Tina Chen

    tina@merrymay.cn

    ABOUT 200 volunteers joined a three-month-long outdoor weekend course on guided plant tour services starting Sunday.

    The course, organized by Shenzhen’s urban management bureau, aims to provide world-class guided tours of Shenzhen’s ecological environment during the 19th International Botanical Congress (IBC), which will be held in the city in July.

    At the first outdoor field learning in Lianhua Hill Park, the volunteers in groups and guided by botanists toured Palm Plants Area and Kite Square Area to learn about 101 plant species in eight hours.

    In the future sessions, botanists will guide the volunteers around the city to discover and identify at least 200 species of common plants as well as a number of species of insects, birds, amphibians and reptiles that can be observed in Shenzhen.

    “The weight of plant species accounts for 99 percent of the weight of all living species in Shenzhen. To observe and understand plant life, then nature,” said Nan Zhaoxu, writer and publisher of “Notes of Landscape in Shenzhen.”

    The enthusiasm of the volunteers also relates to the increasing awareness of Nature Deficit Disorder. The term is a phrase coined by Richard Louv in his 2005 book “Last Child in the Woods,” meaning that human beings, especially children, are spending less time outdoors resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems. “The prevalence of depression among residents of the city is 7 percent and that of mild depression reaches 22 percent, topping cities nationwide,” said Wang Dingyue, a senior botanist and director of Wutong Mt. Scenic Area Management Office. “Staying close to nature will help urban residents relax and put them in good moods.”

    The city has a good biological diversity of more than 2,800 species of plants. Along with the high greenery coverage of 44.6 percent, the city has also attracted the world’s most notable IBC and been the first developing country to host the congress.

    The IBC is a major convention that brings together scientists from around the world to discuss new research in the plant sciences. It is held once every six years and not only brings together scientists from many countries, but also scientists in the broader research fields relating to the plant sciences including botany, mycology, ecology, horticulture and agriculture.

    Chen Ting