The year of the tiger is almost upon us and with it will come a major new push in China to protect this most endangered of species. To mark this occasion, the FCCC brings together a stellar panel of experts from the World Bank and two leading conservation organisations to outline the current situation, the prospects for survival, a new report on the decline of habitat and the start of a wild tiger tourism program.
Since the last tiger year 12 years ago, the worldwide population of the animal has almost halved to 3,200. China has been among the worst affected. The South China tiger has not been seen for years and is feared extinct. Small numbers of Amur tiger remain in the northeast, but they are threatened by poaching and economic development.
Meanwhile, pressure is growing for a relaxation of the ban on trade in tiger products, particularly from the owners of tiger farms. Given these trends, the panel will consider what can be done to save the animal in its natural habitat.
Fan Zhiyong, species program director at the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), will share findings from a new report on tiger habitat in China and discuss efforts to control the trade in tiger parts and the impact of captive breeding. He recently made headlines with a warning that the tiger could soon be extinct in the wild.
Carter Brandon, Head of the World Bank’s China environment program, will discuss the options for international cooperation with the Chinese government on a new program to conserve the Amur tiger. This comes ahead of a Tiger Summit in Vladivostok, Russia, this September, expected to be hosted by Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and co-chaired by the World Bank’s President Robert Zoellick.
Xie Yan, China Country Program Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society and an Associate Research Professor at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, will look at grassroots problems and solutions, particularly the concerns of people living in Tiger areas and new initiatives to promote Tiger eco-tourism, tiger
festivals and awards for tiger conservation heroes.
DATE: Monday 8 February 2010
TIME: 11:30-13:30 (changed)
VENUE: Culture Wing of the Embassy of India (NOT at the Embassy of India)
Floor 11, East Tower, LG Twin Towers, Jianguomenwai Dajie (opposite Dongdaqiao Lu)
建国门外大街LG双子座大厦(东大桥路的对面)
Tel-6568 3218/3518/3618
ENTRANCE: free to FCCC members, 50 rmb on the door to non-members
REGISTRATION: email fcccadmin@gmail.com so we know numbers and for security clearance
**Bring passport or photo ID**
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Presented by:
Pier Carlo Padoan, Chief Economist and Deputy Secretary-General, OECD
Richard Herd, Senior Economist, Head of China and India Desk, Economics Department, OECD
The OECD’s first survey of the Chinese economy in five years looks at how the country has weathered the global crisis and assesses the challenges ahead. Its recommendations cover a range of issues from monetary policy and financial market opening to competition and social security. The report also looks at reforms needed to boost labour mobility, improve health care and ensure a sustainable pension system.
DATE: Tuesday 2 February 2010
TIME: 12:00 – 13:30
VENUE: Delegation of the European Union, Beijing
No.15 Dongzhimenwai Dajie, Sanlitun, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100600 (map)
ENTRANCE: free to FCCC members, 50 rmb on the door to non-members
REGISTRATION: email fcccadmin@gmail.com so we know numbers and for security clearance
**Bring passport or photo ID**
Read more
Happy Spring Festival!
Winter is not quite over, but come celebrate anyways at our monthly Happy Hour. It will also be a good chance to see friends before the Spring Festival break.
DATE: Friday, February 5
TIME: 6-10pm
VENUE: The Bookworm www.beijingbookworm.com
ENTRANCE: Free. Non-members very welcome as always
DIZZY DRINKS DISCOUNT: FCCC members wielding a valid FCCC membership card get the usual crazy discounts on drought Carlsberg and Yanjing, bottled Tsing Tao, house wine and mixed drinks.
This is an opportunity to pay your FCCC membership 2010 renewals. Please let us know in advance so we can get your card ready.
Foreign correspondents in a few bureaus in Beijng have recently discovered that their Gmail accounts had been hijacked. Their emails were being forwarded to a stranger’s address.
Here is how you can check if your Gmail has been compromised:
We remind all members that journalists in China have been particular targets of hacker attacks in the last two years. Please be very careful about what links you click on, what email attachments you open, and do run virus checks regularly.
If you have been hacked, please let the FCCC know at fcccadmin@gmail.com. We can help put you in touch with experts to run diagnostics.
Some things you can do generally to improve security:
More than 12 out of every 100 people in China are now over the age of 60, straining welfare services for the elderly which are “severely insufficient’”, state media reported recently.
Estimates suggest that by 2050 the proportion of the population over 60 will double to 24 per cent. Officials have already sounded the alarm bell over the “grave trend” of an aging population while care services for the elderly are inadequate.
Even as traditional filial piety dictates that children care for their parents, China’s one-child policy has fundamentally altered its demographics, making the question of how to provide long term care for its growing greying population increasingly pressing.
Ms Wang Xiaoyan, founder and director of local non-governmental group Community Alliance, which focuses on the elderly, will share some research findings and discuss solutions raised at a conference her NGO organised in October 2009 for government and civil society representatives.
She will also discuss a survey done by her group to measure the effectiveness of a pilot project the Beijing municipal government started in October 2008 to help old people continue to live in their own communities.
DATE: Monday, January 11th
TIME: 12:30pm
VENUE: cafe Zarah
42 Gulou Dongdajie,
Gulou
near Jiaodaokou
Dongcheng District
鼓楼东大街42号
8403-9807
Click here for map
ENTRANCE: free to FCCC members, 50 rmb on the door to non-members
REGISTRATION: capacity is limited so priority will be given to those who register at fcccadmin@gmail.com
