Summary Report of the
1st Symposium on GI Environment and Sustainability
Liu, C.1 Yu, X. H.2 Sun, Y. W.3 Li, B.4 Zhang, M. S.5
1.Institute of Geographic Sciences and
Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101; 2. Public Affairs Department of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region,
Yinchuan 750001; 3. Agriculture and Rural Affairs
Bureau of Yanchi, Yanchi 751500; 4. Yanchi Tan Sheep Group of Ningxia, Yanchi
751100;
5. Geographical
Science and Planning College, Ningxia University, Yinchuan 750021
With the support and coordination from the
Department of Communication of Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Department of
Agriculture of Yanchi County, the First Symposium on Geographical Indications
(GI) Environment and Sustainability was successfully held on January 13, 2021
in Yanchi county, Ningxia Hui autonomous region. Experts from Institute of
Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences
(IGSNRR/CAS), Ningxia University, Yanchi Tan Sheep
Ltd., officers from Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Yanchi government, as
well as local herdsmen from Huamachi town joined the
symposium.
Yanchi county is located at the junction area
of provinces among Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia and Inner Mongolia, which is the
continental temperate dry grassland monsoon with the yearly precipitation 200–400
mm only. Yanchi county covers a total area of 8,522.2
km2, in which more than 80% land is the grassland. Yanchi’s grassland is consisted of four grassland types:
dry grassland, desert grassland, sandy vegetation grassland and saline
vegetation grassland. There are 175 kinds of high-quality forages, including
110 kinds of traditional Chinese medicine. The soil in the territorial is
mainly light gray and gray calcium soils; groundwater is weakly alkaline water,
which is good for Tan Sheep. The total population of the county is around 173
thousands. Tan sheep, the GI product, is an excellent local sheep variety in
Ningxia for motton and fur, with a breeding history
of more than 2000 years. President Xi indicated that the Tan sheep should be
well protected. In 2000, Yanchi county was listed as
the core reserve and core productive area of Tan sheep germplasm
resources by the Ministry of Agriculture of China; it is the only Tan sheep reserve
in China.
The symposium participates
recognized and agreed that Yanchi Tan Sheep, as a national geographical
indication product, has a unique ecological, geographical environment and the product
inheritance geographical conditions in Yanchi, Ningxia. Based on the common
understanding, it was decided at the symposium that taking the case on Yanchi
Tan sheep dry grassland as a practice case to demonstrate how to reach Goal 15
of UN SDGs, specifically in GI environment and sustainability.