February 18, 2026
Online at 7pm EST
With Gao Yufang, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and Stephen Posner
China’s emerging framework of Ecological Civilization is reshaping what conservation can mean—expanding the public discourse beyond protected areas and species recovery to include culture, livelihoods, and the ethical foundations of human–nature relationship. This Forum explores conservation practice in China as a “nexus” challenge: where ecological science meets social realities and cultural meaning, and where the success of conservation depends on trust, governance, and long-term stewardship.
Featuring conservation scientist and environmental anthropologist Gao Yufang, we’ll examine how on-the-ground efforts—from protected landscapes to human–wildlife coexistence—are navigating the tensions and possibilities of rapid modernization. What kinds of ethical conservation approaches become possible when ecological values are treated as civilizational priorities? Where do the hardest tradeoffs show up? And what lessons might China’s experiments offer (or not offer) to leaders and communities elsewhere?
This event is part of “Roots of Renewal: Ecological Civilization in China and the Confluence of Tradition and Modernity: A Garrison Institute Webinar Series on Ecological Civilization.”
Co-sponsored by the Pathways to Planetary Health initiative at the Garrison Institute and the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology Conservation in China for Ecological Civilization.