Annual meeting 2012 of China Primate Specialist Group and the international conference of black crested gibbon conservation has been successfully held in Pu’er and Jingdong from 30th September to 2nd October. The conference was sponsored by China Primate Specialist Group and state key laboratory of genetic resources and evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology (KIZ), Chinese academy of sciences, with the theme of “save gibbons in china”. The Party committee and government of Pu’er and Jingdong, together with the management bureau of Wuliang national natural reserve hosted the meeting, and several NGOs, e.g. the Nature Conservancy (TNC), Fauna and Flora International (FFI) as well as five other units provided indispensable support.
The conference opened in 30th September in Pu’er. Sheng Peiping (the secretary of municipal Party committee in Pu’er), Zhang Yu (the secretary of Jingdong county Party committee), Wang Wen (vice-director of Kunming Institute of Zoology, CAS), and Long Yongcheng (Chair for China Primate Specialist Group) addressed the meeting in the open ceremony. More than hundred specialists and researchers from China (including Hongkong and Taiwan), America, Great Britain, Swiss, Australia and Nepal took part in the meeting. In the first part of seminars, Long Yongcheng, Warren Brockelman (worldwide famous gibbon researcher), and Jiang Xuelong (specialist in gibbon study, research fellow from Kunming Institute of Zoology, CAS) gave brilliant speech on primate and gibbon conservation in china and throughout the world. It was worth mentioning that Connie Rogers Roosevelt, the chairman of New York Chapter of The Nature Conservancy delivered a speech about Primate/gibbon ecotourism as a Conservation Tool, well promoting our understanding of conservation management. In the next two days, other scholars talked about latest advances in their study field.
Jingdong, an autonomous county of Yi nationality in Pu’er, Yunnan, is the only county that owns two national nature reserves: Wuliang and Ailao. As many as 89 black crested gibbon groups and more than 500 individuals live there. Compared with only 1200-1300 individuals in the world, Jingdong sheltered a really large population of the species, and that is why Jingdong was named as “the hometown of Nomascus concolor in China” by China Wildlife Conservation Association (CWCA). The government of Pu’er and Jingdong has long been involved in the conservation and research of black crested gibbons and ecosystem. The government and management bureau have cooperated with KIZ, FFI, TNC, etc. since decades ago, making Jingdong, Pu’er the place where the Nomascus study began in China.
The conference closed in Jingdong on 2nd October. The local government and all social sectors supported a lot. The meeting announced “The Pu’er Declaration of Saving Gibbons in China”, and established Pu’er association of gibbon conservation with a special fund to support primate conservation in China. The government of Pu’er appropriated 4 million yuan for the fund. Add to this the contribution from all social sectors and individuals, including ZhongKun Group, Li’ao Investment Limited, LiJiang ZhongYun Property Company and CEO of TianShiLi Group, a total of over 8 million yuan was collected for the fund during the conference. CCTV, YNTV, PETV etc reported this event.
