Past events
All events9th international session of IFGR: Rivers & Biodiversity: lessons learned from the Yellow River and experiences shared with other rivers
Initiatives for the Future of Great Rivers (IFGR) decided to organise its first international session held in Asia, at the invitation of the Yellow River Conservancy Commission, a member of its Rivers Committee.
By taking the example of the Yellow River – the cradle of Chinese civilisation and the country’s second longest river – and by devoting its works to biodiversity, IFGR placed emphasis on two essential topics that it promotes:
• THE LINK BETWEEN CLIMATE AND BIODIVERSITY:
There is unity between living beings and water lies at its centre. Water is a key element in the interaction of human beings with their habitats and reveals the imbrication between managing a natural resource, both salt and fresh water, and maintaining diversity and health. This complexity makes it necessary to avoid compartmentalisation, and to find synergies or at least compatibilities between climate change mitigation, the conservation of biodiversity, food security, and development.
• COOPERATION FOR SEEKING SOLUTIONS:
It is essential to exchange knowledge and practices. Significant cooperation exists already, with in particular bilateral agreements between France and China and the China Europe Water Platform, a forum of Sino-European exchanges set up in 2012. Furthermore, the IFGR conference appeared on the agenda of the Franco-Chinese Year of the Environment.
IFGR fuels this cooperation thanks to a very open dialogue begun with the Yellow River Conservancy Commission and exchanges between multidisciplinary and international experts. It aims to contribute to the major meetings of 2020 dedicated to biodiversity (IUCN World Conservation Congress; COP15) by giving a voice to rivers.