On 22-23 February 2016, the first Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) meeting of the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) was held at Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in Rome. During the meeting, Prof. MIN Qingwen from Center for Natural and Cultural Heritage (CNACH) of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research (IGSNRR) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Prof. Mauro Agnoletti from University of Florence were elected as Chair and Vice Chair of the SAG respectively.
China is one of the countries that responded to and joined in the FAO GIAHS initiative in its early years. Since 2005, guided by Academician LI Wenhua (former Chairman of GIAHS Steering Committee) and in cooperation with FAO and China Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), CNACH has carried out a great number of projects and has obtained remarkable achievements, such as heritage excavation and evaluation, establishment of management mechanism, scientific research and achievements sharing, practice exploration and demonstration, public awareness and capacity building and so on. China’s successful experiences of the GIAHS conservation and development have already attracted increasing attention all over the world. Domestically, GIAHS conservation and development have facilitated the ecological conservation, cultural inheritance and sustainable rural development.
Prof. MIN Qingwen is also the co-chair of the East Asia Research Association for Agricultural Heritage Systems (ERAHS), Deputy Director and Secretary-General of GIAHS/NIAHS Experts Committee of China’s Ministry of Agriculture, Deputy Director and Secretary-General of Agri-cultural Heritage Systems-Branch of China Association of Agricultural Science Societies (AHS-CAASS), Vice President of Ecological Society of China (ESC) and Chinese Society of Agricultural History. In 2013, he was awarded by FAO for appreciating his devoted and invaluable contribution to promote the development of GIAHS in China.
More details can be found at http://www.fao.org/giahs/giahs-news-events/news-detail/en/c/386048/.
