Chair
The current elected Chair is the University of British Columbia (UBC). As one of the world’s leading publicly-funded universities, UBC’s location in Vancouver, Canada’s gateway to Asia, together with the large population of people of Asian origin in Vancouver, makes Vancouver a strong location for international collaborative ventures, particularly for those in Asia. UBC has developed long-term relationships with several Asian governments, and their academic and business sectors. Several faculties, particularly the Faculty of Forestry, have strong links to Asia and have conducted many research projects including climate change, environmental protection, rural development, and sustainable agricultural management. The results of these research projects will be of great help to this project.
UBC will host the Executive Office, which works under the framework of the Asia Pacific Forestry Education Coordination Mechanism (AP-FECM). The Executive Office will implement decisions made by the Steering Committee, manage daily tasks, and assist in coordination and communication between Steering Committee members.
Co-Chairs
Beijing Forestry University (BFU)
As one of the key national universities directly under the Ministry of Education in China, BFU provides advanced education in the studies of forestry and ecology. BFU has hosted numerous distinguished experts and professors over the years, including professionals specialized in advanced technology of multi-disciplines including forestry, soil and water conservation, biotechnology, construction of ecological environments, and economic management. BFU is engaged in international academic exchanges and cooperation with more than 150 universities and research institutions of over 20 countries and districts in the world, providing opportunities for communication between China and other parts of the world in the fields of forestry and ecology.
Southwest Forestry University (SWFU)
Southwest Forestry University (SWFU) located in Yunnan province of China, is the only forestry university in the southwest part of the country. Yunnan acts as an international gateway connecting China, and South and Southeast Asia. Here is a hot spot of global biodiversity, with a unique ecological location and important ecological functions. SWFU established for over 85 years, with more than 140 thousand students graduated and a large number of well-known experts and scientific researchers working on ecological civilization construction. Nowadays, the university offers undergraduates, graduates and Doctoral Degrees. Forestry, forestry engineering, and landscape architecture are unique disciplines, with significant innovative research advantages in biodiversity conservation, restoration of degraded forest ecosystems and sustainable forest management, high-value processing and utilization of forest products, and development of understory resources. A close cooperation with more than 60 universities and research institutions of 21 economies and regions has been conducted. International exchange and cooperation will always be an important task and responsibility of SWFU.