Badaling International Friendship Forest Program

In China, we made conservation efforts through long-term maintenance of forest and ecological parks.

In 2000, ConocoPhillips China started to sponsor the Badaling International Friendship Forest (BIFF) Program. Since then, we have provided long-term funding support to maintain the environmental park.

Throughout that time, the BIFF has been transformed into an ecosystem that helps prevent damaging windstorms, stabilizes the soil and purifies the air, earning it the designation of a “State-level Key Public Welfare Forest Protection Area” from the Beijing government in 2004. It covers an area of 133 hectares (about 328 acres), with an altitude ranging from 630 to 800 meters, and boasts 16 types of flowering shrubs, such as Chinese pines, arborvitaes and apricot trees. The trails around the BIFF feature signs telling the history and culture of the Great Wall and help educate visitors about the crucial importance of environmental conservation.

In 2019, partnering with China Green Foundation, Beijing Badaling Tourism Co., Ltd. and Shan Shui Conservation Center, we jointly launched the Badaling International Friendship Forest Eco-Education Program. The program aims to improve the biodiversity conservation of the BIFF and transform it into an important eco-education platform for the public to learn about the biodiversity of species around Beijing. The program recruits citizen science volunteers to conduct environmental surveys that establish a biodiversity baseline database for plants, birds, and insects. Volunteers also help develop route maps that help visitors best view park plants and wildlife. The program also holds public eco-education workshops for participants to learn about native park species and the methodologies of nature monitoring as well as participate in data collection and compilation that contributes to environment conservation.