On the morning of September 7th, 2019, sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and jointly sponsored by Bamboo Research and Development Center of SFA (Bamboo Center for short) and Nature Reserve Office of the Research Institute of Forestry (Nature Reserve for short), the opening ceremony of the National Nature Reserve Management and Protection Seminar for B&R countries was held in Hangzhou.
Zhong Zheke, the deputy director of the Bamboo Center made the welcome speech. He pointed out that following the first successful Nature Reserve seminar held in last year, the Bamboo center was again designated to hold this year’s seminar, showing the trust of the superior leaders on the Bamboo Center. A total of 15 government officials and researchers from five countries including South Sudan, Tanzania, Ukraine, North Macedonia and Cuba participated in the training. He said that the Bamboo Center will do its best to support the nature reserve seminar, provide high-quality services to students in China, build a good platform for international implementation cooperation, and strive to promote the common development of international forestry related fields.
Olesia Petrovic, a representative of the participants from Ukrainian Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, delivered an enthusiastic speech. She reiterated the importance of nature protection and expressed appreciation to the Chinese government for its friendly and generous funding. She said she was looking forward to learn something from here and hoping to establish contacts and cooperation with international counterparts through this platform built by the seminar.
And Yan Chenggao, the deputy director of the Nature Reserve, reviewed the history and earned achievements of the construction of natural reserves in China over the past 60 years and also pointed out the opportunities and challenges lying ahead. He elaborated on the new mode introduced after the reform of the state institutes which decided to shift the management of Nature Reserve to SFA, especially the “Guidelines on Establishing Nature Reserve System with National Parks as the Main Body” issued in June this year is a top-level design in guiding the construction of nature reserves at the national level. He hoped to take the seminar as a platform for students in each countries to discuss the hot issues concerned with management of reserves and usher in a new era of cooperation.
Related officials from the Bamboo Center also attended the opening ceremony. (Shen Kai, Bamboo Center)