Seminar on Catchment Ecosystem Management with Delegation from Chinese Ministry of Water Resources

SAIN seminar on “Soil, Water and Ecosystem Conservation in the UK and China” and field trip to the Wensum DTC project area at Salle Farms was arranged for a delegation from the Department of Soil and Water Conservation of the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) on 19-20 June in University of East Anglia.

The purpose of the seminar was to share the knowledge between the UK and China on policy, regulation and approaches in catchment ecosystem management. The seminar included presentations from Chaoyong Pu of the MWR on soil, water conservation and ecosystems in China; Rob Davies of Defra who provided an overview of UK policy on water quality and agriculture; James Grischeff of Natural England who explained how government is working with agriculture to improve soils and water and Andrew Lovett who gave a talk on the Wensum DTC work.

In the last few years, five delegations have visited the UEA and Wensum DTC study site, included two delegations from Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (in 2013 and 2018), a delegation from Chinese Ministry of Water Resources (in 2019), a delegation from Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2012), and a delegation from China Agricultural University (in 2017). These have been organised through the UK-China Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Network (SAIN).

The seminar was organised by the UK China Sustainable Agriculture Innovation Network (SAIN), chaired by Dr Yuelai Lu, Head of SAIN Secretariat.