Sponsored by International Seabuckthorn Association (ISA) and organized by China Administration Center for Seabuckthorn Development (CACSD), 2nd International Seabuckthorn Association Conference (ISA2005) was started on August 26, 2005. Mr. E Jingping, chairman of ISA2005 and vice minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, attended the conference and gave an address. Mr. Gao Bo, vice chairman of ISA2005 and Director-General of Department of International Cooperation, Science and Technology of Ministry of Water Resources, addressed on behalf of Ms. Qian Zhengying, academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering, former vice chairman of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and honorary chairman of ISA2005. Mr. Tai Yuanlin, chairman of ISA, also delivered a speech at the opening ceremony. The conference was presided by Mr. Liu Zhen, vice chairman of ISA2005 and Director-General of Department of Soil and Water Conservation of Ministry of Water Resources.
During four-day’s meeting, 180 representatives from 21 countries of the world gather together to sum up experiences on central theme of Seabuckthorn, such as A Multipurpose Plant, Solution to Nutrition or Health and Environment, and exchange views on Seabuckthorn research and development and held discussions on cooperation. This reflects the global concern on seabuckthorn and people’s enthusiasm and interests on the research and development of seabuckthorn.
Seabuckthorn is mainly distributed in Europe-Asia continent. Natural seabuckthorn centers at the loess plateau of China, middle Asia, and the coastal areas of Baltic Sea, Europe, China has about 2 million hectares of seabuckthorn bushes, accounting for 90% of the total 2.3 million hectares of seabuckthorn of the world. The status quo of the development of seabuckthorn, the starting points, and the research levels differentiate among countries. Western countries such as Germany, Finland, Switzerland and Canada focus on its economic value, namely, how to increase the output and quality of seabuckthorn, in order to be in the lead of technology of seabuckthorn breeding and cultivation, orchard management, mechanism of picking its berries, seed oil processing, nutrition food, and syrup processing, while developing countries such as China, India, Nepal also focus on the economic and ecological development of seabuckthorn, playing a leading role in the technology of drought resistance, and the protection and general utilization of seabuckthorn resources.
In 1985, under the advocacy of Academician Qian Zhengying, Minister of the Ministry of Water and Electricity at that time, Chinese government began developing seabuckthorn in an organized and planned way to prevent soil losses on the Loess Plateau in China. Through 20 years of research, demonstration and popularization, the utilization of seabuckthorn ranges from soil and water conservation to nutrition food and medical and health care products, which promotes farmers in northwestern China to shake off poverty and accelerates economic development. Since 1998, Chinese government has devoted over 100 million, planted large areas of seabuckthorn, and planted an unbroken area of 200,000 hectares of seabuckthorn at the contiguous areas of Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia, which drove a number of processing factories to exploit and utilize seabuckthorn resources, tremendously increased the incomes of farmers in remote districts, and promoted the harmony of rural ecology and economy. Seabuckthorn has attracted many scientists’ attention, and has been used in many fields. The small bush has developed into a multi-beneficial vegetable resource, and become a rising industry. At present, China owns rich natural resources of seabuckthorn, a group of experts, and abundant experience. Therefore, China arouses international concern of the seabuckthorn field.
Since 1985 when China, Finland and Soviet Union advocated communication and cooperation among countries, over 20 countries participated in international cooperation of seabuckthorn. The research and utilization of seabuckthorn cover fields of biology, nutrition, food chemistry, medicine, soil and water conservation, and forestation. The first International Seabuckthorn Academic Conference was held in Xi’an, 1989, and then 7 international conferences were held successively, among which 3 conferences were held in China. The 3rd International Seabuckthorn Academic Conference held in Beijing, 1995 brought about the issue of establishing an International Center for Research and Training on Seabuckthorn and its International Coordination Committee in Beijing. In the 5th International Seabuckthorn Academic Conference held in Beijing, 1999, experts from the world all advocated establishing International Seabuckthorn Association. In the 6th International Seabuckthorn Academic Conference held in India, 2001, the members selected the first Board of Management, elected Chinese representatives to be chairman, and resolved to hold the first International Seabuckthorn Association Conference in Germany. In the Board of Management Meeting, the members resolved to hold an international conference every two years. This Beijing conference is the second international conference.
Since the establishment of ISA, the Ministry of Water Resources has been supporting ISA and its secretariat on funds, human resources, technology and facilities. MWR provides three full-time experts, maintains the website of ISA, and edits The Global Seabuckthorn Research & Development, a professional journal quarterly in Chinese and yearly in English, which promotes the development of International Seabuckthorn undertaking.
As the world knows more about seabuckthorn, more and more countries begin to exploit seabuckthorn. The sustained utilization of seabuckthorn resources cannot be realized without the cooperation of different countries. This conference will create opportunities for exploiting seabuckthorn, and for different countries to share achievements. The convening of ISA2005 will propel the rapid and healthy development of international seabuckthorn undertaking, intensify the technological cooperation and academic communication of different countries, and make seabuckthorn serve ecological improvement, economic construction and human health better. At the same time, ISA2005 will push forward the soil and water conservation and ecological protection and improvement in China, realize the sustained utilization of the soil and water, and promote the sustained development of economy of China.
