“Re-Wilding China” by environmental law and wildlife conservation expert Terry Townshend

NOTE: THIS ZOOM EVENT BEGINS AT 9 PM IN BEIJING

WHAT: RASBJ Zoom discussion followed by QA

WHEN: July 1, 21:00-22:00 Beijing Standard Time

MORE ABOUT THE EVENT: As we mourn the devastating loss of life around the world from COVID-19, attention is turning towards how humans must transform their relationship with nature.  China has taken some encouraging steps forward by banning the trade in terrestrial wildlife for food and the use of pangolin scales in Traditional Chinese Medicine. With a capital city teeming with wildlife (Beijing ranks No.2 among G20 capitals in terms of bird species recorded) and the country preparing to host the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Terry will explain why now is a huge opportunity for China to lead the transformation, beginning with ambitious plans to make Beijing a ‘capital of biodiversity’.

MORE ABOUT THE SPEAKER:   Terry Townshend is a Beijing-based environmental law and wildlife conservation expert. He runs the Birding Beijing website and has a passion for engaging the public about nature. Working with Chinese organisations including Peking University, the Beijing Forestry University and ShanShui Conservation Center, he has initiated projects to track some of Beijing’s iconic birds – such as the Beijing Swift and Beijing Cuckoo — and the first community-based wildlife tourism project with yak herders on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, focusing on the Snow Leopard. He is a Fellow of the Paulson Institute and an adviser to the Beijing government on how to make Beijing better for wildlife.

HOW MUCH: This event is free and exclusively for members of RASBJ and of other RAS branches.

HOW TO JOIN RASBJ: On Wechat first add MembershipRASBJ If you want to become a member (or, for PRC passport-holders, to become an Associate), Wechat your name, nationality, mobile number and email address plus the annual subscription amount (or, for Associates, the suggested donation) of RMB 300 for those resident in China, RMB 200 for those living overseas and RMB 100 for students. To learn more about the RASBJ, please go to www.rasbj.org or email [email protected]

UPCOMING RASBJ ZOOM EVENTS:

July 8: Author Dexter Roberts on his book, “The Myth of Chinese Capitalism”

July 15: Art historian Alfreda Murck explains the secrets of China’s most famous brush painting, revealed through digital technology

July 22: Frances Wood on “Mahjong in Maida Vale: the Chinese intellectual community in the United Kingdom, 1930s-50s”

July 29: Prof. Hans van de Ven on “China’s Maritime Customs Service: Robert Hart and China’s Globalization”

August 5: Prof. Arne Westad on “The origins of reform and opening in China in the 1970s”

in Sept:  Prof. Rana Mitter on “China’s Good War: How WWII is Shaping a New Nationalism”