The Chinese and German Governments agreed on a new bilateral program related to ‘Biodiversity and Natural Resources’. Anhui province submitted a proposal for preserving biodiversity in the Tianzhu Mountains. The Tianzhu Mountains are a UNESCO Global Geopark and among the three top tourist destinations in Anhui province. The park houses large bare quartz and granite gneiss rocks, cultural heritage reaching back to the Han Dynasty (106 BC) and world famous ancient poetry and literature, the Sanzu Monastry which strongly influenced Zen Buddhism in China. Due to its location at the interface between sub-tropical evergreen forests and temperate forest ecosystems, the area has rich biodiversity. UNIQUE was contracted for various fact finding tasks.

• Transformation of pine and Chinese fir stands into natural mixed broad-leaved forests.
• Biodiversity protection against forest fires and establishment of a biodiversity monitoring system.
• Biodiversity management capacity building.
• Analysis of the operational and management plan and the investment modalities.
• Establishment of a cost and financing plan.
• Preparing documentation for the project appraisal mission.