Beijing, China - WWF's annual "Forest Dialogue" event was held on December 13 at Xingxing Theater Village in Beijing, where forest conservationists in various fields shared their forest stories and discussed a sustainable future together.
With the development of economy and society, there is a sharp contradiction between the continuous increase of human demand for forest and the rapid reduction of forest resources. The realization of sustainable development of forestry has become the focus of global forest protection. This year, the WWF China Forest Project, together with various partners, launched the "Green Me Green Life" project, which aims to practice sustainable development through action and set a good example for exploring new ways of forest protection.
Over the past year, WWF's Green Me Green Life program has launched its "Simple Choices, Big Changes" initiative, which encourages businesses to source forest products from responsible management and encourages the public to choose more sustainable forest products. Currently, 13 companies, including Sun Paper, IKEA, UpM, Kimberly-Clark and Stora Enso, have joined WWF's Sustainable Paper Alliance, and more than 11 million people have participated in the initiative through online and offline channels to promote sustainable forest development.
"No one is immune from environmental issues." Huang Wenbin, Director of WWF China's Forest Program, said at the event, "The original intention of our sustainable paper initiative is that we hope more companies and individuals can participate in the sustainable development of forests and work together to drive change."
Mr. Huang Bo attended the event as the Ambassador of WWF Forest Conservation in China. Since his appointment as Ambassador, he has not only shot promotional videos and posters for forest protection, but also made great contributions to the project through his actions of "simple choices lead to great changes".
"While working with WWF, I found that many of their ideas I strongly agree with, such as the idea of practicing sustainable consumption in our daily lives." "To make the relationship between man and forest positive, everyone needs to pay attention and participate. And if you want to influence others, you have to start with yourself."
Wang Xiaoping, deputy inspector of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape and Afforestation, talked about the construction of urban forests in Beijing and shared the thoughts and actions of the Beijing Municipal government on forest sustainability, so that everyone living in the city could have a deeper understanding of the forest and feel the connection between us and the forest.
WWF Global Director General Marco Lambertini and Chief Operating Officer of China Ms. Lu Lunyan also attended the event and presented the "Forest Partner" certificates to the partners.
The sustainable development of forests is one of the best ways to achieve the win-win situation of protecting forests and satisfying the needs of human development. The purchasing choice of consumers and the responsible purchasing of enterprises will bring strong driving force to the sustainable management of forests. In 2017, WWF's "Green Me Green Life" set a good example. In the future, more companies and individuals are needed to join in, bringing together everyone's "simple choices" and ultimately bringing about "great changes" in forest protection.
(Photo taken by Macro Lambertini, WWF Global Director General, and Huang Bo, WWF Ambassador for Forest Conservation in China. ©WWF)
About the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is one of the largest independent non-governmental environmental protection organizations in the world. Founded in 1961, it is headquartered in Geylang, Switzerland. In 1996, WWF established its Beijing office. The work also extends to endangered wildlife and habitat conservation, climate and energy, freshwater ecosystem conservation, sustainable development and use of forests, green finance, and market transformation.
