“Protecting Our Common Home”Chinese, New Zealand teenagers watch birds in Poyang Lake on internet

Duan Xiongbo

O n Dec 15， the Jiangxi Provincial People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries（JXPAFFC） and the Eastern Bay of Plenty of New Zealand jointly held an online event for Chinese and New Zealand teenagers to watch birds at China’s largest freshwater lake. The event followed the success of the Second Poyang Lake International Birdwatching Week.

With the theme “Protecting Our Common Home”， the activity advocated international cooperation in ecological environment protection and biodiversity conservation and showcased the new achievements of green development in Jiangxi.

Clare Fearnley， New Zealand ambassador to China， Simon Appleton， director of the International Department of Eastern Bay of Plenty and Tu Anbo， executive vice-president of the JXPAFFC， attended the event. Officials from Yingtan， Xinyu and Fuzhou foreign affairs offices and more than 100 students from six cities in China and New Zealand participated in the online exchange.

Through the online platform， the two sides watched a publicity video about migratory birds in Poyang Lake， visited the Publicity and Education Hall of the Wucheng Conservation Station at Poyang Lake Reserve， listened to stories about rescuing migratory birds in the lake and to an introduction of the migratory birds situation in the Five Stars Siberian Cranes Sanctuary.

Fearnley spoke highly of the communication activities. She introduced the cooperation and exchanges between China and New Zealand in biological and environmental protection， shared her pleasant experience during the Second Poyang Lake International Birdwatching Week and expressed hope for more exchanges between Jiangxi and New Zealand in various fields in the future.

Appleton reviewed the friendly relations between Jiangxi and Eastern Bay of Plenty and noted that he had witnessed and experienced the whole process of establishing the relationship. He expressed hope that the two sides would carry out more multifield and indepth cooperation and exchanges in the future. He said he expects more such activities next year.

Tu Anbo expressed his gratitude to all the attending guests and praised the activity as “very meaningful”. He said that the communication was comprehensive and both sides had been inspired deeply. He mentioned that to consolidate the friendly relations between the two places and to enhance friendly exchanges， the two sides will hold another youth exchange activity next spring with the support of Simon Appleton.

The teenagers from both sides agreed that through the activity， they once again profoundly realized that migratory birds were human friends and that protecting them was protecting our friends and the natural environment. During the activity， the teens also exchanged views on pest control， the stocking and utilization of geothermal resources， care for the disabled， animal research and protection， social apps commonly used by teenagers， domestic pets and environmental protection， learning and research in areas of interest， among other issues.

The activity raised the Chinese and New Zealand teenagers’ mutual understanding and mutual trust and laid a solid foundation for further expanding youth exchanges between Jiangxi and Eastern Bay of Plenty next year. In the future， the JXPAFFC will make the best use of its resources and channels， do better in telling Jiangxi stories to the outside world and expand Jiangxi’s international circle of friends.