Global experts gather in Yunnan to advance tropical biodiversity conservation

Experts from China and abroad gathered on Sunday in Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province, to exchange insights on advancing tropical biodiversity conservation. Their meeting will conclude on Friday.

Zhang Yaping, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation that although tropical regions occupy a limited portion of the Earth's land surface, they harbor over two-thirds of the planet's life and sustain global ecological functions essential for human survival, including climate regulation, carbon storage, and water resource management.

"Climate change, habitat loss, and unsustainable use of biological resources are reshaping tropical ecosystems at an alarming pace," Zhang said, adding that the scientific community has a responsibility to reveal patterns and processes through research, to underpin decision-making with data, and to drive change through proactive action.

Chuck Cannon, an ecologist from the United States, said that ex-situ conservation is such an effective method for protecting plant biodiversity that it should be elevated to the same level of importance as in-situ conservation. "In ex-situ conservation, establishing a database is extremely important," Cannon said. "When you take a plant from the forest, cultivate it, collect seeds, conduct experiments, and study it, you need to be able to trace its origins and document every step of your interactions with it."

Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz, an ecologist from Spain, said that combining elephant corridors with early warning systems is crucial for elephant conservation. He pointed to China's compensation system that provides financial reimbursement to locals when wild elephants damage their crops or property, saying the approach encourages people to coexist more willingly with the animals.

Xing Yaowu, director of the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, highlighted an effective conservation strategy that involves developing advanced breeding techniques for endangered species and increasing their populations. "By integrating these species into everyday life, the incentive for illegal harvesting or uprooting could be significantly reduced," he said.

Xing stated that the botanical garden aims to carry out ex-situ conservation for more than 80 percent of China's endangered tropical species, shifting from sporadic efforts to a more systematic approach. "This will serve as the cornerstone of our future strategy," he added.