From September 3rd to 5th, 2025, the first Sino-Russia International Symposium on Biodiversity Science and Conservation was held in Harbin. The event was jointly hosted by Northeast Forestry University (NEFU) and St. Petersburg State Forestry University, attracting 194 representatives from 28 Chinese and Russian research institutions, universities, and government departments.

Professor Yu Haipeng, Standing Committee Member and Vice President of NEFU, hosted the opening ceremony. Professor Song Wenlong, President of NEFU, Professor Irina Melnichuk, President of St. Petersburg State Forestry University (online), Alexander Panfilov, Deputy Director of the Federal Agency for Forestry of the Russian Federation (online), and Wu Dianfeng, Director of the Natural Ecology Conservation Department of the Department of Ecology and Environment of Heilongjiang Province, delivered speeches. They emphasized the importance of China-Russia cooperation in biodiversity.

After the opening ceremony, Professor Li Mingze, Standing Committee Member and Vice President of NEFU, hosted the unveiling ceremony for the China-Russia Joint Research Center for Biodiversity and the new book release ceremony. NEFU’s Professor Yu Haipeng and St. Petersburg State Forestry University’s Vice President Professor Alexander Dobrovolskiy jointly unveiled the center. The center aims to establish a stable and efficient platform for Sino-Russian scientific and technological exchanges to address regional and global ecological challenges jointly, and to promote the research, conservation, and sustainable use of biodiversity in the Eurasian continent.

Professor Yu Haipeng and Professor Alexander Dobrovolskiy Unveil the Research Center

During the conference, two important academic works were released by NEFU Press: “Checklist of Vascular Plants in East Asia” and “Field Guide to Birds of Northeast China”, both part of the Northeast Asia Biodiversity Series. These two books provide authoritative references for research on East Asian plants and Northeast China’s bird species.

New Book Release

During the conference’s report session, several renowned experts from China and Russia shared their latest research findings, showcasing the two countries’ cutting-edge progress in biodiversity monitoring, assessment, conservation, and policy response. The conference also organized eight sub-sessions, presenting 31 thematic reports on topics including vertebrates, soil animals, forests, wetlands, microorganisms, conservation policies, and intelligent monitoring. Chinese and Russian scholars engaged in in-depth exchanges on issues such as monitoring technologies, data platform development, and conservation practices.

At the closing ceremony, Academician Aleksandr Alekseev from St. Petersburg State Forestry University and Professor Sun Long, a member of the Standing Committee, assistant to the president, and dean of the College of Forestry at NEFU, delivered closing remarks. Both parties agreed that the conference established a solid foundation for future in-depth China-Russia cooperation in biodiversity and proposed developing the joint research center into an open platform, expanding its research scope to the Eurasian continent. They also agreed to jointly advance the construction of a biodiversity big data platform and the implementation of joint research programs.