Horizon Scan of the Belt and Road Initiative

Alice C Hughes; Alex M Lechner; Alexander Chitov; Alexander Horstmann; Amy Hinsley; Angela Tritto; Anthony Chariton; Binbin V Li; Delfin Ganapin; Eugene Simonov; Katherine Morton; Kemel Toktomushev; Marc Foggin; May Tan-Mullins; Michael C Orr; Richard Griffiths; Richard Nash; Scott Perkin; Raphaël Glémet; Minsun Kim; Douglas W Yu

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2020.02.005

Horizon Scan of the Belt and Road Initiative

Trends Ecol Evol. 2020 Jul;35(7):583-593. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.02.005. Epub 2020 Mar 12.

Authors

Alice C Hughes¹, Alex M Lechner², Alexander Chitov³, Alexander Horstmann⁴, Amy Hinsley⁵, Angela Tritto⁶, Anthony Chariton⁷, Binbin V Li⁸, Delfin Ganapin⁹, Eugene Simonov¹⁰, Katherine Morton¹¹, Kemel Toktomushev¹², Marc Foggin¹³, May Tan-Mullins¹⁴, Michael C Orr¹⁵, Richard Griffiths¹⁶, Richard Nash¹⁷, Scott Perkin¹⁸, Raphaël Glémet¹⁸, Minsun Kim¹⁸, Douglas W Yu¹⁹

Affiliations

¹ Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China; Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mengla, Yunnan 666303, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: ach_conservation2@hotmail.com.
² School of Environmental and Geographical Sciences, University of Nottingham Malaysia, 43500 Semenyih, Malaysia.
³ Faculty of Law, University of Chiang Mai, Chiang Mai 50200, Thailand.
⁴ School of Humanities, Tallinn University, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia.
⁵ WildCRU, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, OX1 3SZ, UK.
⁶ Institute of Emerging Market Studies, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, HK-SAR, China.
⁷ Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia.
⁸ Environmental Research Center, Duke Kunshan University, Kunshan, Jiangsu, China; Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, North, Carolina, NC 27708, USA.
⁹ World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) International, 1196 Gland, Switzerland.
¹⁰ Rivers without Boundaries International Coalition, Dalian 116650, China; Daursky Biosphere Reserve, Nizhny Tsasuchei, Zabaikalsky Province, Russia.
¹¹ School of East Asian Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S10 2TD, UK; Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
¹² Mountain Societies Research Institute, University of Central Asia, Bishkek 720002, Kyrgyz Republic.
¹³ Institute of Asian Research, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
¹⁴ School of International Studies, Institute of Asia and Pacific Studies, University of Nottingham, Ningbo, China.
¹⁵ Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
¹⁶ International Institute for Asian Studies, 2311, GJ, Leiden, The Netherlands.
¹⁷ Rivers without Boundaries International Coalition, Dalian 116650, China.
¹⁸ IUCN Asia Regional Office, Watthana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand.
¹⁹ State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China; Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, Yunnan 650223, China; School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7TJ, UK.

PMID: 32521242
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2020.02.005

Abstract

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) represents the largest infrastructure and development project in human history, and presents risks and opportunities for ecosystems, economies, and communities. Some risks (habitat fragmentation, roadkill) are obvious, however, many of the BRI's largest challenges for development and conservation are not obvious and require extensive consideration to identify. In this first BRI Horizon Scan, we identify 11 frontier issues that may have large environmental and social impacts but are not yet recognised. More generally, the BRI will increase China's participation in international environmental governance. Thus, new cooperative modes of governance are needed to balance geopolitical, societal, and environmental interests. Upgrading and standardising global environmental standards is essential to safeguard ecological systems and human societies.

Keywords: China; conservation; development; global change; impact assessment; infrastructure; international development; invasive species.

Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

China
Conservation of Natural Resources*
Ecosystem
Environmental Policy*
Humans