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Ark Newsletter (Fengzhou Newsletter)

Region: China
Author: ECO - Isa Daronnat / Wang Xiaogang, Yunnan Province
Consortium Member: Virtual Foundation Director (ECOLOGIA)
Status: Funded and Ongoing Budget: $500 Collected: $500 Needs: $0
Result: To support the creation of a newspaper on ecological issues
Donors: Virtual Foundation Regional Grantmaking Program - Ford Foundation funding through ECOLOGIA [October 2001]
Comment: Students at South West Forestry School in Kunming, Yunnan Province have recently formed an environmental group. The creation and distribution of a newspaper on local ecological issues was their own idea.

Background to this Project

In October 2001, Virtual Foundation staff traveling in southwestern Chinas were impressed with the organization, energy, enthusiasm and focus of a number of Chinese Non-Governmental Organizations. One of these was ECO (Ecology and Culture Organization), directed by Wang Xiaogang and Isa Daronnat, and located in Kunming, Yunnan Province, PRC. We arranged a small grant ($500) to ECO, to be used at their discretion to encourage ecological activities and organizations in their region.

From Isa Daronnat's first report: "[In October 2001, you} entrusted ECO with the sum of USD 500 in order to develop a project focused on environmental issues. We have been considering developing our own project but received many proposals from third-parties that seemed very interesting to us. One of them, FENGZHOU NEWSPAPERS (NOAH'S ARK NEWSPAPER) caught our attention for the following reasons:

• originality of the project - no such newspaper exists at the moment
• project led by youngsters : encouragement for their engagement on such issues
• relative low financial needs.

The Proposal for Ark News

Ark News - A dialogue window of nature and biodiversity conservation between professionals, college and middle school students.

Faculty of Conservation Biology (FCB), Southwest Forestry College White Dragon Temple, Kunming, Yunnan Province, P.R. China 650224

Brief introduction of Faculty of Conservation Biology

Founded in September 2001, the Faculty of Conservation Biology, (hereafter referred to as FCB), Southwest Forestry College, was founded in Kunming, Yunnan Province, P.R. China. FCB is a higher educational body to deliver degree (Bsc. And Msc.) education, non-degree training and public awareness education to the degree candidates and trainees as well as to the people in the field of biodiversity conservation and nature conservation.

The history of FCB can be tracked back as early as 1980, when Southwest Forestry College was stationed in Hot Spring, 40 km away from Kunming. The former body is a department of Forest Protection. After more than 20 years¡¯ development, FCB harbors 43 faculty members including 18 professors, 8 associate professors, 3 lecturers and 6 Ph.D. holders in the field of conservation biology, animal science, and forest protection. There are three disciplines: Wildlife conservation and Nature Reserve Management, Forest Protection and Forest Fire Management. There are about 200 undergraduates and 17 master degree candidates. FCB has conducted many scientific research and public awareness educational projects with financial support from domestic and overseas sources and received many scientific or public prizes and awards.

FCB's policy is to promote actions for biodiversity conservation and nature conservation awareness leading to a harmonious relationship between People and Nature through degree educational program, non-degree training, regional or worldwide scientific research/cooperation and public awareness educational program. It is impossible to achieve our goals, namely to keep harmony between People and Nature, without the public understanding, awareness and participation. Therefore, besides professional degree and non-degree educational program, in order to reach the above goals, Ark News, a free newspaper with focus on the news, individual's reviews, mini-stories and photos in the field of biodiversity and nature conservation, organized by the students themselves from FCB, first printed and disseminated in March 2002 among the students from Southwest Forestry College and the other universities in Yunnan.

Through this project, our aim is to promote public awareness and participation in the area of biodiversity conservation and nature conservation through Ark News as well as the relevant activities organized independently by the students from FCB or other universities; and to encourage students to join voluntary work to serve and pay back the society through Ark News and the relevant activities.

Rationales of the Project

1. Students are the hope, backbone and main source of professionals or volunteers to participate in biodiversity conservation and nature conservation, especially in southwest China, the richest regions of biodiversity and nature resources domestically and globally;
2. undergraduates or graduates (Chinese or overseas) and middle school students in Yunnan in the area of biodiversity conservation and nature conservation and managed by students themselves;
3. It is feasible to initiate from a small but practical project, such as to run a newspaper, for green hands (students) to start voluntary work in cooperation with international NGOs;
4. Ark News can not only act as dialogue platform between the professionals and students as well as the other public societies, but also as a training base for student volunteers to be professional editors, correspondents and managers based on training-on-site and "training yourselves" way.

The Project is centered on three main interdependant components:
1) Editorial body Organizing
2) A bicycle team for interview and distribution;
3) Ark News publication (for one year).

3.1 Editorial body Organizing
The work team of Ark News will be on voluntary base. It will employ the volunteers among the students from Southwest Forestry College and the other higher educational institutions in Kunming.

• Editor-in-chief is the last decision-maker for Ark News. But he/she needs to report /discuss with the consultant committee, which is composed of professionals in the field of biodiversity conservation, nature conservation, mass media and NGO, etc., before making the last decision. (The consultant committee just gives suggestions but not orders to the editor-in-chief);
• Publisher is in charge of the news publication and distribution;
• Technical editor take responsibility to editor Ark News;
• Every column manager is all responsible for the column affairs, such as design, selecting manuscripts and other relevant work;
• Every department above should report progress to or discuss with the editor-in-chief per month.

3-2 Bicycle team for interview and distribution

• 5 mountain bicycles will be purchased as necessary tools to do individual interviews and Ark News dissemination;
• Caps and T-sheets with Ark News Logo and donation bodies for bicycle team

The parties to be involved

• Faculty of Conservation Biology, Southwest Forestry College, Kunming;
• ECO, Kunming;
• Ming Pao Mass media group of Hong Kong.

1. Students of universities and middle schools in Yunnan;
2. The overseas students in Kunming;
3. The NGOs in Yunnan;
4. Public society in Kunming.

Prof. Dequn Zhou (Ph.D., Hong Kong University)
Miss Jing Luo (senior undergraduate of Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Management)
Address: Faculty of Conservation Biology, Southwest Forestry College, White Dragon Temple, Kunming, Yunnan Province, P.R. China 650224
Tel: 0871-3863145, 3863971(O); 3862737(H)
Fax: 0871-3863635
Email: zhoudq@public.km.yn.cn

[Editor's note: in China, "middle school" refers to the years between primary school (grades 1 - 8) and college. In that respect, it best translates as "secondary" or "high" school in the American or European context]