IFCE Projects/Activities Updates (April-August, 2008)
1. Youth Conservation Tour in US
IFCE, jointly with the Yunnan Natural and Cultural Heritage Conservation Council, organized a youth conservation tour from July 20-Aug. 11 in US. Eight children aging from 11-14 in Kunming joined the tour. They stayed in the host families in DC for one week and visited botanic garden, green buildings, natural history museum, etc. They then toured east and west coasts for two weeks, toured national parks, history features and famous universities, etc. The kids gained knowledge in conservation and also tasted American living and expanded their experience. We thank for those host families who provided hospitalities to the kids and made their tour a success. IFCE education coordinator Meili Inouye coordinated the project and Intern Emma Loizeaux accompanied the kids in the tour.
2. EU- Alashan Biodiversity Project Inception Workshop
EU- Alashan Biodiversity Conservation Project Inception Workshop was held in Alashan, Inner Mongolia from July 30-31. Alashan gov, IFCE, and other three project partners joined. The workshop reviewed the overall objectives of the project and steps to reach the goal, which is to develop an action plan for biodiversity conservation in the region. IFCE’s role in the project is to assess the current status of biodiversity conservation and make recommendations to enhance. Each project partner reported the progress and plan for the next step. IFCE’s VP, Dr. Xiaojun Li, also serving as the project tech advisor, chaired the meeting. Dr. Ping He attended as well. This two-year project was co-funded by EU Biodiversity Program and five project partners.
3. Fifth College Environmental Forum
From July 22-24, the Fifth College Environmental Forum in China was held in Changsha. The Forum was jointly organized by College Enviornmental Form, IFCE, WWF and China Youth Climate Action Network. Changsha Sci&Tech University hosted the event. More than 100 people, including 80 student leaders from 24 provinces attended the Forum. WWF’s 2008 Wetland Ambassadors launching ceremony was also held during the Forum.
The main theme of the Forum is Facing Climate Change, Chinese Student are in Action. After the opening ceremony, the students were divided to three groups to address issues in campus climate change activities, wetland protection and plastics control. They shared experience, and exchanged ideas and learned from each other. Several workshops to enhance the capacities of student groups, such as how to best use network platform to communicate, how to design/implement a training project, etc. were also organized.
The students also organized an entertainment party. IFCE’s green ambassador, Ms. Lida Wang, a reputable young singer in China, also joined the party and welcomed by students. For more info, pleas check http://www.cef. ngo.cn/
4. Field Investigation to Thousand-lake Mountain, Yunnan
Sponsored by IFCE, a field scientific investigation to Thousand-lake Mountain nature reserve was organized from June 5-11, 2008, by Yunnan Natural and Cultural Heritage Conservation Council. Thousand-lake Mountain is located in Three Parallel River World Natural Heritage site, northwestern Yunnan. First of such kinds to the area, the survey team, consisting of sixteen experts and professionals, investigated geological structures, landscaping, plant distribution, wetlands conditions, as well as living situation of local residents, covering an area of twelve square kilometers.
Experts observed that this area maintains the original mountain glacial landscapes, wetlands and plant coverage, such as azalea groups. However, landscapes around Bigu lake, located in the core, three thousands and eight hundreds meters above sea level, were damaged due to a movie making process a couple of years ago. In addition, the fir forests in the region are dead largely due to invasion of yellow-leave bee. The impacted area is estimated more than ten thousands hectares. The damaged area is still expanding. Another observation made was that the area maintains the traditional Tibetan culture which supports the heritage preservation. However, the living situation is quite poor. The local residents are facing pressures to tourism development, which might bring challenges to cultural and natural preservation. For more info, please check www.ynchcc.org.
5. Legal Scholar Study Tour
Sponsored by Bailey Law Group, one of IFCE’s directors, Mr. Feng Jia, a scholar in Legal Assisting Center for Pollution Victums in China, was invited for a study tour to learn env. legal system/practices in US from May 17-25. Mr. Feng attended an env. policy conference and visited several NGOs concerning env. health and safety. He also introduced env. legal system in China to a groups of env. lawyers in DC.
6. Environmental and Health Project Progress
Ping He visited Xian and Kunming in this summer to review the progress of the community env. and health training project. In Xian, he attended two community health education activities and met with the trainers (most are community leaders). He was impressed by these activities and dedication of trainers. The project was well received by community residents. In Kunming, he visited Kunming Medical College and met the project coordinators. More than forty college volunteers have been trained and the students are working with selected communities to conduct a needs survey and plan for env. and health education activities. The project is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson.
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