A total of 21 teams of students from 21 universities across the country met in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, last Wednesday for the award ceremony of 2005 Yangtze River Wetland Ambassador Action (WAA).

 

This year's WAA presents the theme: Restoring the Web of Life in the Yangtze. The ceremony was co-organized by World Wildlife Found (WWF), Ramsar Convention Secretariat, the Ramsar Convention Implementation Office of China State Forestry Administration and Hunan Youth Development Foundation.

 

The team from Darwin Association of Lanzhou University won the first prize of 2005 WAA. The second prize went to three teams, two of which are from Jiangxi Province, and the third one is from Changsha Science and Technology University of Hunan Province.

 

Central South Forestry University, former champion of the event, got the third prize.

 

Grades were classified according to the performance of online bidding, on-spot investigation, photo and DV film shooting and editing, diaries and reports, and the extent of media involvement.

 

The Wetland Ambassador Action has been held for five years. In the past five years, WAA has involved 68 university associations with over 1,200 students directly participating in this campaign covering 18 sectors of the Heilongjiang, Yangtze, Yellow, Lancang and Pearl rivers. They have spread the knowledge of wetland protection, restoration and sustainable development to millions of people.

 

(China Daily December 28, 2005)