Beijing Forestry University (BFU) Vice President Zhang Zhiqiang led a delegation to the 20th anniversary celebration of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership (EAAFP) in Incheon, Republic of Korea, where the university renewed its Memorandum of Understanding with the EAAFP Secretariat. BFU's contributions received broad international recognition, with coverage by Xinhua News Agency.

The event brought together over 200 representatives from governments, intergovernmental and non‑governmental organizations, and EAAFP working groups, marking two decades of flyway conservation cooperation. As host of the EAAFP Science Unit and the secretariat of the Flyway University Alliance (FUA), BFU demonstrated its longstanding commitment to flyway science, conservation governance, and platform development. In their addresses, EAAFP Chief Executive Jennifer George and Ramsar Secretary General Musonda Mumba both commended BFU's contributions to the Partnership.

At the signing ceremony, Vice President Zhang reaffirmed BFU's partnership with EAAFP, entering a new phase of institutionalized collaboration in research and capacity building. Professor Lei Guangchun delivered a keynote address, reviewing China's and BFU's contributions to flyway conservation.

During the FUA‑co‑hosted international symposium on coastal wetland ecosystems, Zhang highlighted FUA's recognition as an early action initiative under UNESCO's "Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development", emphasizing the role of higher education in global biodiversity governance. He called for stronger collaboration between academia and conservation practice.

BFU also held working meetings with the EAAFP Secretariat to explore future cooperation, focusing on strengthening support for the Science Unit, FUA, and the Flyway Science Congress.

"We will use this renewed MoU as an opportunity to deepen collaboration with EAAFP in research, talent development, and educational exchange, and to translate scientific consensus on flyway conservation into collective action," Zhang said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency Seoul Bureau.

The East Asian–Australasian Flyway is the most biodiverse of the world's nine major flyways, and BFU has been deeply engaged in flyway conservation since the early days of EAAFP, establishing key research and cooperation platforms. The university will continue to leverage its strengths in ecological research to advance international collaboration and contribute to global biodiversity governance.

Written by Wang Wenjuan, Lv Si
Translated and edited by Song He
Reviewed by Yu Yangyang