School of Nature Conservation, Beijing Forestry University, was jointly established by the Ministry of Education and State Forestry Administration of the People Republic of China in December 2004. It is the only school that focuses on professional training in nature conservation and nature reserve management in China. Ten years of unyielding efforts has brought great achievement in teaching & education, scientific research, social service and culture heritage in the field of the development and management of nature reserves, wildlife conservation and wise use, wetland conservation and management.

There are 44 staffs in the school, among which, 37 are full-time faculty members, including 13 professors and 17 associate professors. The school has one undergraduate program majored in “Wildlife and Nature Reserve Science”, which recruited its first group of students in 2006. The undergraduate program was granted as specialized national higher education program by the Ministry of Education in 2009, and had also been selected as a pilot outstanding agricultural and forestry talent training program in 2014.The school has established an laboratory center, which consists of Nature Reserve Informatics and Design, Zoology, Dendrology, Wetland Science, as well as other five units. Besides, 11 field research stations in national nature reserves, in particular, the Upper Reach of Luan River in Hebei, East Dongting Lake in Hunan and Wuyi Mountain in Fujian.The School was awarded the second-class prize of teaching achievement by Beijing Municipality in 2013, and was awarded the second-class prize of the national-level teaching achievement in 2014.

The school has established three science disciplines, including Wildlife Protection and Utilization, Science of Nature Conservation, and Wetland Ecology, and are granted to conduct master and doctor degree training programs, as well as recruit postdoctoral fellows. Wildlife Protection and Utilization is a state-level key discipline.

The school has set up seven research platforms: Interim Secretariat of the China National Partnership for the East Asian-Australasian Flyway, China Great Bustard Conservation and Monitoring Network, China Cat Conservation and Monitoring Network, Cooperative Group for Przewalski’s Horse Conservation and Reintroduction, Wildlife Research Institute of Beijing Forestry University, Center for Forest Carbon Accounting and Monitoring, and Center of Wetland Studies.

Scientific research are targeted on national needs for the nature conservation, and ecological civilization development. In the recent five years, more than 440 key research projects have been conducted, including The National Natural Science Fund projects, National Science and Technology Support Project, Forestry Public Welfare Projects, National Key Basic Science Projects, and State Forestry Administration Key Research Projects, with total funding exceeds80 million CNY, which led to 400 publications (140 cited in Web of Science), 20 books, 15 patents, and 6 national standards.

< Update: May,2015 >