On July 29, 2008, four defendants expanded the scope of a mine without the competent administrative department for examination and approval, and severely damaged the forest land vegetation. Later, four defendants waiting for were sentenced to a punishment.

The case was brought by the Nanping Intermediate People's Court. The court thought the defendants should bear the responsibility for the recovery of forest vegetation and ecological function loss of tort liability.This case is the first environmental public interest litigation in China, after the new law of environmental protection.

(Contribution:   Professor Tianbao QIN, Tang HE, and Han GAO, Research Institute of Environmental Law, Wuhan University, China)