1st High Level Training on GIAHS held in China

FAO and MOA jointly held the 1st High Level Training on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in China from September 13 to 28, 2014. 23 representatives of agricultural authorities from 12 Asian-Pacific countries participated in the Training.

The Training provided a full description of the work related to agricultural heritage systems and underlined the significance of GIAHS conservation; shared China''s experience in implementing agricultural heritage programs and analyzed current major challenges; and helped the participating countries to develop action plans on discovering, exploiting and applying for important agricultural heritage systems, laying a solid basis for broader participation in the FAO''s GIAHS Initiative.

At the closing ceremony of the Training, Mr. Qu Sixi, Counsel of MOA Department of International Cooperation delivered a speech. He noted that since FAO launched the GIAHS Initiative in 2002, 31 sites from 13 countries has been registered. It is believed that the GIAHS Initiative has made great contributions to promote food security, sustainable agricultural development, and ecological environmental protection, and provided innovative approaches to facilitate cultural inheritance as well as rural development. Therefore, an increasing number of countries highly values and are participating in the Initiative. For instance, the Beijing Declaration on Food Security, issued by the APEC ministers in this September, calls on APEC member economies to intensify their efforts in agricultural heritage system conservation and support the FAO''s GIAHS Initiative.

During the Training, the participants also paid field visits to several China''s GIAHS sites, including Xuanhua Traditional Vineyard System, Qingtian Rice-Fish Culture System, and Xinghua Duotian Agrosystem.

The Training was organized by Center of International Cooperation Service of MOA.FAO and MOA jointly held the 1st High Level Training on Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in China from September 13 to 28, 2014. 23 representatives of agricultural authorities from 12 Asian-Pacific countries participated in the Training.

The Training provided a full description of the work related to agricultural heritage systems and underlined the significance of GIAHS conservation; shared China''s experience in implementing agricultural heritage programs and analyzed current major challenges; and helped the participating countries to develop action plans on discovering, exploiting and applying for important agricultural heritage systems, laying a solid basis for broader participation in the FAO''s GIAHS Initiative.