Zhejiang hosts biodiversity summer camp

More than 40 university teachers and students shared their experiences from a summer camp themed on biodiversity in Jinhua, Zhejiang province with environmentalists and government officials during an online forum on Friday.

The four-day outdoor study tour happened at Nanshan Nature Reserve in Wucheng district, Jinhua, where teachers and students did research on issues including water ecology, insect diversity, exotic species invasion and human-animal conflict in the nature reserve.

Camp members came from renowned universities, including Tsinghua University in Beijing, Fudan University in Shanghai, Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang and University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom.

Hu Xiaoyi, a master's degree candidate in clinical medicine from Zhejiang University, took part in the camp and his study tour revolved around wild fruit trees in the reserve.

"I am honored to be with students and teachers from across China. During the camp, my group studied and took pictures of wild fruit trees. We organized the photos and left them to villagers near the reserve to raise their awareness to protect and make good use of these plants," the 25-year-old said.

The camp and the forum were jointly held by the department of ecology and environment of Zhejiang province, the provincial committee of the Communist Youth League and the Jinhua government under the guidance of the United Nations Environment Program China Office and the Office of the Executive Committee of the Preparatory Work for the Fifteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Tu Ruihe, head of the UNEP China Office, made remarks at the forum opening, saying protecting the environment, caring for nature, and conserving biodiversity require generations of efforts.

"It is noble to protect the environment and a pleasure to explore nature. I hope the youth will take it as their lifelong commitment to care and support ecology and the environment, while encouraging their family and friends to join," he said.

During the forum, Jaee Nikam and Tooba Masood, authors of the sixth edition of the Global Environmental Outlook and research fellows at UNEP, shared the youth edition of the report.

Sonia Manandar, the winner of the 2019 Young Champions of the Earth Asia-Pacific region, gave a video keynote speech entitled "Nepal Green Mobile Energy Platform".