Author / Lu Lei
The application process for the “2019 Pyongyang Birdwatching Festival” has been launched by China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) today!
On 25 December, the Secretary-General of CBCGDF Dr. Zhou Jinfeng and his team held a preparatory meeting for the “2019 Pyongyang Birdwatching Festival”. The 2019 festival will be jointly hosted by CBCGDF and the Ministry of Land and Environment Protection in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Scheduled in the next April for 7-10 days, this festival will be another monumental symbol of international collaboration in preserving the biodiversity of bird species and striving for harmony between human and nature.
The DPRK has a rich source of bird resources. On 11 April 2018, the DPRK officially joined the East Asian-Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP), whose mission is to protect migratory birds and their habitats for the well-being of mankind and became the 36th partner of EAAFP. Since then, the DPRK has been proactively conducting surveys and inspection programs on its domestic bird resources, coastlines and inland wetlands, while positively reaching out for cross-border cooperation in the preserving of its precious and indigenous bird species.
China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) is a leading international organization at the forefront of conserving the diversity of the Earth’s flora and fauna species for nearly 33 years. Led by its Secretary-General Dr. Zhou, CBCGDF is committed to biodiversity conservation at three levels (genetic, species and ecosystem) and sustainable development through a series of innovative and holistic approaches. For instance, Dr. Zhou has guided CBCGDF to creatively initiate the China Conservation Area for something at somewhere (CCAfa) system, which has been serving as an indispensable supplement to the government’s official system of protected areas. Public participation in protecting biodiversity, the natural environment, and ecological resources is another highlight by CBCGDF. The profound potential and implications of engaging individuals, local communities, leading businesses, civil society and as many other social groups as possible in environmental protection have been long recognized by Dr. Zhou and the CBCGDF team. In fact, the importance of mobilizing the force of the public has been noticed by increasingly more global conventions on biodiversity conservation. At the closing of the United Nations Biodiversity Conference 2018, Executive Secretary Ms. Cristiana Pas?ca Palmer explicitly called for the need to “engage a broader audience” to achieve “transformational changes” for the future ecosystem.
As the host of three successful International Bird-watching Festivals in Dalian and two in Tianjin, CBCGDF has accumulated expertise experience and developed a concise system for the organizing of bird-watching festivals at a global scale. The 2019 Pyongyang Bird-watching Festival will be themed “Ecological Protection and Tourism: The Synergetic Development of Environmental Protection and Economic Growth”. Birdwatching competition (with prizes) and other activities aimed at enhancing public understanding of migratory bird species and their awareness of preserving their biodiversity will be organized in Pyongyang. Moreover, to generate a sustainable mode of bird protection, another emphasis of this festival will be to develop ecotourism in the DPRK. Incomes and job opportunities from such tourism industry can be expected to provide additional financial incentives for the locals to comply with proposals and regulations concerning bird protection. Another promising outcome of the Pyongyang festival may be for its participants to assemble their various ideas about biodiversity conservation into an agreed-upon document, which can then be submitted to government officials and international treaties for reference.
We are now sincerely welcoming all stakeholders with a keen interest in ecotourism, biodiversity conservatio, and green development to join us in the Pyongyang Bird-watching Festival!
For further details on the festival and its participation, welcome follow CBCGDF on Wechat account: ChinaGreenExpress and other international social media, as well as via the contact information: v1@cbcgdf.org.
(Photo credit: CBCGDF)