On the 1st March 2015, one of our CATS members, Charlotte (Charlie) Whitham, travelled to Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Gardens (XTBG) to represent the Wildlife Institute and Beijing Forestry University at the “Conservation on the Borders” workshop. XTBG organised the workshop and invited a range of representatives from international and national academic institutions, government agencies and NGOs. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss our current efforts towards effective transboundary conservation across the Southeast Asia region, particularly where China borders Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam. With this purpose, many issues were covered including: distribution of endangered species in the region, habitat and protected area connectivity, the importance of human livelihoods, governance structures, methods to improve enforcement of legislation related to hunting and illegal wildlife trade, and many others! Charlotte was invited to talk about her work in Nangunhe Nature Reserve, bordering Myanmar to the west and south. Here, she presented her talk “Managing the ecosystem services and disservices of biodiversity to enhance tiger and elephant conservation”.
On the final day of the workshop, all attendees came together to brainstorm and produce the “Xishuangbanna Declaration” – a document which prioritises the key issues discussed during the 3-day workshop and which provides clear recommendations for how to move forward in improving the effectiveness of transboundary conservation in the region.
One step forward was communicating our message to the wider public. During the closing ceremony we were fortunate to have His Royal Highness Prince William present to give a closing speech emphasizing his support for our conservation efforts in the region. This of course brought a huge amount of media attention to the workshop, helping us reach a wider audience in communicating our message. Charlotte was also chosen to be included in a 10-person youth delegation, who would meet and chat with the Prince after the closing ceremony. It was a great opportunity for her and the rest of the delegation to share their passion for conservation with the Prince and also encourage him to continue his support for conservation science and action.
On the final day of the workshop, all attendees came together to brainstorm and produce the “Xishuangbanna Declaration” – a document which prioritises the key issues discussed during the 3-day workshop and which provides clear recommendations for how to move forward in improving the effectiveness of transboundary conservation in the region.
One step forward was communicating our message to the wider public. During the closing ceremony we were fortunate to have His Royal Highness Prince William present to give a closing speech emphasizing his support for our conservation efforts in the region. This of course brought a huge amount of media attention to the workshop, helping us reach a wider audience in communicating our message. Charlotte was also chosen to be included in a 10-person youth delegation, who would meet and chat with the Prince after the closing ceremony. It was a great opportunity for her and the rest of the delegation to share their passion for conservation with the Prince and also encourage him to continue his support for conservation science and action.