News published: 02 February 2026

From 27-29 November 2025, the inaugural Global Conservation Symposium for Dipterocarps took place in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan Province. The event was co-hosted by the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (XTBG), the Hainan Institute of National Park (HINP), and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), and organized by the Global Conservation Consortium for Dipterocarps (GCCD) and other partners. The symposium brought together more than 140 researchers, conservation practitioners, and young scholars from 14 countries including China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Centred on the theme “Sustaining Dipterocarps: Setting priorities and taking action through regional networks” the Symposium aimed to establish a high-level international exchange platform to explore core conservation issues and future directions. As keystone species in Asian tropical rainforest ecosystems, Dipterocarps play crucial roles in maintaining biodiversity and regulating climate. However, habitat loss and illegal logging are erasing them at an alarming rate, that making transboundary collaborative conservation urgent. This symposium laid the foundation for coordinating regional conservation actions, sharing knowledge and technologies, and enhancing conservation capacities.

During the opening ceremony, Prof. Yao-Wu Xing, Director General of XTBG, and Ms. Xiang-Ying Wen from BGCI China Office delivered welcome addresses. Prof. Xing underscored XTBG’s decades-long commitment to collecting, studying, and safeguarding Dipterocarps, emphasizing that transboundary collaboration is essential to secure a sustainable future for Dipterocarps. Ms. Wen called for XTBG to serve as a hub and the GCCD platform to transform the symposium into a catalyst for conservation action, fostering a global conservation network. Prof. Charles Harvey Cannon Jr., Scientific Chair of the GCCD, elaborated on the symposium’s core value in clarifying regional conservation priorities and forging consensus on action, expressing hopes for establishing a long-term regional conservation network.

The symposium featured a diverse agenda including icebreaking sessions, keynote lectures, thematic workshops, and field trips. Dr. Chai-Shian Kua led the icebreaker session, where participants exchanged conservation insights with peers from different countries via “interactive passports,” rapidly establishing transnational connections. In the Keynote lectures, Prof. Wen-Bin Yu from XTBG systematically analysed challenges and urgent priorities for global Dipterocarps conservation, while Prof. Cannon shared innovative approaches for building regional conservation communities. Dr. Dzaeman B. Dzulkifli, Dr. David Burslem and other experts presented cutting-edge research findings and country processes in conservation.

Thematic workshops were divided into two groups: “Identify short-term priorities and immediate goals at local scale ” and ” Identify long-term mission of GCCD and regional scale activities”. These sessions facilitated in-depth exchanges on national conservation practices and identified multiple urgent conservation tasks requiring advancement. The Early-Career Spotlight Session provided a platform for emerging researchers to showcase their work.

Participants conducted field visits to the Dipterocarps living collections and ex situ conservation areas at XTBG and inspected conservation outcomes in the Sky Tree (Parashorea chinensis) tropical rainforest in Mengla County of Xishuangbanna. Delegates also received a training in the “From Seed to Tree app prep for fieldwork” and “Tools demonstration: MyFarmTree”, that enhancing their ex situ conservation technical capabilities.

During the closing session, Prof. Cannon summarized the symposium’s outcomes, defined four conservation priorities, planned relevant training programs and technical manual compilation, forming a “consensus-task-action” closed loop. Prof. Yao-Wu Xing and Ms. Xiang-Ying Wen signed a Memorandum of Understanding for GCCD between XTBG and BGCI. Meanwhile Prof. Cannon presented certificates to the GCCD steering committee and academic committee members, laying an institutional foundation for regular regional conservation cooperation.

This symposium consolidated global consensus on Dipterocarps conservation, clarified action pathways, and established a long-term, stable international cooperation platform. XTBG will continue to leverage its scientific research and platform advantages to deepen cross-border conservation collaboration, contributing to the sustainable future of Dipterocarps and the protection and restoration of tropical rainforest ecosystems.

Guest blog post by Wen-Bin Yu (郁文彬), Ph.D. 
Professor of Biology, Center for Integrative Conservation, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, CAS