The Chengdu Urban Rivers Association (CURA) has received funding from WWF China to undertake an innovative project to educate the public on the current state of the environmental health of the BoTiao River.

CURA has begun the Year of the Rat with this ground-breaking project. From March 2008, CURA will undertake the BoTiao River Health Environmental Scorecard Project. This project will be implemented using a public participation method and will result in the inaugural establishment of a communication tool called an 'Environmental Scorecard' that is commonly used abroad in both Australia and the United States.

In a joint effort between the public, environmental experts and other important stakeholders, CURA will lead the assessment, development and publication of the 2008 BoTiao River Health Environment Scorecard.

The 2008 BoTiao River Health Environment Scorecard will help educate the public on the current state of the river's health, what action can be undertaken to ensure the health of rivers in the future, and the importance of rivers health in achieving environmental sustainability.

"The integrated management of a major river basin can mean many things to many people. Ultimately, money needs to be spent, new practices must be implemented, both at the policy level and on the ground, and collective and individual behaviors towards the environment must be changed - a vitally important assumption of future environmental protection in China is that the active engagement of people is essential", says Jay Sherman, an environmental expert from WWF in the USA, who came to Chengdu to introduce the concept to CURA and community representatives.

An Environmental Scorecard is a simple document that concisely identifies specific environmental indicators under broader categories and assigns a 'score' to each indicator, thereby providing an overall 'score' or 'total health assessment' for the environmental system. In Australia, this assessment process is also called a 'State of the Environment Report'.

Some of the categories of indicators being investigated by CURA could include, amongst others, water pollution, river habitats, fisheries, water quantity, public health, and employment related to the river.

An effective Environmental Scorecard should be equally based upon the best available scientific and non-scientific evidence. It should be concise and accessible to ordinary people and non-experts. As it is a tool for both public participation and public education, from the outset, it should be clearly understood that the purpose of an Environmental Scorecard is to facilitate public education and action, not as a detailed piece of scientific and scholarly work.

This public communication tool helps to bridge the gap between thoughtful, science-based, technical solutions, and the involvement of people to help protect natural environmental systems, and allow the public to play a meaningful role in restoring and protecting them.

"It is important to give the public of Sichuan, and the audience of our Environmental Scorecard, something positive to do in relation to future protection of the environment, relating to as many of the indicators on the scorecard as possible. So whilst not only dramatically increasing the understanding of the current health state of the BoTiao River, it will hopefully catalyze future positive actions for protecting the environment here in Sichuan", says Tian Jun, General Secretary of CURA.

The BoTiao River is an important local water source for Chengdu's drinking water supply鈥搊ne of only two local rivers used for such supply of water to the urban population - and the only river remaining in 'natural state' of the four rivers of the upper Min River.

Undertaking this Environmental Scorecard project for the BoTiao River will allow for answers to questions such as:

- Will knowing more about these specific environmental challenges help build greater support for the holistic management of the entire Yangtze river basin?

- Will knowing more about the health of the BoTiao River help individuals in Sichuan be more responsible for their own behaviors relative to the river system?

CURA is hoping to find out the answers to these questions and more by successfully undertaking this innovative and ground-breaking project.

CURA is a grassroots non-government organisation dedicated to protecting rivers, promoting environmental awareness, conducting ecological research, promoting aquaculture, and promoting communication between urban and rural communities. This non-government organisation is well positioned to undertake this groundbreaking community engagement activity here in Sichuan.

The Project Management team from CURA includes Wang Lingzhen, Assistant to the General Secretary of CURA, Fu Changping, Staff Member at CURA and Peter Nisbet, Australian Youth Ambassador for Development at CURA. Peter will be playing an integral part in the design, implementation, publication, and evaluation of the Environmental Scorecard.

CURA is interested in hearing from anyone who has an interest in taking part as a volunteer in this project, or from anyone who would like to take part in the public participation activities to help achieve greater public awareness of environmental sustainability for the BoTiao River. For more information on the project, or on the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development Program, please contact Peter Nisbet on Peter.Nisbet@gmail.com or 13522767619.

by Peter Nisbet

Source: Chengdu Weekly news