Study Tour on Forest Landscape Restoration Activities in Guangdong Province Conducted

From 18 January 2014, BFS a study tour in Guangzhou’s Jiaquan Watershed, to learn best practices for forest landscape restoration. BFS attended the Launch Ceremony of “the Eco-Longmen, Living Dongjiang: Protecting Watersheds for Sustainable Drinking Water” project, and visited the project sites.

The Launch event is sponsored by IUCN, International Forestry Cooperation Center of State Forestry Administration, Guangdong Forestry Department, and Danone Waters China, and co-supported by South China Agriculture University and Guangdong Academy of Forestry. About 80 participants, including Mr. ZHANG Xinsheng, the IUCN President, Ms. Aban Marker Kabraji, IUCN Asia Regional Director, Floris Wesseling, the President of Danone Waters China, Mr. WU Zhimin, the Deputy Director of International Forestry Cooperation Center of State Forestry Administration as well as representatives from Guangdong and Huizhou, and journalist from the Xinhua News Agency, Nanfang Daily etc, witnessed the launch of the project.

After the launch, there was a forum session moderated by Dr. Wang Xiaoping, BFS secretary-general. Experts from Guangdong Academy of Forestry and Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences and other institutes were invited to discuss forest landscape restoration techniques, multi-functional forest management and eco-agriculture, and environment education.

The Jiaquan Watershed in Longmen County, Guangdong Province, South China, covers an area of 2,300 k㎡. The Dongjiang River, to which the Jiaquan watershed is contributing, is one of the three major river systems comprising the Pearl River Basin. It directly suppliers the industrial, domestic, and ecological water used by nearly 40 million people in five major cities in Pearl River Delta, including Guangzhou and Hong kong. The Dongjiang Headwaters including Jiaquan is a China Priority Water Conservation Area. As as same as Miyun Watershed in Beijing, the Jiaquan Watershed suffers from water pollution, degradation of ecosystems, soil erosion, and abuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides.