The school, however, also recognizes that it cannot rest on its laurels since there are challenges to be addressed. Below are some of the problems faced in implementing the biodiversity-related courses: • The number of teachers working on biodiversity and related subjects is very limited. This affects the number and types of courses that are offered to students. The guidance provided by teachers to students about further study and research is also very limited. • The content of the course pays more attention to the relationship between the basic characteristics of biodiversity and its geographical environment, but little attention to the specific methods and measures for biodiversity conservation. • Most study time is still in the classroom, and the evaluation is mainly based on the mastery of basic knowledge. Though the school has various kinds of field work for different students and purposes, they are still too short and hastily conducted. Students generally believe that the link between theory and practice need to be strengthened further. In the School of Geography, most students are taking the path towards becoming geography teachers in middle school or becoming a geography education-related staff. Because of this, the school sees the need to not only expand their students’ biodiversity-related knowledge, but also focus on the formation of biodiversity conservation awareness and the implementation of biodiversity conservation measures. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The author would like to thank UNU-IAS and the Sirindhorn International Environmental Park who provide financial assistance and so many helps for the participation of the forum in Thailand to share our experiences. Thanks to members of RCE-Beijing and Center of Education for Geography and Sustainable Development in Beijing Normal University, especially Prof. Wang, and Dr. Wei. Thanks are also given to students in School of Geography who spend so much time for the questionnaires and interview. REFERENCES Feng Weibo. 1994. Economic analysis for loss and conservation of biodiversity.In : Biodiversity. Vol. 2, No.1, pp. 44-48. He Maoheng, Wang Jinliang, Xu Shen, Gu Jing. 2010. Construction of environmental education system for biodiversity conservation. In : Environment and Sustainable Development. No.1, pp. 20-23. Li Bo. 2003. Ecology. Higher Education Press, Beijing, China. Wu Guanghe, Tian Liannu, Hu Shuangxi, Wang Li’ang. 2006. Physical Geography (3rd Editor). Higher Education Press, Beijing, China. Wu Jihua, Zhang Kun, Jiang Yuan, Kang Muyi, Qiu Yang. 2006. The Botanic Geography (4th Editor). Higher Education Press. Beijing, China. Zhu Maoyuan, Hua Honglian, Ma Zunping. 2009. The content analysis of environment education for local biodiversity conservation. In : Environment and Sustainable Development. No.4, pp. 4-7. (2011) Beijing Normal University website. Online. Available: http://www.bnu.edu.cn (2011) School of Geography, BNU website. Online. Available: http://geog.bnu.edu.cn ENCOURAGING PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN BUSINESS AND COMMUNITIES FOR BIODIVERSITY 111
In Celebration of His Majesty the King of Thailand’s 84th Birthday Anniversary
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