NGOs in environment protection dilemma

    BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- China's non-governmental organizations (NGO) committed to environmental protection have been operating in dilemma, with weak power and money shortage, an official survey revealed over the weekend.

    The survey made by the All-China Environment Federation on China's 2,768 environmental protection NGOs found that only a little over 20 percent of the NGOs had registered with authorities, and more than 70 percent lack fixed funding sources for operation.

    The survey showed that about 80 percent of NGOs have a membership of below 30. More than 90 percent of NGO leaders have a college or higher degree.

    In 2005, nearly 3 billion yuan (370 million U.S. dollars) was raised by these NGOs for environmental protection.

    However, most of the NGOs are small in size employing a total of 70,000 full-time staff. Due to the lack of funds, about half of the full-time workers are unpaid or ignored of required welfare insurance.

    Monday's China Daily quoted Wang Yuqing, director of the State Environment Protection Administration as saying that the administration welcomed the NGOs' work.

    "Our relationship should not be based on opposition, but rather be co-operative and complementary," he said.

    He encouraged NGOs not to linger on general appeals, instead make in-depth investigations and then put forward feasible suggestions.

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