Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) is hosting an Advanced Workshop in Ecology and Conservation (October 12-21) and an Advanced Field Course in Ecology and Evolution from October 12 to November 23. 47 young researchers and graduate students (26 take the Advanced Workshop only, and 21 take both) gather together in the beautiful gourd-shape isle of XTBG. The opening ceremony was held on October 13. 

The trainees got familiar with each other by starting self-introduction. A keynote teacher introduced the workshop and field course. Prof. Chen Jin, director of XTBG, briefed the development of the garden and declared the training open. 

Building on the success of AFEC-X 2009 to 2013, the AFEC-X 2014 is the sixth one to help the participants gain more from the training. 

The Advanced Workshop in Ecology and Conservation of XTBG covered the following topics: The ecology and biogeography of tropical East Asia and biodiversity crisis in the region; History of conservation ecology and modern conservation methods; Botanical garden’s role in plant biodiversity conservation; Invasive plant problem in biodiversity conservation; Long-term monitoring research; Species distribution modeling and its application in conservation ecology (main topic); Camare trap technique in conservation; Molecular tools in conservation; Corridor technique in conservation; Wild population rebuilding: orchid as an example. 

Trainees pose a group photo