Mrs. Mei Ng’s China Green March Milestones

（2007）

Starting Point

Since 1992, Friends of the Earth (HK) Director, Mrs. Mei Ng has embarked on a decade-long commitment to raise awareness and capacity building green advocators in China who include: teachers, students, women, business and community groups.Through green lecture tours and setting up a green award, Mrs. Mei Ng has managed to spread the green message to far corners of China and networked with environmentally concerned organizations and individuals.Her green footprint has traveled to 16 provinces and major cities, covering 33066 km and her green message has reached out to over 940,000 people.

Green Milestones 1992-2000

• Introduce FoE (HK) Pre-school Environmental Education Teaching Kit to Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing schools.
• Join forces with Guangzhou EPB to organize Project Green Hope, an annual cross-border student summer camp program.
• Support the Save the Yangtze RiverCampaign by lending voice to Yangtze River Campaigner Yangxin to build an anti-poaching monitoring station at the source region of Yangtze River in the Tibetan Plateau.
• Plant trees in the Qinghai Tibetan Highland to halt desertification and soil erosion
• Establish the Earth Award to honor China’s green heroes
• Capacity build budding university green NGO leaders by talks and workshops

Green Milestones 2000-2005

• Green lecture tours and environmental workshops for teachers, students, women, business, government officials and community groups.
• Promote village biogas project in Shaanxi province in the arid western region of China.Joining hands with village women groups to demonstrate pig waste into biogas in rural communities.
• Joint appeal and petition with fellow green groups and agencies in China to advocate energy efficiency and resource conservation.

National Recognition

• FoE (HK) is well known in China environmental circle
• FoE (HK) is well respected as effective green leader
• FoE (HK) is well connected with State Environmental Protection Agency
• FoE (HK) is considered as NGO role model
• FoE (HK) is idolized by university green groups in China
• FoE (HK) is recognized as outstanding environmental educator
• Mrs. Mei Ng appointed to national level environmental councils
• Mrs. Mei Ng invited to speak at provincial and national level conferences
• Mrs. Mei Ng invited to speak to cadre academy (civil service training)
• Mrs. Mei Ng’s views are published in major green group newsletters
• Mrs. Mei Ng’s profile was enhanced in China media interviews

China Project Case Studies

Case Study A

Project Name: Earth Award+ Green Lecture Tours

Duration: Earth Award (1996-2003) Green Lecture Tours (since 2000)

Partners:

(1) National Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA)

(2) China Environmental Journalists Association

(3) Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong)

Objective: Honor China’s Green Heroes & Organizations

Raise national environmental awareness

Program:

Earth Award----Annual Award to recognize the green achievements from 4 categories: journalists, educators, community leaders and youth.241 green heroes have been honored between 1996-2003.

Green Lecture Tour----Beyond awards, winners and green heroes are enlisted to serve as green speakers to spread the green message around China on national lecture tours.Led by Director Mrs. Mei Ng, their footprints have covered 33033 km, covering over 16 provinces and counties, reaching out to 940,000 people

Achievement:

(1) Catalyze China’s Green Awakening

The national green award, Earth Award, managed to catalyze environmental interest and attention from all walks of life, government officials, business, academics, villagers, women folks, students and volunteers.It is particularly strategic during 1990-2000 when China embarks on an economic growth at the expense of its stressed environment

(2) Government & Grassroot Partnership

Partnering with national government agency, the State Environmental Protection Administration (NEPA), Friends of the Earth (HK) under the leadership of its Director Mrs. Mei Ng, forged a government and grassroot partnership to raise national environmental awareness.It was a breakthrough in bureaucratic China

(3) She also succeeded to transfer NGO (non-governmental organization)

philosophy and culture to China.SEPA’s eventual acceptance and recognition of NGOs’ role in promoting public participation laid an important foundation for the budding green movement in China in the early 1990s.

(4) Greening China’s Media

Partnering with the China Environmental Journalist Association to launch the Earth Award, Friends of the Earth (HK) under Mrs. Mei Ng was able to harness media interest and enhanced coverage of green news, thus optimizing national and community attention on the environment

(5) Showcasing green heroes and green deeds

Action speaks louder than words, the Earth Award succeeded to profile outstanding green achievers and their contributions, thus lent credibility and confidence to green aspirants and inspire more followers

(6) Spreading green vision and green mission

The national green lecture tours sowed green seeds around the country from environmental hotspots to rural communities in the fragile west and harsh mountainous regions

Case Study B

Project Name: Sunflower Project ----Village Biogas Promotion in Shaanxi

Duration: Since 2003---to present

Partners:

(1) Shaanxi Mother Volunteers for Environmental Protection Association

(2) ShaanxiProvince Federation of Women

(3) Friends of the Earth (Hong Kong)

Objective:

(1) To promote village biogas

(2) To enhance village women’s environmental knowledge and capacity

(3) To enhance village hygiene, public health, ecological protection

(4) To echo China’s new village reform

Program:

(1) Capacity build farmers, peasants and village women

(2) Retrofit pigsties, toilets, kitchen stoves to turn pig wastes into biogas

(3) Provide technical, financial and environmental advice and support

(4) Transfer biogas experience to other villages and rural communities

(5) Source potential donors and supporters

(6) Publicize the villagers’ green achievement in mitigating climate change

Achievement:

(1) 1648 village households from 37 poverty villages have benefited.They have retrofitted their pigsties, toilets and kitchen stoves.They use biogas for cooking and lighting.They use biogas residue as organic fertilizer

(2) 8315 village women from 18 poverty villages have been trained and empowered to understand the environmental importance of cleaner fuel and animal waste re-use.Some become biogas promoters and volunteer maintenance technicians

(3) A 8-10 cubic meter biogas well will produce 380-450 cubic meter of biogas annually, enough to provide fuel for a household of 3-5 persons for 10-12 months

(4) It will save every biogas household 2000 kg of coal and 200 kWh of electricity

(5) A 8-10 cubic meter biogas well will produce biogas residue, an ideal source of organic fertilizer, that will enhance crop and fruit growth by 5-20%

(6) A 8-10 cubic meter biogas well will spare 3 mu of firewood from being logged, thus reduce soil erosion and deforestation.Liberate village women from firewood gathering

(7) Systemic disposal of human and animal waste will enhance public health and village hygiene; reduce water contamination and breeding of bacteria and pests; above all, reduce carcinogenic emissions of CO2, SO2 and SO3 due to coal and firewood burning

(8) Saving rivers, saving soil, saving forests, saving lungs, saving fuel, saving labor, saving time, saving money and saving climate, increasing crop growth and productivity, more and more villagers are convinced and eager to switch to biogas

(9) Nominated by Friends of the Earth (HK), the Sunflower Project and the Shaanxi Volunteer Mothers for Environmental Protection Association has won the international Ashden Award.In addition to prize money, they have won praise and personal congratulation from Prince Charles in his Palace in London

(10) Biogas villagers and humble village women are proud to rediscover their self-esteem.They are proud to show off their retrofitted pigsties, toilets and kitchens.Women liberation has add value to quality of life

(11) City women helping village women, city donors financing village folks

Hong Kong charity group (Friends of the Earth (HK) lending a voice to China women charity group (Shaanxi Green Mothers), the Sunflower Project has a valuable role to play in China’s NewVillage Reform

Conclusion:

3 significant milestones I am particularly proud of:

(1) Tranferred NGO (green civil society) culture and concept to China and won the recognition of China’s Environment Minister in the mid ‘90s, thus laying the foundation stone for the growth and development of China’s grassroot green groups and China’s green movement in the last decade

(2) Captured the following of hundreds of China’s green youth organizations and youth leaders who aspire to become green advocators and campaigners.I offer free mentoring and enlightenment to budding green environmentalists at various stops of my nationwide green lecture tours

(3) Connect city folks and village folks in facilitating China’s NewAgeVillage Reform through the Village Biogas Project.Turning women power to green power, joining forces with Shaanxi green mother volunteers, the Village Biogas Project goes beyond a demonstration of sustainability, it helps to build cross-sectoral green solidarity, the haves and the have-nots

During the past decade of China’s green awakening, I have tried to do the “right thing” at the “right time” within the limited capacity and resource

I believe in making “quiet changes” that will sustain China’s green movement.It is more about a “lasting” legacy

It is about incubating young blood and empowering deprived village folks to stand up and safeguard China’s fragile environment

Mrs. Mei Ng

A sustainability pathfinder,

An evergreen volunteer,

A barefoot green messenger,

In solidarity with Nature, Culture and Future

For more info about Earth Award, Green Lecture Tour, Sunflower Project,

Please visit website: www.cuncaoxin.org

Contact person: meing@foe.org.hk