The Launching Ceremony for the 11th World Wilderness Congress (WILD 11) was Held in Beijing

BEIJING, Jan. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — On Jan. 20, 2018, the Launching Ceremony of the 11th World Wilderness Congress (WILD 11) was held in Beijing. It was announced that China would be its venue, and the event is scheduled to take place in 2019, with Global Times, WILD Foundation and the China Institute for Strategy and Management as co-hosts. The theme of the Congress will be Wilderness and Ecocivilization – About the Future of Mankind and Nature. The achievements of different stages of the event will be presented, with a series of themed, cultural and artistic activities in 2018-2019 and lead to the main congress (Grand Finale) in 2019.

According to the hosts, the World Wilderness Congress is a global environmental forum with the longest history in operation in the world and aims to motivate and generate positive and practical solutions and construct mutually beneficial and symbiotic relations between nature and human society. For the forty years since its founding, it has made practical and inspiring achievements around the globe – the Congress started the process that created the Global Environment Facility (GEF) of the World Bank, founded the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), respected and integrated indigenous people in Australia and Latin America into contemporary conservation.

The 10th World Wilderness Congress (WILD 10) was held in October, 2013, with Queen Sofía of Spain as its Honorary president. A total of 1,100 representatives from 55 countries were present at the event and 25,000 from 102 countries attended online. In 2009, the 9th World Wilderness Congress (WILD 9) was held in Mexico, opened personally by President Felipe Calderon Hinojosa. A total of 1,500 representatives from 65 countries were present at the event and over 10,000 from 100 countries attended online. Both Congresses were exceptionally grand occasions. Meanwhile, it is of uniquely strategic and practical significance for the Congress to have its venue set in China.

Ecology has become the biggest common topic in the whole humankind’s society and has exceeded the economy and development as Top 1 of the three main issues that the men are facing with. The ecology of the planet is a whole. Ecological environment resources are globally allocated and their benefits globally shared. The use of environment resources by one country or region often has a big impact on the wellbeing of the common people of different countries in the world. Since China is the one and only country with the Eco civilization construction as its important national strategy. Hu Xijin, Editor-in-Chief of Global Times, emphasized the great determination of China on pushing ahead with ecological undertakings, “In his Report to the 19th CPC National Congress, President Xi Jinping mentioned ‘eco civilization’ 12 times, ‘beautiful’ 8 times and ‘environmental friendliness’ 15 times respectively, and put forward, for the first time ever, the target of ‘constructing a prosperous, powerful, democratic, civilized, harmonic and beautiful modern socialist country’.” Hu emphasized that in 2017, at a time when the US announced its pulling out of the Paris Agreement, China not only adhered to its commitment to the international community but also won a series of international awards for its environmental protection efforts, such as preventing and controlling desertification, protecting the ozone layer, and winning the “Champion of the Earth” awards. A beautiful China has presented a beautiful transcript to the world and has proved to the world what the real responsibility and commitment of a great country is. China has become an important participant, contributor and leader in the construction of global ecological civilization.

Vance Martin, Chairman of World Wilderness Congress (WWC), looked back on the Apartheid period of the history of South Africa when WWC was established. He pointed out that at that hard time, a South African white man, Ian Player, and a local Zulu leader, Magqubu Ntombela, joined hands on account of their mutual respect and shared vision in disregard of the Law of Apartheid. They saved the white rhino from the brink of distinction. They pioneered the first environmental experience project in South Africa with the participation of multiple races. At last, they launched the first World Wilderness Congress (WWC) in Johannesburg in 1977. This process itself proves that the WWC is an international event beyond races and covering multiple industries.

These principles have guided the collaborative process of the WWC as it occurred 10 times around the world since 1977. It is these principles, and the commitment to achieving practical, positive and inspiring results, that has drawn the participation of many and diverse people and professions, including heads of state, senior ministers, policymakers, business leaders, top scientists, Nobel Prize laureates, tribal elders, community members, students, young professionals, and more.

Each Congress also has many aspects. It starts early, with events and exhibitions throughout the host country that lead to the Global Gathering itself at the end of the process. At the Congress itself, the results are announced and reviewed. There are training sessions, cultural exhibitions, science and training sessions, gatherings of ethnic leaders, a public expo of conservation photography, the arts and business initiatives, involvement of local schools, media and communications programs, and more

These delegates to the WWC built the substance, created the many outcomes of the WWC, and produced its outstanding record of accomplishments. Over 40 years, they made it into the longest running most successful, international, public process on the environment.

A central focus of the WWC is the irreplaceable importance of wilderness to the health and well-being of people. It is important for media professionals to understand and be able to communicate to the public why wilderness is so important. Therefore, they will understand why the WWC is the opportunity for China to expand its record of nature conservation for its people and for the world.

The world today is rapidly reshaping itself. Among other things, it is entering the era of China, in which China has the vision, knowledge and commitment to help the world be a better place. If done correctly in China and also applied across the Belt and Road Initiative, Ecocivilization can be a model for the entire world to admire and emulate. Wilderness is an important part of that model.

WILD11 – the 11th World Wilderness Congress – is here in China to help make that happen. It can show how working together will make it happen best for all people and for the wilderness that supports them.   

Yu Yanfei, Executive Secretary-General of the China Institute of Strategy and Management, pointed out that the whole world must pull together to solve and contain global ecological and environmental crises. The successful launching of the World Wilderness Congress (WWC) in China, a country with its population accounting for 1/5 of the world total, indicates that the East and the West have come to agreement on the construction of eco civilization – a common pursuit regarding the fate of mankind. They have reached a complete consensus on the most pressing issue for human development and have set the direction for the evasion of ideological differences between the East and the West so as to achieve common development with spiritual unity. They have found hope for the survival and sustainable development of the humankind.

Yu Yanfei would like to announce on behalf of the host of the Congress that:

1. The Organizing Committee of the 11th World Wilderness Congress (WILD 11), co-hosted by WILD Foundation, the China Institute of Strategy and Management and Global Times of People’s Daily, has been formally set up.

2. The “Steering Group on Ecological, Cultural and Artistic Projects”, co-established by the China Institute of Strategy and Management and Global Times of People’s Daily, has been formally set up.

3. This May, the “Belt and Road International Forum on Eco civilization” and the global press conference for the 11th World Wilderness Congress (WILD 11) will be held, and the “National Ecological, culture and art Project” will be formally kicked off.

Activities of the World Wilderness Congress (WWC) will gradually present after the launching ceremony. Before the final global congress, the hosts will carry out a series of activities, exhibitions, training courses, and scientific lectures, as well as a number of artistic and commercial initiatives around the theme of environmental protection and ecology throughout China, with the participation of schools in different regions and support from media and communication. At the main congress in 2019, all the achievements will be announced and reviewed, and a Chinese solution will be presented, integrating wilderness protection and the harmonious co-development of man and nature.

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SOURCE Global Times