You may be tired of hearing it on the news, every time you press the remote control. Climate change is a serious issue that has been plaguing our society for decades; its effects adding massive levels of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the atmosphere, increasing global warming. All have led to negative repercussions on flora and fauna, causing mass eradication of animal species.
China is home to a plethora of endangered species, including the golden monkey, the Asian black bear and the Yangtze River porpoise.
The Yangtze River, the longest river in Asia, is the habitat of many aquatic breeds. However, as China has industrialised and its economic prosperity increased, pollution in the Yangtze and its surrounding areas has proliferated, due to industries, agriculture and large-scale fishing activities in particular. On top of that, due to climate change, lower and warmer waters in the Yangtze River are threats to freshwater species that put increased pressure on critically-endangered animals.
The Yangtze used to be one of the only two rivers in the world that was home to two separate dolphin species; the Yangtze finless porpoise and the Baiji dolphin. Unfortunately, in the year 2006, the Baiji dolphin was declared extinct as it had been 20 years since the last confirmed sighting of a wild Baiji. Its close relative, the Yangtze finless porpoise, also faces a 90 percent chance of extinction risk as it is estimated that only 1,000 remain.
Therefore, unless urgent conservation efforts are made, I’m afraid we’ll have to say our goodbyes to that nicknamed the “smiling angel”…
The Nanjing Finless Porpoise & Aquatic Life Conservation Association (NFPALCA) is a non-profit organisation, composed of people engaged in the protection of the Yangtze River porpoise and other aquatic lifeforms.
Since its establishment in 2015, the Association has cooperated with local authorities in carrying out rescue work through practicing the green development concept of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and by documenting and supporting the survival of the species by conducting large-scale clean ups of the Yangtze River.
Through multi-faceted collaboration with the government and similarly-minded enterprises, they plan to incubate the IP images of the Yangtze River finless porpoise and other endangered aquatic species, in hopes of creating eco-touristic routes and educational courses to help bring about the construction of a Yangtze Finless Porpoise City Park and realise sustainable protection for the smiling angel.
As part of its efforts, the organisation has launched a full-scale social awareness campaign, specifically targeted toward primary and secondary school students, to help future generations form a sense of protection to influence future conduct as to environmental protection.
One such student is Aden Xiao, enrolled at The British School of Nanjing, who has volunteered to support the NFPALCA and its efforts to facilitate the lives of the remaining finless porpoises, as part of his university action plan. He set up a club at the School, together with other classmates, to raise awareness of the species’ endangerment. As part of the club, they helped establish a WeChat official account to document their activities, organised a charity sale at the School’s Christmas Fair; invited porpoise conservationists to educate students about their work as a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and organised dolphin-watching activities and practical efforts that inform students how to protect the much-adored mammal.
Moreover, Aden has also helped the NFPALCA become more well-known on an international basis; most discoveries and information about the organisation disseminated prior were solely in Mandarin.
“I volunteered because I am passionate about environmental conservation and I believe it is our responsibility to help these endangered species survive as we, humans, altered their environment and hindered their livelihoods”, Aden said speaking with The Nanjinger. “I wanted to make a difference and act as an example for other students to raise awareness about our local environment.”
Older students elsewhere have been getting involved too. As long ago as 2017, Nanjing Municipal Commission of Agriculture and the School of Life Sciences at Nanjing Normal University launched a joint scientific study of the finless porpoise. Their 2-year long investigation was the longest and most comprehensive regional scientific investigation of such a kind in the Nanjing section of the Yangtze River until that time.
It is important to applaud the altruistic initiatives taken by these growing numbers of students, as it shows that the new generation is prepared to take action to limit the effects of climate change and suppress its human causes.
With burning fossil fuels, deforestation and farming livestock increasingly influencing our climate and our world’s temperature, adding massive levels of greenhouse gases to those naturally occurring in the atmosphere, many more such-minded individuals are needed.
The clear sky, the lake, or the trees outside our window, remind us that any efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change are crucial if we are ever going to change the conditions in which many of our aquatic friends now find themselves.
