The initiation of a new project on the investigation and preservation of germplasm resources on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau flora has been ratified by the Ministry of Science and Technology. Its launching meeting will soon be held in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

Under the title of "Investigation & Preservation of Wild Floral Germplasm Resources in the Specific Habitat of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau," the new initiative will be coordinated by Prof. Sun Hang, vice director general of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Kunming Institute of Botany. Its participants will include researchers from 12 research bodies across the country.

On basis of the newly established Germplasm Bank for Wildlife in China's Southwest, the project will conduct investigation, collection and storage of floral germplasm samples and specimens indigenous to the Plateau. Its objectives include the construction of a complete system for keeping up and storage of the floral germplasm resources, which is to be composed of an integrative database and information-sharing platform, offering technical guarantee for utilization, protection and preservation of the resources as well as the safety of the national bio-resources of strategic significance, at the same time providing fundamental materials and scientific grounds for national decision makers. 

Editor: Carolyn