BCAA Holds "Training Workshop on Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation in Protected Areas of Arid Lands"

The Biodiversity Conservation Alliance for Arid Lands (BCAA) held a "Training Workshop on Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation in Protected Areas of Arid Lands" in Urumqi from August 26 to 30. Six representatives from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan participated in the training workshop. The training workshop aims to promote cross-border biodiversity conservation cooperation and to improve capacity of managing protected areas in Central Asia, contributing to achieve the global 30x30 target (protecting 30% of land and oceans by 2030) of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF).

Jilili Abuduwaili, Deputy Director of the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), delivered an opening remarks to the training workshop. He gave a brief introduction of XIEG, and expressed the hope that all participants would build consensus and strengthen cooperation so as to make greater contribution to biodiversity conservation in Central Asia. Dr. QIAO Jianfang, Head of International Cooperation Division, briefly introduced BCAA which was launched by XIEG in 2022 at CBD COP15 and currently has 13 organization members. She encouraged participants' organizations to join BCAA and promote the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in arid lands through the platform of BCAA.

Prof. SUN Gang from the Xinjiang Academy of Forestry, Prof. SHEN Xiaoli from the Institute of Botany of CAS, and Prof. FAN Pengfei from Sun Yat-sen University, gave lectures on "Protected Areas in Xinjiang""The Way to Achieve the Global 30x30 Target" and "Cognitive Ability, Social Organization, and Population Density in Primates", respectively. Participants shared the information on the geographical features and biodiversity of the protected areas they represented respectively.

During the training workshop, participants also visited the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding and Research Center, the Kalamaili Nature Reserve, the Bogeda Biosphere Reserve, the Xinjiang Fukang National Field Scientific Observation and Research Station, and the Xinjiang Natural Museum.

Through the training, participants gained a deeper understanding of the importance of protected areas in realizing the GBF targets, and improved their capacity in biodiversity monitoring and conservation. The training workshop effectively promoted scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation among protected areas in Xinjiang and Central Asia, and enhanced the influence of BCAA as a platform for biodiversity conservation in arid lands.

Group photo (Image by XIEG)

Visit the Xinjiang Wild Horse Breeding and Research Center (Image by XIEG)

Visit an artificial water source for wildlife in the Kalamaili Nature Reserve (Image by XIEG)

Visit the Bogeda Biosphere Reserve (Image by XIEG)

Visit the Xinjiang Natural Museum (Image by XIEG)

Contact

LONG Huaping

Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography

E-mail: longhp@ms.xjb.ac.cn

Web: http://english.egi.cas.cn