PRESS RELEASE:EU-CHINA and IUCN China Countdown 2010

Biodiversity Week 2009Showcasing nature conservation in china

Saturday 16th May - Friday 22nd May 2009, Beijing China

WHAT:

EU-China Biodiversity Program (ECBP) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Countdown 2010 China, together with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Global Village Beijing (GVB) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) are organising a week long event of biodiversity films, exhibitions, dramas and debate to celebrate the International Day for Biological Diversity Biodiversity (May 22nd) 2009. The event is being organised to help raise public awareness surrounding the current issues facing biodiversity in China.

The launch of the week’s activities will be held in the Beijing Zoo on Saturday 16th May, when both ECBP and GVB will start the “Save Paper, Save Trees” campaign. The campaign is aimed at highlighting the need to save forests and forest biodiversity through the practice of reducing the use of wood based paper products such as tissues and paper napkins through the use of traditional Handkerchiefs. The handkerchiefs have been made by the survivors of the recent Sichuan Earthquakes, and sales of the handkerchiefs will be used to directly support the villages affected by the disaster.

Documentary films showcasing biodiversity in China, the challenges facing conservation such as logging and tourism, as well as some of the solutions being implemented to conserve and restore the balance of nature across the country, will be shown throughout the week in a number of locations around Beijing.

Experts in the area of biodiversity and conservation within China will also be giving talks during evening film and speaker nights throughout the week. These talks will focus around specific topics such as China’s dazzling biodiversity, what challenges China is facing now at a crossroad of aggressive economic development and urgent need to protect its fragile environment, and the grassroots efforts to save China’s remaining biodiversity hotspots.

A biodiversity exhibition will also be ongoing throughout the week at the Beijing Zoo Australia Hall. This exhibition will contain a mixture of biodiversity paintings and pictures from Chinese artists, including a 71- meter long traditional Chinese Paintings featuring a great variety of birds across China by a young famous Chinese artist Li Li.

Students from Beijing Fendou Primary School and the Primary School under Peking University will take part in “Children’s day” activities during the week, including a guided tour around the Beijing zoo followed by a performance of the WCS Animal Drama. Another performance by the WCS Animal Drama will take place in the Sony ExploraScience Museum earlier in the week.

Biodiversity Conservation University Students Debate Final, co-organised by EU-China Biodiversity Programme and Wildlife Conservation Society will be held on the International Day for Biological Diversity (May 22) 2009, with four university teams selected for the final round following a half-year nation-wide competition to discuss on China’s environmental future.

WHERE:

Activities will be held at a number of locations around Beijing during the week. Daytime film showings will be held at the Beijing Zoo and the Sony ExploraScience Museum, with evening film and speaker nights held at Beijing Normal University and Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art in Beijing’s Arts district. The Biodiversity Conservation University Students debate will take place in Beijing Forestry University.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: For a full list of the week’s schedule of events, venue locations and times please refer to the attached event schedule or visit the ECBP, IUCN China, or Countdown 2010 websites: www.ecbp.cn ; www.iucn.org; www.countdown2010.net/china