What does a panda-friendly family dinner look like?

Shenzhen One Planet Nature Foundation is a 5A-level non-public foundation that focuses on environmental protection. Its purpose is to create a better future where humans and nature live in harmony by protecting biodiversity, reducing ecological footprint, and ensuring the sustainable use of natural resources. Since 2018, it has reached a strategic cooperation agreement with the world's largest environmental charity: the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The scope of work is very wide, covering species protection, marine climate and energy, and zero waste. Among them, species protection work involves multiple flagship species, such as the Yangtze River dolphin, giant panda, Asian elephant, Siberian tiger, migratory birds and Chinese white dolphins, which live in different areas.

When it comes to wildlife protection, we will introduce it through a specific case - the protection of China's national treasure, the giant panda.

Some numbers about giant pandas

According to the latest data, as of the fourth national giant panda survey in 2015, there are 1,864 wild giant pandas in China. These giant pandas are mainly distributed in six mountain ranges in Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces, with Sichuan having the largest habitat area. The six mountain ranges include Qinling (Shaanxi), Minshan, Qionglai, Daxiang, Xiaoxiang and Liangshan. The 1,864 giant pandas are divided into 33 populations , with significant differences in the size of each population.

In areas with relatively intact habitats and good ecology, such as the Min Mountains, some populations may contain hundreds of pandas, who can reproduce and migrate freely, have sufficient food resources, and are less disturbed by human activities. However, there are 22 populations with fewer than 30 pandas, which are at a low level. Such small populations face the risk of insufficient genetic diversity and their survival is worrying due to the lack of opportunities for natural migration. This phenomenon is called "habitat fragmentation" and is one of the biggest challenges facing the current conservation of wild pandas.

The map you are looking at now also shows the current distribution of giant panda populations. From a macroscopic map, the giant panda habitats seem to be continuous; but a closer look reveals that road construction and other human activities have cut these areas into fragments, which is an important reason why 1,864 giant pandas are scattered into 33 independent populations. This situation highlights the urgency and complexity of conservation work and also points out the direction of efforts.

Giant panda-friendly certification helps national park construction

The Giant Panda National Park is different from the traditional national parks, such as Sanjiangyuan National Park, which are usually sparsely populated and have a low population density. However, there are a large number of indigenous people living in the Giant Panda National Park. These rural communities have relied on local natural resources for generations, such as picking bamboo shoots in spring and collecting precious medicinal herbs as a supplement to their income. Therefore, when carrying out conservation work here, it is necessary to take into account that the traditional lifestyle of residents will be subject to certain restrictions. In order to balance the relationship between human development and wildlife protection, we finally found a work entry point, and the working method and logic are presented in the form of the following animation. In short, while protecting giant pandas and their habitats, ensure that local residents can continue to obtain economic benefits, and achieve a win-win situation for ecological protection and community development.

Eco-friendly certification is a widely used and mature mechanism around the world. For example, FSC certification ensures that paper products come from sustainably managed forest resources and do not destroy virgin forests, while certifications such as Tiger Friendly or Elephant Friendly indicate that these products are harmless to local wildlife.

So how do we ensure that products are panda-friendly? With reference to organic certification standards, 17 standards specifically for giant panda protection have been formulated, including:

1. Friendly to giant pandas and their habitats (10 items): selection of production sites, seed sources, forest fire prevention, selection of materials in the production process and packaging (especially requirements for reducing plastic), protection system, employee training, participation in local protection actions, etc.

2. Good awareness of participation in giant panda protection (3 items) Targeting local communities, corporate employees and consumers, we encourage community nature education, establish a good active learning and training mechanism, and include giant panda protection content in product promotion.

3. Promote sustainable development of production communities (4 items): Consider low-income people in the community, give priority to purchasing services and products from the community, support local public welfare undertakings, and actively participate in local livelihood development or improvement projects.

Development History of Giant Panda-Friendly Product Certification

The certification of panda-friendly products has gone through years of development. In 2017, under the guidance of the Sichuan Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau, it was registered with the National Certification and Accreditation Administration. In 2018, the first product, Schisandra chinensis, was awarded the "Panda-Friendly" certification. In 2019, the World Wildlife Fund and One Planet Foundation jointly established a corporate alliance to expand consumer awareness and acceptance of this certification.

Years of attempts have proven that the development of eco-friendly products is indeed a time-consuming process. Taking Shuijing Town, Pingwu County, Sichuan Province and its surrounding areas as an example, the cultivation of the first product, Schisandra chinensis , lasted from 2009 to 2018, a period of nine years. The main goal of this project is to reduce the activities of local villagers entering the core habitat of giant pandas for production.

Schisandra chinensis is a wild vine plant that grows in secondary forests. Most of the local young and middle-aged labor force go out to work. Picking this vine does not require much time and energy and can be done near the village, which is very suitable for the elderly and women who stay in the village to collect it. Through the Schisandra chinensis project, 22 villages, more than 400 rural families, and about 1,500 people have benefited.

Then, they chose a US herbal tea company called Traditional Medicinal as their partner. The company purchased all the Schisandra chinensis at a price higher than the market price, ensuring that the products of these villages have a stable sales channel. In order to ensure product quality, the villagers must follow strict organic production standards and reserve 20% of the fruits for birds to eat when picking to promote ecological balance. Although this puts high demands on the villagers, it also guarantees their income.

The annual sales of Schisandra chinensis have shown a steady growth trend, with only a slight interruption in 2019. This sustained growth ensures that villagers can continue to pick fruits according to established standards, while also promoting a virtuous cycle of ecological protection and community economic development.

Annual sales data of Schisandra chinensis in Pingwu project area

The second project is a plan to produce wood ear mushrooms around the Baishuijiang National Nature Reserve in Gansu starting in 2023. Traditional wood ear mushroom cultivation requires felling trees, which poses a threat to the forests in the giant panda's habitat.

To this end, we donated mushroom sticks made of recyclable materials to local villagers, encouraging them to adopt this sustainable way of producing wood ear mushrooms and helping them apply for "Panda Friendly" certification.

As the project has only been launched for a year, the number of participating households is limited. In the next two years, the goal is to attract 20 households to join and promote sustainable fungus cultivation methods to protect the environment and promote local economic development.

After years of operation, we have found that the difficulties in the work mainly come from two aspects: on the one hand, when local agricultural communities are required to pick or plant according to "Panda Friendly" standards, villagers generally feel that this method is more cumbersome, time-consuming and labor-intensive than traditional production methods. On the other hand, even if the project is completed according to these strict standards, they often find it difficult to find suitable buyers. Once the support and assistance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are withdrawn, local communities may stop using organic or certified methods to produce products due to lack of market motivation. These two difficulties directly affect the sustainability and long-term effectiveness of the project. An eco-friendly cross-border cooperation

In order to solve the above problems, we began to consider cross-border cooperation to build "Panda Friendly" into a market brand. Therefore, in 2023, the idea of ​​cooperating with Michelin restaurants was proposed.

After contact, we chose a restaurant in Chengdu that has been certified with one Michelin star for three consecutive years. This restaurant itself attaches great importance to sustainable development and has put it into practice in kitchen management and water-saving design. Based on these common concepts, the two sides have the possibility of cooperation. Through communication with the chef, we explored whether it is possible to let him make special menus with certified eco-friendly ingredients and promote them to urban residents, showing that agricultural products from the giant panda habitat are not only of high quality but also environmentally friendly. At the same time, we also hope to help local farmers open up a broader market through the influence of the Michelin brand, so that their products can enter large cities and high-end sales channels. Such cooperation can not only increase the popularity of the products, but also ensure that farmers have better sales opportunities.

After the initial idea was reached, we actually encountered many challenges in actual operation.

Since the previous work focused on agricultural communities, when farmers reported that products grown according to "Panda Friendly" standards could not find a market, they realized that urban residents were not aware of these agricultural products enough and needed to strengthen brand promotion. However, when the products were introduced into the strict channel of Michelin restaurants, the problem became more obvious.

The first difficulty is that there are not enough ingredients. As of last year, only 5 products have passed the strict "Panda Friendly" certification, which is not enough to support a complete menu. Chefs have reported that they need more choices. To this end, it is necessary to expand the search scope and contact multiple protected areas in Sichuan and Gansu and their surrounding agricultural communities to find products grown or collected in an eco-friendly way. After screening, 60 products were provided for Michelin chefs to choose from, including wild porcini, morels, and ecologically grown potatoes, peppers, yams, and radishes. Throughout the selection process, the requirements of Michelin chefs were extremely strict, and in the end only 20 ingredients were preliminarily identified as available. This stage of running-in took about two months.

During the two-month run-in process, the second difficulty emerged: product quality control. Specifically:

1. Unstable product quality: Take Liangshan potatoes as an example. The first batch of samples was of high quality and met the chef's requirements. However, the size and variety of the second batch of products were completely different from the first batch. They changed from a single red skin to a mixture of multiple colors, which made the chef unable to continue using them. This reflects that farmers lack awareness of the consistency between samples and batches of goods.

2. Inaccurate weight control: The weight of agricultural products delivered is often exceeded or underweight, which shows that the agricultural community is inadequate in detail management and it is difficult to meet the standards of the large city procurement system.

3. Seasonal restrictions: Due to the long adjustment period, many seasonal ingredients that were originally available, such as bamboo shoots, were out of the market by the time of the International Panda Day family dinner on October 27, affecting menu planning. These problems reveal the market's need for reverse education of the agricultural community, that is, to help producers understand and comply with strict product control standards to ensure a continuous supply of high-quality, standard ingredients.

After three full months of running-in and experimentation, a panda family dinner named "Gift from Nature" was successfully held on October 27, 2023. This family dinner selected 16 ingredients from the giant panda habitat, presenting a total of 8 hot dishes and 8 other dishes (including desserts, soups and fruits). The pre-dinner cocktail used southern schisandra chinensis, creatively combined with pepper to make an alcoholic beverage for the guests to taste. In response to the chef's initial concerns about the unstable quality of potatoes, potatoes from Pingwu County were finally selected because of their more stable quality control. This dish requires the potatoes to be fried and cooked with rice, becoming a highlight of the family dinner.

In order to promote panda-friendly certified products, the Panda Family Banquet specially invited purchasing staff from hotels and high-quality restaurants to participate in the tasting. The goal is to use this platform to introduce eco-friendly products from the mountains into the urban market, increase their awareness, and create better sales channels for local residents.

Despite many challenges encountered during the process, the 16 ingredients finally selected were recognized by the Michelin restaurant. After the family dinner, the restaurant continued to purchase ingredients from the giant panda production area, and the purchase price was higher than the normal market price. This achievement not only boosted the confidence of local residents, but also proved that adhering to organic and sustainable production standards can bring higher added value. It is worth mentioning that this restaurant has become the first restaurant in Chengdu to receive the Michelin Green Star logo, which is specially awarded to restaurants that excel in sustainable development. Through this cooperation, the restaurant's brand effect has been significantly enhanced, and it has also contributed to ecological protection. Win-win cooperation

Through this complete structure, non-profit organizations can play a key role in promoting win-win cooperation among all parties. For national parks or protected areas, flexible management should be implemented to provide both supervision and local support. Panda-friendly certification can be used as a trial to help managers find the right balance of supervision. For rural cooperatives, as the communities closest to the protected areas, their support is crucial. It is expected that these cooperatives can ensure product quality and produce and harvest in an environmentally friendly way, which is extremely important for protecting giant pandas and their habitats. For enterprises, they can ensure eco-friendly orders through market behavior and participate in the training and requirements of producers to promote sustainable development. For non-profit organizations, they can develop certification standards, connect all parties (including enterprises and markets), expand brand influence, and make consumers realize that every consumption is a support for a sustainable lifestyle when they see the panda-friendly logo in supermarkets or restaurants.

Through multi-party collaboration, a virtuous cycle of ecological protection and community development can be achieved, ultimately promoting a broader sustainable lifestyle.