Recently, Dr. Zhou Jinfeng, the Secretary-General of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) had a fruitful exchange with Mr. Sergio Zelaya-Bonilla, Senior Land & Water Officer, Head of Geospatial Coordination Unite (CBDS) of Climate, Biodiversity, Land & Water Department of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Dr. Zhou expressed his sincere gratitude for Sergio on his attending the opening ceremony of the 4th Chongren Hemp Chicken Food Culture Tourism Festival and unveiling the plaque of CBCGDF’s newly established China Conservation Area for Hemp Chicken at Chongren (CCAfa). As a non-governmental organization advocating ecological civilization and sustainable development, CBCGDF has been closely monitoring the biodiversity conservation of agriculture. The protection of Chongren hemp chicken is a model for the conservation of agricultural biodiversity. With the agriculture in Chongren County, Fuzhou City, Jiangxi Province, and the protection of the hemp chicken are receiving more and more attention from all parties, the chicken with local characteristic will also "fly-out" of Chongren to the world in the future. Sergio fully affirmed the cultivation of Chongren hemp chicken and believed that this ecological environment protection of the breeding ground is in line with the development model of residents' welfare and the development concept of sustainable agriculture.
One of the purposes of Sergio's visit to China is to promote China and UN FAO and German institutions to jointly support tea cultivation and production in African countries, especially in China. Only 6 kilograms of carbon dioxide is produced per kilogram of tea. At present, tea production in Africa will produce 14 kilograms of carbon dioxide. The export of China's green tea-making technology reflects China's participation in global environmental governance. Improving the ecology of the earth is a major contribution to China.
Sergio is an authoritative expert on the cultivation of tea, coffee beans, cocoa beans, cashews, and other species. He has visited the famous tea towns in China, including Fujian Province, and Yunnan Province, and tasted the famous teas there. Dr. Zhou was surprised to find that Sergio had learned about the "Seven pieces of Chinese treasure – harp, chess, calligraphy, painting, poem, liquor and blossom", and the "Seven life's daily necessities – firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy, vinegar, and tea", and he understands the meaning of "tea". It is worthy of being an expert in terms of Chinese culture and the tea industry. Sergio believes that "in-the-plate meal" is important, but lacking "tea" other than "meals" will lead to a lack of communication and culture.
The people who attended the meeting also included Mr. Wang Zhiyong, Director, and Mr. Li Yiming, Executive Director of the CBCGDF Ancient Tree Tea Special Fund. They gave a detailed introduction to the ancient tree museum in Yunnan Province, and the plan to protect the ancient tree tea by establishing the CBCGDF Ancient Tree Tea Special Fund.
Sergio introduced Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) of FAO. To safeguard and support the world's agri-cultural heritage systems, FAO started an initiative for the identification and the dynamic conservation of GIAHS in 2002. These traditional agricultural systems represent models of sustainable agricultural production (http://www.fao.org/climate-change/programmes-and-projects/detail/en/c/878362/). Sergio believes that the development of the tea industry is conducive to biodiversity conservation, and it is expected that the ancient tree tea in Yunnan Province will be included in GIAHS at an early date.
Both sides express their unfinished interest in the day’s rich exchanges and look forward to seeing each other again at the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming City, Yunnan Province in October 2020.
(Photo credit: CBCGDF)
Original Chinese article:
http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4937/9987.html
By / Maggie