CAS botanist speaks about plant conservation at CBD advisory meeting
Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) has made encouraging contributions to the alleviation of poverty and the development of remote rural areas, notes Prof. HUANG Hongwen, director of the South China Botanical Garden, a research arm of CAS in botany.
Prof. Huang made the remarks at the 12th meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which was signed by 150 government leaders at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.
Dubbed SBSTTA-12, the meeting took place from 2-6 July at the headquarters of the UNESCO in Paris, which was attended by about 500 participants from 190 countries, and international and regional organizations.
As one of the eight keynote speakers, Prof. Huang delivered a talk on marketing of GSPC, which was adopted by CBD in 2002. Taking the development of a novel genotype of kiwifruit at the CAS Wuhan Botanical Garden as an example, he further explained research and ex situ conserved germplasm at botanical gardens have benefited rural development and poverty alleviation in Chin and the world. He also elucidated ways by which botanical gardens have promoted the cultivation of new varieties, improved food security, and upgraded agricultural productivity. Prof. Huang also highlighted China's Strategy for Plant Conservation.
