FOCUS-BRI Country Reports

Assessing Ecological Impacts of China’s Belt and Road Initiative

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), with its goal of developing two new trade routes connecting China with the rest of the world, is one of the largest infrastructure initiatives ever undertaken. FOCUS-BRI was a yearlong, in-depth assessment of 12 countries where BRI and other national or international investments were being made for infrastructure projects. The Center for Large Landscape Conservation sought to better understand the current and potential capabilities within these countries to conserve ecological connectivity, maintain ecosystem services, and conserve biodiversity.

The FOCUS-BRI country reports aimed to identify where biodiversity, climate change and infrastructure development interact. The reports sought to discern the capacity of each country to build necessary linear infrastructure without negatively impacting biodiversity and deploy safeguards to protect biodiversity where impacts are unavoidable. In addition, the reports examined the adequacy and enforcement of existing country guidelines and policies to protect biodiversity during development.