A CBCGDFs Intern’s Reflection on “The Mainstreaming of Agricultural Biodiversity and ITPGRFA” Seminar- 中国生物多样性保护与绿色发展基金会

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A CBCGDFs Intern’s Reflection on “The Mainstreaming of Agricultural Biodiversity and ITPGRFA” Seminar

2019/7/14 15:41:00 本站

On July 10th, under the sponsorship by the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), the supporting from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA), and the University of International Business and Economics, “Mainstreaming Agricultural Biodiversity and International Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture” Seminar was successfully held in Beijing. The seminar was strongly supported by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas, Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and the University of International Business and Economics. This is the sequel to the seminar on “Conservation and Benefit Sharing of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Focusing on Agricultural Biodiversity After 2020” that sponsored by the CBCGDF in March this year. The holding of these two seminars has played an important role in promoting China’s accession to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). At this point, the two seminars were successfully concluded.

As an intern of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), the following is my opinion on this seminar from the intern's immature perspective. The purpose of this seminar is to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of China's accession to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and to provide scientific and objective expert opinions. During the seminar, Dr. Rene Castro and Mr. Kent Nnadozie from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations made a brilliant analysis on the relevance and importance of complex background, seeds, climate, and water resources of China's accession to ITPGRFA, and further promoted adding the concept of “Beautiful China” into ITPGRFA. Zhang Xinyou, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of Chongren County People’s Congress, and Yang Qingwen, a researcher at the Crop Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, made a case study on the mainstream protection of Chongren’s Hemp Chicken and wild rice. Zhang Lijian, former vice president of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences introduced his innovative thinking and expanded application. By applying the principles and methods of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) into the agricultural field, so that modern agriculture and TCM can be integrated across borders. Also, Associate Professor Alice Hughes explained how to protect biodiversity in the complex landscape zones in an integrated way. At the end of the seminar, Mr. Jian Yi, the head of the Good Food Fund of the CBCGDF, gave a brief report on the background of Good Food Fund, introduced food safety and public health, as well as the menu of the seminar lunch.

I gained a lot of experience during this precious seminar. As a high school graduate who has just come to the CBCGDF for an internship, this seminar not only let me know the knowledge about biodiversity but also let me know about how to deal with people, the appropriate working attitude as well as correcting mistakes in time. All the experts' reports and speeches also helped me learn more about ITPGRFA and broaden my knowledge of biodiversity. In addition, I also finally understand the feelings about how happy it is to do what I like and achieve something in my professional field. The seminar also improved my ability to thinking. Especially in the last part of the expert discussion, they explained their answers from different perspectives and fields, which made me understand the different perspectives of thinking for the same problem, and how to deal with the problem, discuss the problem and solve the problem. Finally, what I learned was a modest working attitude and a polite way to treat people. This is a manifestation of a person's character and quality. It takes time to accumulate and experience to hone and test. This is the embodiment of a person's virtue and morality, it requires the accumulation of time and countless experience.

Also, I would like to make a self-reflection through this seminar. Since I have just started my internship, I am not competent and experienced enough, and I have not attended such a big seminar. Therefore, I was quite panic and worried about some inevitable negligence. In this seminar, my main responsibility was taking photos. However, due to the lack of experience, some of the photos were not in high resolution, and the angle of the snapshot was not good enough. I realized my shortcomings and I needed to continue to practice and learn modestly. I hope that my photography skill will improve on my opportunity, and I also hope that I can be more mature and calm next time.

The “Mainstreaming of Agricultural Biodiversity and FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) Seminar” is a very meaningful and professional event. I really appreciate my colleagues from the propaganda department for giving me this valuable opportunity to participate in the seminar. I hope that the CBCGDF will be able to organize more such activities in the future, let more talented people participate in, and produce more “sparks of collaboration”!