Wildlife Conservation in China
Session Organizer: Wei Fu-Wen and Sun Yue-Hua

Description: China is a country rich in biodiversity with its fauna characterized by endemic species and many endangered species. The land area of China is 9.6 million square kilometers which is the third largest in the world, and the length of the coastline is 18,000 kilometers, ranking fourth in the world. Because of the large area and the variety of the landform, China has about 11.5% of the world mammal species, 13.5 % of the world bird species, 6.7 % of world reptile species and 6.8% of the world amphibian species. The Chinese government and scientists are very concerned about the protection of endangered species. After years of effort, many achievements have been made both in the scientific research and actions of protection in China.

Since the reform policy in China in late 1970s, China has made many legislatures in the field of natural and wildlife conservation. Much effort has been dedicated to the in situ conservation. China has established more than 2,300 natural reserves to protect the endangered wildlife and its habitat, as well as important and vulnerable ecosystems. At the same time, China has established 14 wildlife rescuing and breeding centers and 7 wildlife parks. Many rare and endangered species such as giant pandas, Yangtze crocodiles, crested ibis, and tigers were surviving in ex situ conservation. Chinese scientists in collaboration with their foreign colleagues carried out many surveys, expeditions on wild fauna, Biodiversity and endangered species inventory and information system have been set up in the country. In this symposium, the speakers will introduce the wildlife conservation researches in China, and also the natural reserves there. The symposium will cover wildlife species "from the mountain to the sea" and we will also introduce the beautiful natural reserve in China "from mountain to the sea".