The inauguration ceremony for the Lijiang Botanic Garden on January 25 marked the launch of the year long campaign of UK-China Partners in Science in the southwest of China. British Consul-General in Chongqing Municipality Tim Summers and local government officials in Lijiang attended the meeting.

The Garden is a result of the partnership between Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Their sisterhood since 1991 was described as "successful and enjoyable" by Professor Stephen Blackmore, Regius Keeper of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh at the ceremony. In his speech at the ceremony Mr. Summers expressed his hope that the Lijiang Botanic Garden would be "a symbol of more cooperation on science and technology between China and UK ".

Their collaboration will be focused on the research of biodiversity. Their joint efforts will lead to the establishment of a gemplasm bank, a botanic garden for tourism, studies on conservation of botanic species, and a field station for bioscience researches. Plants which were brought to Edinburgh years ago will also be reintroduced into the Garden which will grow and showcase endemic wild plants and flowers in the Henduan Mountains.

The Garden is jointly financed by UK and China. It is expected to be open to the public in October this year. Local residents, mostly Naxi minority, participate and will benefit from the construction of the Garden. This will give them more incentives to protect the environment there.

The fundamental purpose for all of these efforts is to protect the biodiversity of this area. With more than 3000 kinds of plants and flowers the Hengduan Mountains where the Garden is located is the most important place for the protection of biodiversity in China which is regarded as the most important place for the protection of biodiversity in the north hemisphere. As Prof. Blackmore puts it, the protection of the biodiversity here in the Hengduan Mountain is important not only for China, but also for the whole planet.

The Yulong Snow Mountain which is home of the Garden is the most important part of the Hengduan Mountains and one of the most enchanting tourism attractions in China. The Naxi ethic minority living on the mountain has developed very unique culture which has been recognized as a World Memorial Heritage by UNESCO.

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh has more than 300 years of history and its contacts with China can be dated back to 100 years ago when plants collector George Forrest began his venture in the mountainous areas in southwest China. He introduced 1200 Chinese plants species to western countries, most of which were kept in Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

There is a China Hill in the Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It helps visitors include Queen Elizabeth II and many other VIPs understand how important China is in biodiversity. Hu Jintao was also a guest there during his visit in Britain in 2001 as Chinese V ice President.

David Paterson, deputy director of Horticulture of the Botanic Garden Edinburgh, spend much time every year in the mountain areas in west China. Here he works with his Chinese colleagues from Kunming Institute of Botany. Now a "home" has been built in the mountain for these scientists who have to stay in Yulong Snow Mountain for a certain period of time to collect and study plants there. The weather, he said, brings troubles and even danger to their lives and work.

As learned from Yang Yongping, deputy director of Kunming Institute of Botany, China mapped out its own Action Plan in 1994 to honor its commitment in the Convention for Biological Diversity which was agreed upon among 183 countries in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1991. The Law of Land, the Law of Water and the Law of Forest, together with other relevant laws and regulations, constitute a domestic legal system for the protection of biodiversity in China.

Since then China has made great progress on the protection of its biodiversity and environment, which has been confirmed both by Yang and David. Yang attributed this to the growth of China's economy and the stronger awareness of environmental protection among officials and the grassroots.

However, habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, population and over-harvesting, or collectively so-called HIPPO, pose great challenges to any country for the protection of biodiversity. Besides that, David recognized that funding for the mission was especially difficult for such a big country like China. What's more, there is still a gap between China and developed countries like UK in terms of scientific research.

So, a good partner is necessary, said Yang. And for scientists in this field, an access to the rich resources of biodiversity is also a good opportunity that cannot miss. Yang hopes his partner would bring advanced expertise and management skills for their operation of the Garden.

Yang is confident about the future of the Garden and their cooperation. "Things are going the way as we have expected," he said. He is looking forward to a "long-term strategic partnership". And Prof. Blackmore expects China and UK to be partners not only in science and technology, but also in life, culture, and other fields.

A comprehensive strategic partnership was built between China and UK during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to London last year. As the two countries vowed to upgrade their cooperation on science and technology, UK proposed to make 2005 a special year for promotion of understanding of the latest scientific development in the two countries and the exchanges between Chinese and British scientists.

(People's Daily February 1, 2005)