BFS Organized Another Walking around the Lake Event

On Saturday November 17, 2012, from 10:00-14:00 the event named Walking around the Lake and Knowing the Nature was organized in Honglingjin Park of Chaoyang District by the Netherlands embassy together with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Beijing Forestry Society and Shangri-la Institute for Sustainable Communities to generate more attention for natural environments and conservation.

During this special event, 4 different information booths were set up along the lake near the south, west, north and east gates, and education materials were available at each booth for the public to read and take home. People of all ages walked around the wonderful lake in Honglingjin Park, and stopped by the booths, where they could answer questions prepared by the participating organizations and for the correct answers they received badges. After finishing the whole walk, they got nice gifts. The whole event was more than just a walk. The public learned about the nature, biodiversity forest ecosystem, forestry and climate change, water resources and so on. And that enhanced people's awareness on biodiversity and ecosystem health and contributed to a positive relationship between human and nature.

A special program involving 14 Chinese and Dutch schoolchildren was included in the activity, to enhance cross-cultural exchange and understanding between China and Netherlands. The children played all kinds of games together. In addition, the program was conducted to meet their curiosity and willingness to learn new things through games, during which the understanding of natural beauty and the awareness of natural environment protection were enhanced, which was essential for the future generations to commit themselves to a sustainable live style. During the program, children also learned how to use carbon neutral compasses and they were encouraged to calculate carbon emissions at their home in the future. It is hopefully that the parents will also be influenced to contribute to climate change mitigation.