(Originally published on 06/09/2015)

To better monitor and conserve wetland biodiversity in Hubei province, Hubei Wetland Project, hosts a three-day training with 30 staff from Hubei Provincial Wetland Protected Areas. The project is part of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-Global Environment Facility (GEF) Wetland Protected Area (PA) System Strengthening for Biodiversity Conservation initiative.

The wetlands in Hubei provide refuge to a host of globally significant species, including freshwater porpoise, Pere David’s deer and hundreds of migratory bird species.  However, the limited capacity of wetland PA administration has hindered the conservation of the wetland and its globally significant species.

To better strengthen the management effectiveness of the wetlands in Hubei Province, UNDP partnered with the Forestry Department of Hubei Province from 2014 to implement the Hubei Project.  Part of the project’s effort is to build the PA staff’s capacity in identifying and alleviating wetland conservation threats in Hubei Province.

Seven experts in the area of ecosystem conservation from research institutes like Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) and organizations such as the World Wild Fund for Nature (WWF) were invited to train participants on how to effectively work in biodiversity conservation.

Professor Li Enhua from Chinese Academy of Science briefed staff on management of wild plants, while Mr. Qiao Maosheng from Honghu Wetland PA shared his experiences with similar plants in Honghu. “We were trying to remove the water hyacinths manually every year. However that approach was not really effective.” He expressed that the experts and their potential research on the better utilization of plants can provide another solution to this problem.

Participants received additional training on the distribution, monitoring methods and management of plants, fish and birds in the Hubei wetland PA and guidance on photography, GPS equipment utilization and GIS data collecting and analysis.

To enhance staff understanding and capacity of wetland ecosystem and biodiversity conservation, the training program is put in place as a five-year long practice carried out throughout the project’s life cycle. To this end, the project management office also established a communication platform to better connect PA staff and experts.