BSR volunteers from China patrol in Mana Pools park. (Photo: Courtesy of BSR)
Song, the chairlady of the foundation who has lived in Zimbabwe for more than 20 years, spends most of her spare time on anti-poaching activities.
"All of the board members are unpaid volunteers, which is a different from many other European counterparts," Song told the Global Times.
However, in a report posted on the website of the Conservation Action Trust in May, Song was named by anonymous sources as a key player in the controversial export of elephants to China.
Song admitted she assisted a safari park in China acquire 24 elephants from Zimbabwe in 2014, but insisted all the procedures were legal and she didn't make any money. "The number of elephants in Hwange national park reached 55,000 but its capacity is only 19,000. Live trade is also a way of protection," she noted.
Wang said BSR is trying to pioneer 'walking out' for Chinese NGOs.
"China has received assistance from foreign NGOs, and it's time for us to go out and share our own skills and experience," Wang said, noting that civilian charity efforts will improve international feelings.
When the Wenchuan earthquake happened in 2008, Japan immediately sent a search and rescue team to disaster-hit areas of Sichuan, which moved many Chinese who had been previously hostile to the Japanese.
BSR's rescue efforts in earthquake-stricken Nepal and aid to Myanmese refugees have also been well received among locals.
In recent years, China has cracked down on illegal wildlife trafficking.
In October, Chinese authorities announced a one-year ban on imports of African ivory. On a three-day visit to Kenya in May last year, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang announced that China would provide $10 million to support wildlife conservation in Africa. On a visit to Zimbabwe in early December, Chinese President Xi Jinping reiterated Chinese commitment to wildlife conservation. In the middle of December, China donated equipment worth $2.3 million to Zimbabwe to curb poaching.
But government-led efforts are always viewed with suspicion or seen as mere PR efforts. Civil exchanges and charity work without any political bias have advantages, Wang noted.
The BSR anti-poaching program currently focuses on training park rangers to use and maintain the donated new equipment. "Now it only takes a week for the rangers patrol the whole park, much shorter than the two months it used to take," Wang said.
Next, they will bring Chinese wildlife, agriculture and tourism specialists to Zimbabwe and explore ways to help local residents escape poverty by growing money-making crops and attracting tourists from China, Wang said.
Meanwhile, Wang said BSR has started to look into other humanitarian projects like providing education and medication to other countries.
In northern Myanmar, they have started an education program. In South Sudan, they have dispatched specialists to do pre-project studies in regards to a planned vaccination program for newborns.
By going to the grass-roots level, NGOs know the needs of a country and can offer guidance for the government's foreign aid efforts. In the long run, Wang wished that the Chinese government can follow practice of Western countries, to purchase NGOs' services instead of directly granting them funds.
