Between July 8 and 9, 2023, the First China-Iran Caspian Sea Ecosystem Symposium, jointly organized by the Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the RCEECA) and the Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources of Iran, was successfully held in Sari City, Mazandaran Province, Iran. Nearly 50 representatives from relevant research institutes of China and Iran attended the Symposium, and nine people from Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Institute of Oceanology, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Nanjing Institute of Geography & Limnology, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chengdu Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Institute of Earth Environment, and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences also attended the Symposium.

At the brief opening ceremony of the Symposium, Hossein Moradi, President of Sari University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, congratulated and welcomed the successful holding of the Symposium and the arrival of Chinese experts, and Liu Wenjiang, Researcher of Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography as well as the Deputy Managing Director of RCEECA, introduced the background and purpose of the Symposium.

The attendees conducted academic exchanges on climate change and social economy, ecosystem services and conservation, eco-hydrological processes and management, ecosystem monitoring simulation and capacity building, ecosystem management and regional sustainable development, etc. A total of 21 reports were arranged on the Symposium, and special sessions were set up to discuss bilateral scientific & technological cooperation and exchanges.

Before the Symposium, the Chinese attendees visited the Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, and surveyed the eastern section of the Caspian Sea in Iran. After the Symposium, they further surveyed the middle section and the western section of the Caspian Sea in Iran.

It is reported that the RCEECA has set up the Atyrau Caspian Sea Ecosystem Field Scientific Observation Station in Kazakhstan and the Rasht Caspian Sea Ecosystem Field Scientific Observation Station in Iran, respectively. In November 2021, the RCEECA, together with Gilan University of Iran, jointly launched and established the International Research Center of Caspian Sea Ecosystem, aiming to promote cooperative research and academic exchanges on climate change and ecosystems in the Caspian region.

Message from the President of Sari University

Liu Wenjiang Introduced the Background of the Symposium

Group Photo of Symposium Representatives

Field Survey to the Caspian Sea