Annual Meeting of Sino-German Cooperation Project on “Comprehensively Governing Ecosystems of Poyang Lake Basin (GEPLB)” was successfully held in Beijing, Nanchang and Jiujiang stage by stage during the period from 28 to 31 March of 2008.

Beijing-stage meeting was held in Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research of Chinese Academy of Sciences on 28th March. Attendees included Prof. Wolfgang Haber (former President of the International Association for Ecology, former Chairman of the German Federal Council of Environmental Advisors of Germany, and former Chairman of the German Council for Land Management and Conservation), Prof. Beate Jessel (Professor of Potsdam university and president of Federal Agency for Nature Conservation of Germany), Prof. Christina von Haaren (Professor of Hannover university and deputy Chairman of the German Federal Council of Environmental Advisors of Germany), Dr. Bettina Hedden-Dunkhorst (leader of Division for International Cooperation of Federal Agency for Nature Conservation of Germany), and Dr. Stefan Hagemann (senior scientist of Max Planck Institute for Meteorology of Germany) as well as principal investigators of project, subprojects and sub-subprojects of GEPLB in Beijing. Prof. Jiyuan Liu, the principle investigator of GEPLB, firstly presented the conceptual framework of Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), method of Integrated Ecosystem Assessment of Western China (MAWEC), and preparing process and contents of GEPLB. Scientists from both Germany and China exchanged ideas on issues related to climatic change, biodiversity, landscape planning and regional climate model in the light of Prof. Liu’s presentation. German scientists expressed their strong interests in further GEPLB-based collaboration.

The Nanchang-stage meeting was held in Nanchang University from 29 to 30 March. About 100 German and Chinese scientists attended the meeting. After all principal investigators of project, subprojects and sub-subprojects of GEPLB presented their research progresses and plans, members of GEPLB Scientific Advisory Committee discussed key issues of implementing GEPLB and then principal investigators and subprojects of GEPLB studied suggestions from the Scientific Advisory Committee to improve the plans for implementing GEPLB.

After an investigation on-the-spot in Jiujiang city in the morning of 31 March, German and Chinese scientists joined the first high-rank-forum on Ecological Economy Zone Around Poyang Lake to offer advices for Protection of Clear Water in Poyang Lake, held in Jiujiang College. Prof. Xianghong Wang, prof. Jiyuan Liu, prof. Wolfgang Haber, and prof. Christana von Haaren were invited to give lectures. The lecture topics were respectively Mountain-River-Lake Project and Construction of Ecological Economy Zone around Poyang, Integrated Assessment and Management of Ecosystems in Poyang Lake Basin, Biological Diversity—A Concept Going Astray, and Landscape Planning—an Instrument for the Management of Sustainable Landscapes.　

By Tianxiang Yue