Professor Shi Haitao won the 14th Behler Turtle Conservation Award Release date:2019-08-20 10:11:00  Information Sources:  Pageviews:

Professor Shi Haitao, Vice President of our university, won the 14th Behler Turtle Conservation Award

On August 7, 2019, the world-famous Behler Turtle Conservation Award was presented to Professor Shi Haitao, the most outstanding turtle ecologist and environmentalist in China and Vice President of our schoolat the 17th Annual Symposium on the Conservation and Biology of Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles held in Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Shi Haitao has made many breakthroughs in the protection, education and publicity of endangered tortoises in China, including the research and protection of endangered or nearly extinct species in the wild.Shi Haitao not only focuses on China’s ecological and turtle protection, but also devotes himself to global ecological research and environmental protection promotion.

The ecological study of four-legged tortoises carried out by Shi Haitao in Xinjiang, China in the early days laid a foundation for the study and protection of turtle ecology in China in the future.His current achievements in ecology and conservation biology include about one third of the total species of tortoises and freshwater tortoises distributed in China.

In 2003, Shi Haitao formulated China Tortoise Protection Action Plan, which plays a very important guiding role in the research, protection and capacity building of Chinese tortoises.In addition, he has made many contributions to global turtle protection, including an investigation into the scale and scope of China’s turtle farms, while revealing the deliberate production of hybrid turtles by some turtle farms for high-end pet trade.Professor Shi Haitao participated in the revision of China’s Wild Animal Protection Law and He firmly opposed the policy and legal provisions that wild animal domestication is not controlled.Shi Haitao published the Chinese version of Identification Manual for Traded Turtles in China in 2008, the second edition in 2011 and the English version in 2013.He established the Hainan Museum on Biologic Diversity, which includes a professional turtle specimen exhibition hall, filling the gap in the Hainan Provincial Museum of Nature.So far, the center has received more than 700,000 visitors.

Shi Haitao has established the first turtle protection and research team in China. At present, it has more than 50 members, including 8 teachers and many doctoral, master and undergraduate students.Under the leadership of Shi Haitao, these scholars and students will become the backbone of turtle research and protection in China in the future.The activities and research he led and participated in on the protection of tortoises in China have rekindled the hope for the protection of tortoises in China and aroused more people’s awareness of ecological protection.Shi Haitao is a well-deserved Behler Turtle Conservation Award winner.

In his award-winning speech, Shi Haitao pointed out that “although China’s irrational use is one of the reasons leading to the extinction crisis of some tortoises, China should also be an important force in protecting tortoises.” He urged the global ecological protection community to make joint efforts to prevent species extinction in the wild.After the speech, more than 300 turtle experts stood up and applauded, and prolonged applause broke out in the meeting hall, in order to express high respect for Shi Haitao’s contribution to turtle research and protection in China and even in the world.

“Since the 1990s, Professor Shi has been a leading figure in the turtle protection circle in China, and his efforts are arousing more people’s awareness.” Anders Rodin, Co-chairman of the Board of Directors of Turtle Conservancy, said, “His efforts and achievements deserve the highest praise and recognition. We also hope to give him more support.”

The Behler Turtle Conservation Award is an important annual award jointly issued by the American Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (TFTSG), Turtle Conservancy (TC) and Turtle Conservation Fund (TCF). It is aimed at recognizing experts or scholars who have leadership and outstanding performance in the field of tortoises and freshwater tortoises conservation and biology.It is widely regarded as the “Nobel Prize” in turtle protection.The winners were widely nominated by international experts and elected by the BehlerAward Committee.

The Behler Turtle Conservation Award is also co-sponsored by the Global Wildlife Conservation and the World Wildlife Conservation Society.The award is intended to commemorate John L. Behler, served as curator of herpetology at the Bronx Zoo and former chairman of IUCNTortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group andformer Chairman of Wildlife Conservation Society.

 

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