China

In Beijing, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), in collaboration with the EU, UNDP and China Youth League, organized an activity to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity 2007. On this occasion, SEPA Vice-Minister Wu Xiaoqing made a keynote speech. He stated that biodiversity is closely related to climate change and that the Chinese government would continue taking effective measures to strengthen biodiversity conservation and reduce risks and damage caused by climate change. He also said that, at present, China has taken into consideration biodiversity and climate change, while developing relevant plans and programmes in order to reduce impacts on biodiversity and climate by the overexploitation of land and other natural resources.

He noted that the challenges for biodiversity conservation in China are still huge, in particular threats to biodiversity from rapid population growth and economic development. To achieve the 2010 biodiversity target, future efforts in this regard will focus on four areas of work: the integrattion of biodiversity conservation into economic and social development strategies and programmes; the strengthening of national capacities for biodiversity conservation; the strengthening of international exchange and cooperation; and the enhancement of wider public participation.

During the ceremony, the EU and China signed agreements to provide funds for 5 pilot projects in Yunnan, Anhui, and other provinces, which are part of the EU-China Biodiversity Programme launched on IBD last year. A call was also made to youth and school students across China to propose biodiversity-friendly activities.

For more information, please see this website (in Chinese)
Press release (in English)

To increase university students’ awareness of biodiversity issues, SEPA, together with some universities, launched at the People’s University an “Eco-Film Week for University Students”. About 100 representatives from over 23 universities in Beijing attended the opening ceremony of this film week.

At the opening ceremony, the SEPA CBD Office and China Association of Environmental Journalists provided DVDs of these films to representatives from different universities. These films focus on communicating the significance, value and role of biodiversity. They also provide the audience with warnings of challenges and threats from climate change to biodiversity. Representatives from 15 mass media in Beijing were invited to attend the opening ceremony. After that, Guangming Daily, Science and Technology Daily, Legal Daily, Jiefang Daily and the Internet version of the People’s Daily all published reports on this film week. Over 30 Internet media nationwide posted a news release issued by the Chinese News Agency.

To further publicize biodiversity conservation, the SEPA CBD Office and China Foundation for Biodiversity Conservation jointly organized a photographic competition for “Biodiversity Conservation and Use in China”. The prize-winning works of the competition were pooled together, along with some participating works and were published in a book titled “Digital Photos for Biodiversity Conservation and Use in China”. On 22 May the photographic works were displayed for the public at the Beijing Zoo.

The SEPA CBD Office, together with some institutions, designed and printed posters for IBD and sent them to local environmental departments, research institutes and institutions of higher education. Posters were also put in government office buildings and relevant public places.

Various forms of activities were organized in many parts of China during IBD. For example, Jiangsu Province published special features on IBD on Xinhua Daily and used mobile imaging and other tools to communicate messages for IBD. In the meantime, 15 provinces and municipalities organized relevant activities and more than 20 provinces and municipalities disseminated materials prepared by SEPA.