 Workshop.JPG)
The Zhangjiangkou Ecological Character Description (ECD) Workshop
Visit to Mangrove Natural Reserve
Zhangjiangkou Ecological Character Description (ECD) Workshop
The Zhangjiangkou Ecological Character Description (ECD) Workshop was held during 15~17 November in Zhangjiangkou Mangrove Natural Reserve in Yunxiao County of Fujian Province. The Reserve was selected as the first site to piloting the application of Australian ECD, which is the only country to date that has developed and adopted a framework for description of the ecological character of Ramsar sites.
An ECD is a framework that describes the ecosystem/benefits/services of a wetland and the key ecosystem component and ecosystem processes that underpin those services at a given point in time. During the three-day workshop, the project implementation team has discussed at length with the Reserve staff about ecosystem Components, Processes and Services (or CPS), identified indicators for critical CPS and key threats of ECD and knowledge gaps etc. This have provided the opportunity for the wetland site manager to understand scientific approaches to the description of ecological character of wetlands and also strengthen the wetland management and monitoring guidelines through the incorporation of ECD at national level. By the end of the project, the project implementation team will develop the policy recommendations to SFA on the potential adoption for an “ecological character description” approach to the management of Ramsar listed site in china.
Following the Zhangjiakou workshop, the project team had one-day GPS (Gender Mainstreaming, Public Participation and Social Impact Assessment) workshop on 21 November in Beijing to discuss with national agencies and wetland site managers how best to address the GPS aspects relating to implementation of the five wetland guidelines.
After the workshop, the project team headed to Yinchuan, Ningxia Autonomous Region for three-day training for local wetland park managers on wetland parks.