Beijing Chaoyang District Friends of Nature Environmental Research Center and the Guangdong Environmental Protection Foundation filed a case in the Qingyuan City Intermediate People’s Court of Guangdong Province against Guangdong Nanling Forest Scenic Spot Management Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Dongyangguang Industrial Development Co., Ltd., and the Guangdong Province Yuyang Forestry Bureau for their engagement in forest eco-tourism project development, operation, and management in the Nanling National Forest Park, which overlapped almost completely with the Nanling National Nature Reserve. This case was concluded through civil mediation, and the court’s mediation statement did not include legal reasoning or references to specific laws applied.

The defendants began road construction in October 2010 in the core area of the Nanling National Nature Reserve, resulting in the complete destruction of vegetation in the section from Laopeng Duan to Shikengling by 2012. On New Year's Day 2016, the defendants began hardening the road surface by paving at least 4 kilometers of sand-and-mud roads with cement. The plaintiff, Friends of Nature, claimed that the defendants’ conduct had “caused serious damage to the natural ecological environment of the core area of the national nature reserve, and would continue to aggravate the ecological damage.” The plaintiff, Guangdong Environmental Protection Foundation, asserted that the defendants’ tourism development and road construction lacked the necessary approvals from the State Council’s administrative departments, that the Nanling National Forest Park’s master plan contradicted the Nanling National Nature Reserve’s plan without approval by the State Forestry Administration or environmental impact assessment, and that the road construction also lacked permits and land use approval. The plaintiffs requested the Court to order the defendants to: "immediately stop all tourism project development activities in the core area and buffer area" inconsistent with protection; pay 5 million yuan for ecological environment restoration costs (to be supervised by the plaintiffs or local environmental protection department); jointly compensate 5 million yuan for loss of ecological environment service function; make a public report and apology in News; and bear the litigation expenses.

In its Civil Mediation Statement of First Instance dated 20 February 2017, the Qingyuan Intermediate People's Court of Guangdong Province facilitated a voluntary agreement. Guangdong Nanling Forest Scenic Spot Management Co., Ltd. agreed to publicly apologize for environmental damage caused by the Shikengkong Highway construction; immediately stop further construction on the Laopeng to Shikengkong highway in the Nanling National Nature Reserve; ensure the completed road is used only for forest fire prevention, resource protection, and ecological restoration, prohibiting future tourism development projects within the Nature Reserve; fund and implement ecological restoration, by compensating 5 million yuan for ecological restoration (already fulfilled) dedicated to restoring the damaged road and other ecological management in the reserve; implementing restoration work per the "Nanling National Forest Park Forest Highway (Laopeng Section) Slope Re-greening and Ecological Restoration (Periodic) Project Program" by Guangdong Forestry Investigation and Planning Institute, to be completed by 30 April 2019; conducting the restoration through public bidding and under the supervision by the plaintiffs, their supporters, and the public; reporting annually to the enforcement court and plaintiffs under Guangdong Provincial Forestry Bureau supervision; bearing restoration effect assessment costs and, if unmet, continuing restoration costs until the goal is achieved. Finally, the defendant paid plaintiffs and supporters litigation expenses totaling 6.5 million yuan, plus case handling and announcement fees.

This decision is a milestone for environmental and biodiversity protection in China. It addressed severe habitat damage in the core zone of a national nature reserve, caused by development activities that threatened endangered species through fragmentation and potential local extinction. Importantly, the Court required not only financial compensation but also the implementation of a supervised ecological restoration plan, alongside a public apology and a ban on incompatible tourism projects, setting a precedent for corporate and governmental accountability. As a civil mediation, the case illustrates the effectiveness of mediation in resolving complex environmental disputes and securing concrete restoration commitments, complementing punitive approaches. It also highlights the collaborative role of NGOs, legal support organizations, and the judiciary in safeguarding sensitive ecological areas.

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