- by Graham Holton
- The Guardian
- Issue #2200
The revival of Japan’s Crested Ibis (Toki Nipponia nippon) was made possible through its scientific cooperation with China, whose policy of ‘Ecological Civilisation’ (shēngtài wénmíng) reshaped how the economy, society, and nature relate to each other. It is the idea that human development and nature must be integrated into a single system of sustainable growth. It is an agricultural policy reform driven by environmental goals. Ecological Civilisation shows how modern states can use environmental recovery projects as both ecological and political tools.
Bucking the stereotype of a nation focused on development and industry, China treats the environment, economy, and politics as one system, aiming to manage development through ecological limits rather than separate environmental policy. ‘Ecological Civilisation’ replaces the Western model of high-pollution industrial expansion with ‘green development’ guided by the state. Conservation redesigns entire landscapes as part of national planning.
In 2007, Ecological Civilisation became an explicit part of the Chinese Communist Party’s program. Results can be seen in the massive expansion of renewable energy and China incredible output of Evs.
Since the environment doesn’t stop at national borders, neither does China’s Ecological Civilisation priority. China has made agreements on the topic with governments as far away as Singapore and Slovenia. In the midst of the ongoing blockade of Cuba as the US attempts to starve the Cuban people, China has helped Cuba to triple its solar power supply in one year.
The revival of the Crested Ibis is one of the most successful wildlife restorations in East Asia, and is connected to environmental policy, agriculture, and national identity in Japan. It reflects a wider pattern where ecology and politics intersect applying state-led, rather than market-led conservation. China’s scientific diplomacy, and agricultural policy reform is driven by environmental goals. It is a shift from industrial growth politics to ecological governance.
The Crested Ibis was once widespread across China, Korea, Russia, and Japan. It was hunted for feathers and meat. By 1981 its numbers in Japan had collapsed due to overhunting, as well as wetlands converted to agriculture, and pesticides killing the birds’ food – insects and frogs. Only a handful remained in captivity on Sado Island in Japan’s Niigata Prefecture. By 2003 the Ibis was extinct in the wild.
In 1999, China donated a breeding pair of Crested Ibises to Japan, enabling a viable breeding population to restart. The successful captive birth programme led to releases in 2008. Today more than 500 Ibises live on Sado. The ‘Sado Model’ was not just biological; it required political change in agriculture. Farmers were subsidised to reduce their pesticide use, to restore wet rice fields, and to not cut down nesting trees in old-growth forests. This created feeding-friendly wetlands.
The wild Ibis were gradually reintroduced into rice-field ecosystems. This enabled them to recover to a self-sustaining population and they are now slowly spreading beyond Sado. Japan’s ‘Sado model’ allows human, agriculture, and wildlife to coexist.
The Crested Ibis became a symbol of eco-modern rural Japan: harmony between humans and nature. The government promotes it as proof of successful conservation policy, and post-industrial ecological responsibility.
The recovery is fragile, as there is a genetically limited population, making the birds vulnerable to disease or ecological change. The results so far are promising thanks to China’s policy of ‘Ecological Civilisation.’
