“Green peafowl's last habitat vs. 3.7-billion-yuan dam”, 21 March 2020

The Kunming Intermediate People's Court… ordered the construction halted for a hydropower dam in southwest China's Yunnan Province as it threatens the last major habitat of the endangered green peafowl. The landmark decision came almost three years after the green peafowl lawsuit was filed to stop constructing the hydropower station on Jiasa River, a stretch of Red River in the province.

The lawsuit drew intensive public attention because it was the country's first environmental public interest case aimed at preventing the loss of an endangered species, and also because of the uncertainty that lies ahead for both humans and wildlife…

The rich river resources in Yunnan offers hydropower potentials because of the sharp drops in altitude. However, the construction of dams has always drawn heated debates over its impact on environment and the relocation of local residents.

The construction of the Jiasa Hydropower Plant was estimated to cost 3.7 billion yuan (532 million U.S. dollars) and is capable of generating 270 megawatts of electricity. 

The construction of the plant started in March 2016. A year later, green peafowls were discovered in the valleys of the region, a fact which could proves flaws in the project's environmental assessment process. 

In March 2017… Wild China Film, and two other environmental groups "Friends of Nature" and "Shan Shui," brought an environmental public interest case against the construction company and assessment agency. Later that year, following an assessment by the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the construction was suspended…

Three years later, the Kunming Intermediate People's Court issued a first-instance judgment demanding the construction work on the dam be stopped. It also ordered water not to be exploited and stored, or plants be cut in the hydropower station's submerged area. The court ruled that follow-up treatment for the station would be determined by authorities based on a post-environmental impact assessment, meeting the Ministry of Ecology and Environment requirements, and a report of potential improvement steps should be done.

As the campaign to preserve biodiversity won, marking a significant step in China's ecological conservation effort, uncertainty still lurks. Environmental organizations worry that after a reassessment of the dam, the project could still come back to life. But the lawsuit, undoubtedly, puts more pressure on construction companies to make a thorough assessment when construction projects meet a biodiversity hotspot…

In the eyes of the local villagers, who have been living in poverty due to remote location and lack of local industries, the suspension of the hydropower plant construction was not a happy ending. The project could bring obvious benefits to locals, such as government subsidies and more importantly, job opportunities.