Haiguo Dialog：Liu Yang says this book is a must for bird-watching in China
Starting this year, a book called The CNG Field Guide to the Birds of China has been favored by bird watchers and environmentalists in Kunming, Yunnan province.
Based on original hand paintings, the book represents the latest classification of most bird species in China.
The book is a record of 1,491 bird species, over 4,000 hand paintings and 800 plus audio pieces of bird chirping.
In the 11th COP15 talk, we have Liu Yang, professor at School of Ecology of Sun Yat-sen University, who is also an editor-in-chief of The CNG Field Guide to the Birds of China. Mr. Liu will share with us his encounters with birds in west Yunnan province.
Q: Welcome to our show, Mr Liu! How did you carry out bird investigation and research in editing The CNG Field Guide to the Birds of China?
A: Three years ago, my team and I set down to editing the book The CNG Field Guide to the Birds of China, which is planned by the Chinese National Geography (CNG) magazine. Our initial purpose was to show bird lovers the classification and distribution of the newly found birds in China. It took us quite a while to edit the guide book. Besides the scripts, we needed bird pictures by hand. Hand-painting is a most challenging stage where painters needed to watch the birds in detail for an exact depiction of their looks and actions.
Q: What’s the role of The CNG Field Guide to the Birds of China in conserving the diversity of birds in China and the world at large?
A: Via the book, we’d like to vividly show the bird diversity in China, so that bird watchers could get to know more about Chinese birds. The guide book is priced reasonably, for we hope to make it affordable to more bird lovers and liked by the primary and secondary students. This, I guess, is also our way to contribute to popularizing knowledge on birds and promoting bird conservation.
Q: Why have you been in Dehong and other areas in west Yunnan for bird investigation and research since your return to China in 2012?
A: As an ornithologist, as well as a researcher on biodiversity in Yunnan, I need to stay where birds live most. Dehong is home to 700 plus bird species, making it a spot deserving our study. Biological studies are quite dependent on field environment, and Dehong is endowed with the environment for our work, so we’ve set up a research base dedicated to studying wild birds and collecting bird data.