More education on natural resource protection urged

A total of 305 social groups, schools and government departments released a joint advocacy initiative on Wednesday, calling for more public attention to and support for education on natural resource protection in China.

The move was launched by the Chinese Society of Forestry and gained support from the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, several schools, research institutes, nongovernmental organizations and enterprises.

On Wednesday, the administration released a notice to encourage more participation from social organizations in education on natural resource protection. It also designated 20 schools as education sites.

"We should better explore the potential of social organizations. Under the support of expert teams and volunteers, local forestry and grassland departments will make educational work more creative," said Peng Youdong, deputy director of the administration.

Peng also emphasized the importance of improving facilities and infrastructure for education, including better interpreting systems and new technologies that make promotion more interesting.

As people's living standards have witnessed steady improvement in the past decade, more public attention has focused on environmental and natural resource protection, said Zhao Shucong, chairman of the Chinese Society of Forestry.

"Several national parks have been built in recent years and others are under construction. Those parks will become a great platform to promote public education on natural resource protection," he said.

Zhao said society will launch a new commission on natural resource protection education and make future plans for the better use of forest parks, wetland parks and botanical gardens in the cities as education sites.