upgraded. Associated utility facilities , such as road lighting, pipes for water supply, wastewater, heating, and gas, and conduits for electricity and telecommunication lines, were installed. In the existing central urban area, traffic management and safety systems and 0.8 km of roads were upgraded.

Develop the municipal government’s capacity in urban planning and management. The project trained officials of Jiuquan municipal government and staff of the project implementing agencies in various aspects of urban planning and management. It developed and enhanced plans and strategies in water conservation, wastewater reuse, sludge management, urban transport system, traffic management and safety, and desertification risk management. It also promoted private sector participation to improve the efficiency of municipal services.

Promote local communities’ participation in project design and implementation.

Different groups of local communities were widely consulted to improve road design. Improvements included traffic lights; pedestrian crossings to ensure road safety, especially for children and older persons; and optimization of routes, frequencies, and hours of service as well as links to school and health services before new bus services were put into place.

Representatives were invited to participate in public hearings for wastewater and water tariffs to improve transparency. Water conservation advocacy campaigns were organized annually and delivered through public broadcasts, television, newspapers, the internet, brochures, booklets, billboards, and documentaries, reaching more than 100,000 beneficiaries to improve public awareness and behavior to support saving of water resources.

Results

Improved living conditions and urban infrastructure services.

About 450,800 residents, 218,100 (48%) of them women and 11,333 from low-income households, directly benefitted from the project. They have sustainable access to an improved road network and related services, wastewater management, and landscaped windbreak plantations.

There is now a road linking the high-speed railway station and the Western Suburbs Industrial Zone, reducing travel time at peak hours between the two spots to 25 minutes from 45 minutes. Improved traffic management contributed to substantial reduction in traffic fatality rate to less than 2.5 per 10,000 vehicles from 4.5.

The project provided windbreaks for the city against sandstorms, enhanced public amenities, and improved the living environment and public health of local residents, with additional benefits of carbon sequestration, sand fixation, secured agricultural production, soil conservation, and regulation of micro-climate.

Public satisfaction with the urban environment and ecology increased to 90.5% in 2020 from 84% in 2011.

Improved environment and climate resilience of the city.

The project generated significant environmental benefits. Wastewater collection and treatment rate increased to about 99% from 66%, pollutants discharge to the Beida River was dramatically reduced, and the water quality was improved to grade I from grade III.

Climate change mitigation and adaptation measures that were considered in the project design and carried out during implementation improved the city’s climate resilience. The windbreak forest created 10,104 tons of biomass, absorbed 2,678 tons of carbon dioxide, and released 1,983 tons of oxygen each year. The mitigation measures will gradually reduce the risk of increasing desertification in the long term. The bridges and associated culverts were designed as an adaptive measure against road flooding during torrential rain or heavy flooding with a 1-in-100-year return period. The reuse of the treated wastewater for greening and irrigating the windbreak forests was also an adaptive measure to conserve water resources.

Improved institutional capacity. The Jiuquan municipal government improved its institutional capacity in urban development planning. The strategies developed under the project became part of the city’s integrated long-term development plan.

Water sector management and governance were strengthened through enhanced water conservation and reuse and establishment of private–public partnership.

Public utilities improved their capacity in project design and implementation and assets management, and incorporated the inclusive participatory consultations with various stakeholders, including residents, into their operations.

Lessons

The project designed and implemented a comprehensive capacity building component that strengthened the municipal government’s institutional capacity in forming strategies for water conservation, resources reuse, traffic management and traffic safety improvement, and desertification risk management. This enhanced the project’s sustainability.

The inclusive and participatory approach in project design promoted social inclusion and equitable access to urban services.

To address the emerging challenges posed by climate change, mitigation and adaptation measures could be considered in the project design and carried out during implementation to improve a city’s resilience to impacts.

^[1] The Water Quality Standards (GB 3838-2002) of the People’s Republic of China have five classes. Class I is pristine; class II is for high-value fish production areas and spawning habitats; class III is suitable for urban water supply; class IV is suitable for irrigation and recreation; and class V is polluted and not recommended for human consumption or agricultural use.

References

Asian Development Bank (ADB). 2022. Completion Report: Gansu Jiuquan Integrated Urban Environment Improvement Project in the People’s Republic of China. Manila.

ADB. 2013. Report and Recommendation of the President to the Board of Directors: Proposed Loan People’s Republic of China: Gansu Jiuquan Integrated Urban Environment Improvement Project. Manila.

Author

Lan Wang

Senior Project Officer, East Asia Department, ADB

This blog is reproduced from Development Asia.

Promoting Sustainable Urban Development

The video showcases three ADB projects that focus on urban environmental improvements in, among others, managing wastewater, sludge treatment, and lake rehabilitation. The success of the Wuhan project was later replicated in other cities in Huangshi and Huainan.

Jiangsu Yancheng Wetlands Protection Project

Managing Plastic Waste in the PRC

ADB Practitioners in the PRC
Episode 3

In this video series, project officers in ADB Resident Mission in the PRC share key successful factors, impacts, and lessons from four projects on (i) improving water quality in a city, (ii) rehabilitating a freshwater lake, (iii) modernizing agriculture production systems and improving environmental conditions of 48 counties across six provinces, and (iv) raising the quality of 13 public technical and vocational schools.

In this episode, Zhiming Niu, Senior Project Officer (Environment), shares lessons from the Yangtze River Green Ecological Corridor Comprehensive Agriculture Development Project.

ADB Practitioners in the PRC
Episode 2

In this episode, Xin Shen, Senior Project Officer (Natural Resources and Agriculture), shares lessons from the Anhui Chao Lake Environmental Rehabilitation Project.

ADB Practitioners in the PRC
Episode 1

In this episode, Baochang Zheng, Senior Project Management Officer, shares lessons from the Hubei Huangshi Urban Pollution Control and Environmental Management Project.

Mongolia: Environment Sector Fact Sheet

The Year of the Tiger: How the PRC Revives the Population of An Endangered Feline

Biodiversity supports a well-functioning ecosystem, promotes human wellbeing, and contributes to a virtuous cycle of sustainable development.

Tigers are an endangered Asian species, and almost extinct in numerous countries including the PRC. As top predators and keystone species, tigers ensure a rich and varied ecosystem. They help balance prey populations and in turn vegetation that prey populations feed on. Without top predators such as tigers, an ecosystem is likely to change dramatically or cease to exist.

Recognizing this, the PRC government, companies, and individuals have come together to help revive the population of Siberian tiger (Figure 1), the largest of the tiger subspecies, in the northeast region of the country.

Through anti-poaching, conservation, and high-tech measures, the Siberian tigers’ population rose from nearly none at the end of the 20^th century to more than 50 in 2021, a minimum level necessary for self-sustainability.

Figure 1. Siberian Tiger.

Reverse the Decline by Preventing Poaching

Poaching is the single-biggest threat to tigers’ survival around the world. And tigers are the most popularly traded species. A whole tiger’s pelt can cost as much as $20,000, and a bottle of wine brewed with tigers’ bones over $30,000. One of the main poaching causes is the use of tiger parts in traditional medicine, an issue that is also affecting many other species.

The PRC has introduced various measures to address these threats. At the national level, the PRC government has introduced extensive laws and measures that not only ban poaching and illegal trade, and penalize parties involved, but also educate the public.

At the Siberian tigers’ main habitats in Hunchun, Jillin Province, and Dongfanghong, Heilongjiang Province, rangers adopt a widely used spatial monitoring and reporting system to identify and combat poaching threats.

Rangers use dedicated devices to collect data on tiger observations, poaching signs, and other suspicious activities. The data collected are fed into the system to generate reports on poaching patterns and suggestions on patrolling routes. Through its use, sightings of poaching activities fell markedly by 97.4% from 2017 to 2021.

The private sector has also joined the anti-poaching efforts leveraging on its own unique expertise. Taobao, the country’s largest e-commerce platform, uses algorithms to identify keywords, such as, poaching tools and traps, and tiger pelt, skin, or fur, to prevent poaching and illegal trading. The algorithms are also programmed to delete any posts or accounts associated with such information. In 2019, Taobao deleted 1.35 million posts to prevent illegal wildlife trading.

Meanwhile, Alipay, one of the PRC’s leading online payment platforms, has teamed up with Hangzhou city, Zhejiang Province, east of the PRC, to create a wildlife protection mini-program that allows users to report any illegal wildlife activities. Through videos or photos uploaded by users, authorities can quickly trace any leads.

Revive the Population by Restoring the Habitat

The authorities have also taken a major step by formally designating a part of the main tiger habitat as the Siberian Tiger and Leopard National Park. The park covering 14,600 square kilometers is larger than the combined size of the famous Yosemite and Yellowstone National Parks in the US.

As a national park, it is not only the Siberian tigers and other key species that are protected, but the entire park’s ecosystem. Also any land encroachment activities, such as, mining and logging, are prohibited.

To allow tigers to roam more freely, the conservation area has been extended to the border with the Russian Federation to create an ecological corridor. Even if this meant the cancellation of a highway project and the rerouting of a high-speed railway connecting to the country.

In addition, to avoid prey depletion, the authorities have released about 100 artificially bred deer into the park. This is also done to increase the deer’s reproduction with the local herd, and to improve the general ecosystem.

All this has borne positive results. Cubs’ survival rate increased from 33% in 2017 to 50% in 2021. Other wildlife’s number also rebounded.

Monitor the Ecosystem through Innovative Technologies

Cutting-edge technologies are being used to monitor the ecosystem, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, and generate timely data.

One key tool is artificial intelligence (AI) camera traps. Unlike standard camera traps, which take photos when any movement is detected, AI camera traps can identify whether a tiger or another animal is in the shot before a photo is taken (Figure 2).

Also with AI and big data, researchers can identify individual tigers based on their unique stripe patterns, and accurately monitor their population. Prior to AI and big data, much cost and time were spent looking for the required photos and identifying individual tigers.

Figure 2. An AI-Camera Trap.

In addition, previously, researchers had to regularly traverse the vast mountainous terrains to collect and replace data cards from thousands of camera traps. This work was not only treacherous but time consuming. It would take six months to collect all data.

To overcome these challenges, Huawei has built a real-time integrated ecosystem monitoring, evaluation, and management network system, the first in the world, at the park. The network not only connects the camera traps but also other climate and ecological devices including rangers’ communications.

All data are transmitted to a monitoring center, which allows real-time comprehensive monitoring of the entire park’s ecosystem. Within 18 months, the network has transmitted over 1 million images of wild animals, an impossible feat without modern technologies (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Real-Time Transmission of Wild Animals’ Images.

The year of the tiger deserves to be celebrated as a turning point of Siberian tiger protection in the PRC. What the country has achieved holds useful lessons for other developing countries facing a similar wildlife extinction crisis. Indeed, it is the courage and energy demonstrated by all stakeholders—qualities symbolized by tigers in the Chinese culture—that have contributed much to the success.

ADB recognizes the importance of biodiversity conservation and has implemented various conservation initiatives in the PRC, including the Shaanxi Qinling project (forest ecosystem), Jiangsu Yancheng project (wetland ecosystem), and the preparation of Yunnan Province’s first Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. ADB was also a major partner and participated in the 15^th UN Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming, Yunnan Province in 2021.

Authors

Hsiao Chink Tang

Senior Economist, ADB

Xiaowei Zhuang

Knowledge Analyst, RKSI, ADB

Saving Mongolian Forests with Finnish Expertise

Boreal forests cover 14.2 million hectares or nine percent of Mongolia.

Forest User Groups (FUGs) receiving training in forest management.

Mongolia's forests are under threat. An ADB project, financed by the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific, is building resilience of forest ecosystems by boosting capacity for forest management.

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Boreal forests cover 14.2 million hectares or 9% of Mongolia. With support from ADB, expertise from Finnish partners, and local participation, sustainable forestry is promoted to build the resilience of Mongolia's forests.

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Improving the livelihoods of local communities through sustainable forest management would require policy changes. Mongolia is building resilient forests, restoring and conserving forest resources, as well as developing economic opportunities.

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Famously known for its deserts and steppes, Mongolia is actually a forest nation too. Boreal forests cover 14.2 million hectares or 9% of this vast country. Compared with tropical forests, boreal forests store twice as much carbon per hectare, much of it below ground. They are the earth’s largest terrestrial carbon sink, a hugely important factor in the fight against climate change.

But Mongolia’s forests are under threat. More than 140,000 hectares of forest are lost every year to fires, insect pests, grazing, and illegal logging. Being one of the coldest countries in the world, Mongolia is already seeing the impacts of climate change, with average temperature increases of more than 2 degrees Celsius, and significant changes to once reliable precipitation patterns. Average annual precipitation in northern Mongolia is around 220 millimetres, less than a quarter of the globally averaged annual precipitation. Drier forests contain large amounts of deadfalls and debris, further increasing the fire risks.

Unsustainable and illegal logging poses another threat. The Government of Mongolia has enacted a variety of laws and policies to curb the loss of forest cover. One of these, the Law on Environmental Protection, was amended in 2005 to allow for the creation of Forest User Groups (FUGs), voluntary organizations of local citizens that are tasked with the appropriate utilization and rehabilitation of local forests in accordance with civil law. The implementation of FUGs has resulted in a significant decrease in illegal logging wherever these groups are active.

Sustainable Forest Management

In 2015, the Mongolian government and ADB signed a letter of agreement for a technical assistance (TA) project to improve sustainable livelihoods for local communities through sustainable forest management. The project, totaling $2.1 million, was financed by grants from the Government of Japan through the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, now Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific. The executing agency was the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, represented by its Forest Policy and Coordination Department.

The project targeted building resilience of boreal forest ecosystems, supporting policies around forest protection while encouraging private enterprises and FUGs to get involved in forest management. “To achieve these goals, the project was designed to boost capacity of governmental forest management line agencies and to strengthen forest product value chains. It was also necessary to improve FUGS’ capacities to managing the forests for which they are responsible,” says ADB Country Director for Mongolia Pavit Ramachandran. “The project also demonstrates technology for wood processing systems.”

In 2015, NIRAS, a multi-disciplinary consulting company with its global headquarters in Denmark, was awarded a contract of $2 million to provide the technical assistance. NIRAS’ Finland office, jointly with their local partner MonConsult LLC., implemented the TA.

Forestry a Finnish Specialty

As one of the most forested countries in Europe, with trees covering two thirds of its area, Finland has a long history of working for a balance between intensive industrial use of forests and sustainability. Until the 19th century, Finnish forests were heavily exploited for building materials and fuel as well as for exports, later for pulp and paper production. This was a concern for Anton Blomqvist, the father of Finnish forestry. Foresightful, he founded its first professional institution to train forest officers in 1862, the Evo College forest school, only two years after the establishment of Finland’s Ministry of Agriculture. In 1907, the Finnish forest management society (Tapio) was founded as the first nongovernment organization to assist with forestry management and the rational use of forest resources.

“We are proud to have played a role in promoting the importance of sustainable forestry and building related capacities in Mongolia,” says NIRAS Regional Director for Asia and Pacific Antti Inkinen. “NIRAS Asia, with head office in Manila, specialises in transferring our global expertise to the many countries NIRAS works in with ADB. In the case of Mongolia and forestry, this international expertise was firmly anchored in Finland, specifically applied in developing transparent fair value chains for forest products and services to generate new income and employment opportunities for the local community while securing protection of the natural environment.”

The project engaged in a variety of activities, including business management training; the integration of global information systems to capture related data in the planning of the sustainable forest management; and forest and non-forest product development. The Bayan Tunkhel Cooperative was created as a pathway for FUGs to derive economic benefit from harvesting forest products, utilizing wood processing technology, and providing biomass for heating.

The project found that improving the livelihoods of local communities through sustainable forest management would require policy changes. These would promote community-based forest management planning, the removal of ineffective timber quotas to allow FUGs to harvest more valuable products under controlled circumstances, and a greater sense of ownership that allows FUG members to derive economic value from their activities.

“The outcome from this TA puts forestry high up on the agenda in Mongolia,” says ADB Principal Environment Specialist Suzanne Robertson. “We see an increased environmental awareness and the role of forests within that, which, given the importance of forests in the fight against climate change is extremely welcome.”

Mongolia’s boreal forests act as ecological security buffers, being a source of food and fuelwood and livelihoods to local communities. By developing methods and tools, along with capacity building and knowledge sharing, the project has enabled FUGs to prepare sustainable forest management plans that restore and conserve forest resources, as well as develop economic opportunities. Continuing to support FUG’s is a good way to ensure the future of Mongolia’s boreal forests.

Providing Long-term Development Support

The ultimate goal of ADB’s support is to help achieve a climate-resilient, sustainable forestry sector which benefits local livelihoods. Achieving this requires a long-term commitment. In 2021, the Government and ADB initiated a follow-up project, the Forest Sector Development Program (2021–2023). The project is being funded by another generous grant ($0.8 million) from the Government of Japan through the Japan Fund for Prosperous and Resilient Asia and the Pacific. The program is in the early stages of implementation and will be reported on in the future.

ADB, Mongolia and Europe

Since Mongolia joined ADB in 1991, ADB has been Mongolia’s largest multilateral development partner, supporting the country’s transformation to a middle-income, market-based economy. In those 30 years, ADB has committed sovereign loans totalling $3 billion, nonsovereign loans totalling $182.1 million, grants of $335.7 million, and technical assistance worth $187.1 million for Mongolia. The blueprint for ADB’s operations in Mongolia, the Country Partnership Strategy (2021–2024), focuses on fostering inclusive social development and economic opportunity, climate-resilient infrastructure to drive competitiveness and diversification, and resilience for sustainable, green, and climate-conscious development.

ADB’s European Representative Office, based in Frankfurt, Germany, works with companies and governments across ADB’s 17 European member countries to facilitate the application of European expertise in ADB projects in its developing member countries.

This article is reproduced from Asian Development Bank.

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