Experts Discuss Sustainable Development in Karst RegionsGeologists and speleologists from over 20 countries got together at the First International Conference on Sustainable Development in Karst Regions which opened Thursday in Beijing.Tian Fengshan, China's minister of land and resources, addressed the opening ceremony, saying that karst is a widespread geological phenomenon. There are approximately three million square km of limestone areas in China, which almost accounts for one third of China's territory. Although full of attractive peaks and fantastic caves and rich in mineral resources, karst regions are vulnerable to such geological disasters as collapse, land subsidence, landslide, rock and mud flow, and desertification, the minister said. Government officials and scholars at the meeting agreed that choosing China as the site for the first such conference has great significance, especially when the country is carrying out an ambitious development strategy in the western region, where karst areas are widely distributed. Wang Sijing, president of the International Association of Engineering Geology and Environment, said China will encounter enormous problems in building thousands or tens of thousands of kilometers of railways and highways, and exploring abundant mineral resources in the construction in the western region. He said that China needs to get more involved in international exchanges in the scientific sphere. Lu Yaoru, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and chairman of the organizing committee of the conference, announced six winners of the "Contribution Awards," which was set up by the conference. Three of the winners are Chinese. The International Working Group Meeting of the World Correlation of the Karst Ecosystem will be held during the conference. |
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