The China-Africa Biodiversity Conservation Exchange and Training Course, together with the “Eagle City” Global Exhibition, was recently held at the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, bringing together conservation experts and stakeholders from across Africa and China.
During an experience-sharing session, African conservation experts presented case studies highlighting community-based conservation initiatives and the use of technology to strengthen wildlife and environmental protection. The discussions also provided an opportunity to compare conservation approaches and experiences from different countries.
Representatives from ecological authorities, protected-area management agencies, non-profit organisations and universities in China, Kenya and Tanzania participated in in-depth discussions on community-based conservation, technology-enabled wildlife protection and youth education on environmental conservation.
Eston Murithi, Chairman of the Adept Conservation Network, said his organisation works to protect forests, rivers and wetland ecosystems by harnessing the strengths and knowledge of local communities.
He said involving communities in conservation efforts was essential to ensuring that natural resources and ecosystems are protected and preserved for future generations.
“Through skills training, community patrols, seedling cultivation, ecological restoration and science outreach, the project mitigates human-wildlife conflict and fosters harmonious coexistence between people and wildlife,” said Murithi.
Zakayo Kipuyo, Founder of the Joy and Hope for Rural Community Foundation, shared conservation practices from Arusha, Tanzania where under community stewardship, the organisation advances forest restoration.
Kipuyo shared their experiences in the maintenance of wildlife migration corridors and water source protection, while developing eco-friendly alternative livelihoods to scale up ecological restoration impacts.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) outlined the lion conservation model in the Maasai Mara where the animals are fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) collars to track their movements in real time.
This ensures early warnings are delivered to local communities when lion prides approach human settlements with this measure reducing livestock losses and prevents retaliatory killings of lions, achieving harmonious coexistence between humans and wildlife.
Stephen Kenta, a rhino and cheetah expert at Mara National Reserve, shared technology-backed rhino conservation practices pointing out that a smart conservation command centre has been established.
“Rhinos wear geo-tagged ear tags that trigger automatic system alerts when the animals approach reserve boundaries while Infrared cameras also help document more wild rhino individuals,” said Kenta.
Liu Ming, Deputy Director-General of Chongqing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, presented Chongqing’s progress in urban biodiversity governance, migratory raptor conservation and public engagement.
Ming told the forum that Chongqing has enforced the 10-year fishing ban along the Yangtze River and carried out systematic species surveys and monitoring and habitat restoration.
He said that the region now hosts nearly 6,000 wild vascular plant species, over 800 terrestrial wild vertebrate species, more than 180 river fish species, and hundreds of nationally-protected rare plants and animals.
“Both China and Africa are rich in biodiversity resources, we are calling for robust exchanges among participants to explore locally-adapted conservation pathways suited to respective national realities,” said Ming.
Peter Sankale, a Warden at Maasai Mara National reserve, expressed strong expectations for future cooperation hoping for an all-round China-Africa collaboration focusing on conservation technology application and personnel exchanges.
Sankale said that he looked forward to African conservation practitioners undertaking field study visits to China with equipment and technical collaboration enhancing field patrol effectiveness to jointly advance harmony between humanity and nature.
During the event, the "Eagle City" Global Exhibition presented documentary footage showcasing Chongqing’s ongoing efforts to protect migratory raptors where every spring and autumn, hundreds of thousands of raptors soar across Chongqing’s skies.
More than 200 protected areas across the city, including Jinyun Mountain, Jinfo Mountain and Yintiao Mountain, serve as vital stopover habitats along key raptor migration flyways.
Chongqing has pioneered an integrated model balancing megacity development and species conservation by establishing a raptor monitoring network, deploying satellite tracking systems, launching professional wildlife rescue platforms.
It has developed bird-friendly habitat demonstration zones and engaged international volunteers to deliver ecological outreach programmes, which embodies China’s practical achievements in advancing harmony between humanity and nature.
An equipment donation and partner-institution accreditation ceremony took place on-site by the Chongqing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, through the International Communication Division of the Information Office of Chongqing Municipal People’s Government.
This was done jointly with the Chongqing Luhai International Communication Foundation which gave out wildlife-monitoring equipment including infrared cameras, radar cameras and bird acoustic-signature monitors to the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Adept Conservation Network.
The Chongqing Luhai International Communication Foundation awarded certificates of “China-Africa Public Welfare Friendly Partner Institution” to the Joy and Hope for Rural Community Foundation (Tanzania) and Mara Birds of Prey Conservation Organisation, Maasai Mara University and other entities to formalise friendly partnerships.
Parallel to the main event, themed China-Africa youth biodiversity conservation courses were launched. Integrating ecological practices from China and Africa, the courses adopt interactive formats such as videos and board games to help young people understand conservation through trade-off thinking and collaborative problem-solving.
Selected as a flagship programme of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges, the event serves as a bridge for deeper China-Africa people-to-people ties and green cooperation.
