Marriott International has recently launched Nobility for Nature, a water-conservation project in southwest China. CEI Asia talks to Mari Snyder, vice-president, social responsibility, Marriott International, about the US$500,000 investment:
How did the project come about?
Marriott has been working with the global environmental organisation, Conservation International (CI), for three years on our environmental strategy.
Because China is Marriott’s leading market outside of the US [the group has 133,000 rooms under construction], it is imperative we incorporate environmentally responsible business solutions, including conservation of the country’s natural resources.
China’s rivers are stressed as drought, flooding and other factors have had a critical impact, and water conservation is one of the Chinese government’s top environmental priorities. It is also a key factor in the UN Millennium Development Goals.
What does it entail?
This funding support will allow CI to expand its work in Pingwu County, Sichuan Province, where they have established the Pingwu Water Conservation Fund. The project is the first of its kind in China and was set-up to channel funding from a hydroelectric dam and its water users in Pingwu County, to the communities responsible for protecting the source water.
It has four key elements – water, forest preservation, panda conservation and support for the local communities that run the project. Community support will see CI collaborate with local partners to train the residents in sustainable sources of income such as honey gathering and mushroom farming, as well as how to protect local forests and rivers from threats like illegal logging and poaching.
Our goal is to provide start-up funding for innovative projects that can help address some of the world’s most pressing issues with promising solutions. This project will become self-sustaining in two years.
What will be the key outcomes of the programme?
Pingwu County is an ideal model for community conservation because fresh water provided by the high-altitude ecosystem supports nearly 200,000 Pingwu residents and 12 million people living on the Fujiang River, a major branch of the Yangtze.
By reducing erosion and sedimentation, water quality downstream will improve in both rural and urban areas. The local conservation programme will protect at least 24,000 hectares of critical ecosystems including forests, watersheds and panda habitats.