From July 12th to 14th, the Academic Forum on the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms took place at NEFU. The forum was attended by NEFU’s Vice President and Standing Committee Member Li Mingze, former Vice Chairman of the Heilongjiang Provincial Committee of the People’s Political Consultative Conference and former NEFU Vice President Zhao Yusen, Secretary-General of the China National Sand Control and Desert Industry Society Yang Wenbin, former Deputy Director of the Desertification Control Department of National Forestry and Grassland Administration Hu Peixing, and other leading experts, along with faculty and students from the College of Forestry. Sun Long chaired the opening ceremony, Assistant to the President, Standing Committee Member, and Dean of the College of Forestry.

The forum was jointly organized by the China National Sand Control and Desert Industry Society and NEFU, with the College of Forestry, the Key Laboratory of Sustainable Forest Ecosystem Management (NEFU) of the Ministry of Education, and the Ecosystem Big Data Research Center of Northeast Forestry University serving as co-hosts. Nearly 60 experts from around 20 national organizations gathered in Harbin to conduct in-depth discussions on China’s sandstorm prevention strategies and global governance paths.

During the meeting, Li Mingze presented a systematic overview of NEFU’s achievements in desertification control, emphasizing that the university focused on the national ecological security strategy and nurtured top-tier talent in sandstorm prevention through its key laboratories.

Yang Wenbin highly praised NEFU’s scientific contributions and called for further international cooperation to address the challenges posed by sandstorms. Zhao Yusen proposed the establishment of a systematic governance framework and advocated for a new ecological governance paradigm focused on “protecting green lands and stabilizing soil and water.”

The forum featured four core themes: the formation mechanisms of sandstorms, monitoring and early warning technologies, prevention and control effectiveness, and the sustainable development of ecological restoration. Experts, including Hua Cong, Li Gangtie, Sun Tao, Jiang Ying, and Hu Peixing, gave special invited presentations. There was also a special session on “Young Scholars” and “Case Introductions,” showcasing new academic talent and innovative practices from the business sector.

This successful forum provided a high-level academic exchange platform, comprehensively presenting China’s cutting-edge achievements in desertification control, significantly enhancing its international academic influence, and contributing Chinese wisdom to global sandstorm governance.