The All-China Environment Federation (ACEF) conducted a nationwide survey on environmental protection from non-government organizations (NGOs), and the following are part of its findings:

Fund use, salary and welfare

The expense injected into environmental protection projects and activities by China's environmental NGOs takes up 67.2 percent of the total payout, which is reasonable and close to the expenditure ratio of non-profit organizations of Japan in 1995 (80.1 percent).

Student environmental protection union staff have no salary.

The average income per month for 14 percent of full-time staff of environmental NGOs is between 500 yuan (US$62.5) and 1,000 yuan (US$125); 21.5 percent receive between 1,000 yuan (US$125) and 2,000 yuan (US$250); 12.2 percent receive over 2,000 (US$250), and 43.9 percent have no income.

The income level of environmental NGO staff in comparison with local standards is as follows: 44.4 percent are at the middle level, 31.7 percent are below the middle level and 19.8 percent are at the low level.

In total, 96 percent of the staff believed their income belongs in the middle and lower levels; and 56.3 percent of the full-time staff have no welfare at all.

Working conditions

The working conditions of China's environmental NGOs are relatively rough.

Two thirds of the organizations have no special offices of their own, with 53.2 percent of the organizations having their own websites. Also, 47.5 percent of the organizations have their own publications.

Only 27.1 percent of the students environmental protection unions possess computers, while the rate of other organizations is over 80 percent.

Project evaluation, annual report

A total of 45.8 percent of environmental NGOs make performance evaluations of environmental protection projects.

A total of 74.7 percent of them have annual reports, among which 47.6 percent submit reports to their superior authorities, 45.5 percent submit reports to their own staff, and 47.6 percent open their reports to the public.

Volunteer activities

In the past few years, 90.8 percent of student environmental protection unions, 75.7 percent of the organizations initiated spontaneously by common people, 63.6 percent of the international environmental protection organizations on the Chinese mainland and 55.2 percent of the organizations initiated by government departments launched or organized at least one volunteer activity on environmental protection.

In these volunteer activities, 39.6 percent of the organizations did not offer any pay, 52.1 percent offered transportation fees and some of the organizations offered expenses for food and lodging and a little reward.

Most of the organizations provided proper training to the volunteers and took preventive measures for the safety of the volunteers.

Public relationship

In terms of the relationship with government, over 95 percent of the environmental NGOs adhere to the principles of "giving help without making trouble, participating without making interference, supervising without replacement and observing laws in operation" in seeking cooperation with the government.

A total of 61.9 percent of NGOs believe they have regular channels to directly communicate with the government.

Specifically, 64.6 percent of the NGOs said they are cooperating with the government, 32.1 percent neither cooperate with nor oppose the government, and 3.3 percent think there are "sometimes conflicts" in the relationship with the government.

In terms of the relationship with enterprises, most environmental NGOs are willing to cooperate with enterprises with good public images. Some activities of the organizations conflict with the interests of NGOs, such as polluting enterprises.

The survey showed that 24.4 percent of the organizations think such conflicts rarely take place, while 2.3 percent think conflicts happen frequently.

When negotiating with polluting enterprises, most of the environmental NGOs would frequently report the cases to the government.

Few environmental NGOs would resort to legal measures such as lawsuits or demonstrations when dealing with cases of environmental damage.

In terms of the relationship with the media and public, it is a common understanding among all environmental NGOs to reinforce their influence and consequently win support from the public through the media.

The survey indicated that 79.4 percent of the environmental NGOs have been reported by the media; over 90 percent of the organizations often organize public activities on environmental protection; 63.4 percent have established cooperative relationships with schools; and 41.7 percent have cooperated with research institutions.

The ratio of public support towards environmental NGOs in China has reached 69.5 percent.

The article is an excerpt from the China Environment NGO Blue Paper published by the All-China Environment Federation. For more information about the survey, please contact 86-10-51230017.

(China Daily August 28, 2006)