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Sustaining the Pulse online
KFBG's guidelines for nature reserve managers in the South China region, "Sustaining the Pulse", are now available online. Intended to assist staff with motivation, understanding and prioritisation of the work of conserving biodiversity, it covers subjects from objective-setting, leadership and personnel, inventory and monitoring, addressing conflicts, zoning and planning, to enabling ecosystem and species recovery, public awareness and community engagement, training, funding and organisational growth. While we hope it will already be of value to those on the ‘frontline' of conservation, we are keen to receive feedback so that future editions or supplements can meet user needs.
See:
John R Fellowes, Michael WN Lau, Ng Sai Chit, Bosco PL Chan, Ramesh Boonratana and Andy Brown 2008. ‘Sustaining the Pulse' – Managing for Biodiversity Conservation in South China's Forest Nature Reserves. KFBG, Hong Kong. 136 pp. in English; in Chinese.
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Bringing fresh ideas to
Hainan's nature reserves
Nature reserve staff from Hainan have taken part in a series of training experiences in recent months. In June 2008 a team from Yinggeling and other nature reserves joined KFBG staff in a visit to Maolan National Nature Reserve in Guizhou. There they learned about the efforts of Maolan staff to control illegal activity and support local community development. The Yinggeling team were keen to absorb the experiences, good and bad, and much appreciated the open spirit of their Maolan counterparts; some aspects of Maolan's working protocols have since been integrated into the Yinggeling work plans. The visit culminated in an enjoyable football match.In November 2008, Yinggeling staff came to Hong Kong for a training and interflow workshop on environmental education and community work. This followed some discussions with
KFBG on creative ways to promote environmental awareness among visitors, residents and staff. They visited several environmental education centres in Hong Kong, and worked on some education plans for the reserve. A second Hainan group – from the coastal nature reserves of Dongzhaigang, Qinglan'gang, Xinying and others – attended a wetland management training course run by World Wide Fund for Nature (Hong Kong) at Mai Po Marshes Nature Reserve.
Studentships 2008
The China Programme's 11th Studentships gathering was held in Guangzhou in August 2008, in collaboration with South China Agricultural University and South China Botanical Garden. Recent KFBG Studentship holders gave presentations, along with keynote speeches by Prof. Zeng Ling from SCAU, Prof. Xing Fuwu, Dr Chen Hongfeng from SCBG and KFBG's Dr Bosco Chan. Following 20 applications for this year's Studentships, four awards were made:
The list of 2008 KFBG Studentships Awardees
| Liu Nana |
M.Phil.
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College of Life Sciences,
Nanjing Normal University |
Genetic diversity and extinction risk in the butterfly
Teinopalpus aureus |
| Long Wenxing |
Ph.D.
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Institute of Forest Ecology,
Environment & Protection,
Chinese Academy of Forestry |
Survey and assessment of the plant diversity of montane
mossy dwarf forests in Hainan Island |
Cai Fengjin
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M.Phil.
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College of Life Sciences,
Guangxi Normal University |
The impact of Procambarus clarkii [an American crayfish]
on aquatic biodiversity in Guilin |
| Zhang Haomiao |
Ph.D. |
College of Natural Resources & Environment, South China Agricultural University |
Taxonomic study of dragonfly larvae in Guangdong Province |
Hong Kong Romer's Treefrog rescue offers hope for threatened amphibians
The successful reintroduction of Romer's Treefrog Chirixalus romeri to the wild in Hong Kong, following rescue of an island subpopulation threatened by the construction of Chek Lap Kok airport in the 1990s,1 offers hope for other highly threatened amphibians worldwide. Such was the conclusion at a recent conference in London on halting the disastrous declines in amphibian species, where delegates heard that the species has established itself in seven out of eight reintroduction sites.2 The South China-endemic frog is one of just seven amphibian species in the world for which reintroduction from captive-bred population has led to self-sustaining populations in the wild.3 The Romer's Frog project, begun in the early 1990s by KFBG China Programme head Michael Lau with funding from the (Royal) Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Ltd., involved collaboration between various organizations including The University of Hong Kong, Melbourne Zoo, KFBG and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Dept. of Hong Kong Government.
Sources:
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