The 6th China Nature Education Forum was held, and WWF launched the “Discover Nature Nearby” Public Biodiversity Education Project

The China Nature Education Conference and the 6th China Nature Education Forum was successfully held in Wuhan from November 1st to 3rd, 2019. On November 3rd, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the One Planet Foundation (OPF) jointly launched the “Discover Nature Nearby – Public Biodiversity Education” Project. In the meanwhile, the “Biodiversity and Conservation Education” sub-forum which was held simultaneously has also received unanimous praise from the industry.
 
 
The biodiversity resources on earth are the key support for the material basis of human reproduction and well-being. However, they're now faced with unprecedented threats. The main solution to the problem of biodiversity degradation is to transform individual conceptions and behaviors to improve the relationship between humans and nature, which has already become the consensus of all countries in the world as well. At the same time, the problem of “Nature-deficit Disorder” caused by the rapid development of contemporary society has also become a serious challenge that threatens not only people’s physical and mental health but also sustainable development. Encouraging people to discover the wonders of nature from their living environment, understanding the mutual-support relationship between humans and nature, and creating opportunities to attract more public participation in nature conservation are effective ways to alleviate the trend of biodiversity degradation.
 
 
“We hope to respond to the general global concerns on biodiversity loss and the consensus on the importance of public participation in biodiversity conservation. Through this project, we are able to comprehensively and systematically understand the current status of public biodiversity awareness, promote the practice and methods of biodiversity education, maximize the integration of biodiversity education personnel and institutions in China, and to better establish public biodiversity education through online and offline channels.”, according to Yong Yi, director of the Environmental Education Program of the WWF China, said: '' We also hope to address the problem raised by the “Nature Education Industry Survey Report” in regards to this Sub-forum, that the lack of talents, theories, tools, and methods are the main challenges faced with the development of the industry, and represent the industry responsibility and professional contribution that WWF should have. Besides, the project outcome is expected to be released during the 2020 Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming, China, contributing Chinese wisdom, stories and experience to the conference."
 
 
The “Discover Nature Nearby” project will recruit dozens of professional institutions nationwide that conduct nature education activities in their respective cities, using methods and tools from WWF to jointly develop biodiversity programs and teaching aids with local characteristics. By organizing educational activities, the stories of local living species will be brought to the public, guiding everyone to explore and discover the wonder of these creatures in nature around people, understand the relationship between humans and nature, and realize the urgency of nature conservation and importance, and therefore change people’s awareness and take action.
 
 
This event was guided by the Chinese Society of Forestry, the State Forestry and Grassland Administration Protected Area Division, Center for Environmental Education and Communications of Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture Fishery Supervision and Administration Office of the Yangtze River Basin, etc., and received support from the Ali Group Ant Financial, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and other institutions as well.
 
Ma Guangren, vice chairman of the Chinese Society of Forestry, pointed out that “biodiversity conservation is an important task in the construction of ecological civilization in China. It is an important job content to promote public awareness, recognition and participation in biodiversity conservation through nature education. The replicable tools and methods, specialized training, and localized activity design provided by this event have positive practical meanings for nature protected areas or practitioners or institutions. The Chinese Society of Forestry is willing to support WWF to promote this program together, and light up the blueprint for China's biodiversity education."
 
 
To serve a wider range of the society and public, this project designed a synchronous online and offline participation channel. Ms. Guo Jing, an expert on social responsibility from Ant Financial, said, “We hope to use the power of digital technology to support WWF, mobilize the enthusiasm and positive energy of online users, and arouse the public’s awareness of biodiversity conservation. In the meantime, we use big data to analyze and identify the status quo, in order to provide technical support for better design and follow-up activities."
 
 
Ms. Wang Xuechun, a famous producer and host of CCTV, also attended the event as a special guest. She introduced that: "In the past two years since the launch of "Zhengda Variety Show · Animals are Coming", the show has been adhered to using Chinese native species as a breakthrough point for field-specific filming. It is calling on people to care for nature and conserve nature through the stories of nature defenders while vividly introducing animal science popularization. We hope to explore a new path through TV media innovation education."
 
 
The synchronous Biodiversity and Conservation Education Sub-Forum has invited 7 guests from universities, international organizations, nature protected areas, media and other different institutions from the United Kingdom, the United States and China to share excellent cases and empirical methods based on biodiversity and conservation education conducted in national parks, natural parks, urban communities and schools. The guests achieved enthusiastic responses with the participants in both the sharing session and the interactive salon. WWF China looks forward to relying on more platforms of this kind in the future to cooperate with many more institutions and individuals across the country and showcase the fruitful results of China's biodiversity conservation education to the world.
 
 
 
 
For more information, please contact:
WWF(China) Environmental Education Programme Manager, Chen Lin,
Contact Number: 021-66056623 Email: chlin@wwf-opf.org