On January 10, the review meeting of the UNDP / GEF YSLME Phase II Project was held in Beijing. Project representatives from 5 units including China Aquatic Products Circulation and Processing Association, Blue Ribbon, Institute of Geography of Chinese Academy of Sciences and China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) attended in the meeting and made reports on project implementation. Guo Yinfeng, the Chief Technical Advisor and Manager of UNDP / GEF YSLME Phase II Project of UNOPS and the project officer Yonggi Kim attended the meeting and reviewed the implementation of the project. The "Building the Yellow Sea-Bohai Spotted Seal Marine Conservation Area Network" project, which was implemented by the spotted seals action team of CBCGDF and CBCGDF China Conservation Area (CCAfa) system, was officially completed and successfully concluded.
This project organized nearly twenty CBCGDF China Conservation Areas (CCAfa) sites including China Conservation Area for spotted seals at Panjin and Dalian, China Conservation Area for relict gulls at Tianjin, China Conservation Areas for Oriental storks at Lvshun, China Conservation Area for waterfowl at Tangshan, and focused on the science popularization of four CCAa sites centered on spotted seals. At the same time, the project organized the compilation, distribution, and promotion of a special book “Spotted Seals on Broken Ice”; produced and broadcast public welfare short videos about spotted seals; organized scientific popularization activities on spotted seals; produced cultural products on promoting the education on spotted seals; worked hard on the new media operations about spotted seals.
The project carried out large-scale science popularization campaign about spotted seals in Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing, Inner Mongolia, Anhui Province, Zhejiang Province, Xiangyang City, Hubei Province, Changde City, Hunan Province, Tangshan City, Hebei Province, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province, Dalian City, Panjin, Yingkou, Lushun and Huludao and other Chinese regions. More than 2,900 people have attended the on-site activties. China ’s new media platform ’s cumulative reads exceeded 140,000. The public welfare videos reached 3 million person-times. More than 2,500 copies of "Spotted Seals on Broken Ice" were given away for free. Two types of plush toys with customized spotted seals images were given to frontline fishermen. 21,000 annual calendars with spotted seal contents were also distributed.
This project carried out various forms of advocating and education activities on the protection of spotted seals, guided the public to actively participate in the protection of spotted seals, strengthened the school's science education on spotted seals for students, and enriched fishermen, volunteers, students, etc. The popularization has raised the public's awareness of wild marine animals and marine environmental protection and has won widespread recognition from the masses and front-line volunteers. Through the efforts of colleagues of CBCGDF and of CCAfa's network system, the task of “Building the Yellow Sea-Bohai Spotted Seal Marine Conservation Area Network” was successfully completed, and a good publicity effect was achieved.
"Especially fishermen and students, they are the focus of our science popularization. We must make every penny of the project grant really work," Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, the Secretary-General of CBCGDF guided everyone like this when the project was implemented, “the most important science objects of spotted seals are undoubtedly the fishermen and students who represent the future hopes. "
Although the project is over, the spotted seals’ migrating, and breeding mean a new beginning. The battle against poachers is protracted. As the New Year of 2020, we are fully prepared to protect spotted seals at anytime and anywhere starts form China Conservation Areas.
(Photo credit: CBCGDF)
Original Chinese article:
http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/10992.html
By / Maggie