Press Release
21 May 2008
Hugging pandas turned to terror as Chinese earthquake struck
Countryside and Community Research Institute Board Member Judy Ling Wong had a lucky escape from the massive earthquake that hit Sichuan Province in south-west China on 12th May 2008.
Ms Wong, UK Director of Black Environment Network (BEN) and Board Member of Gloucestershire based Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI), was visiting the Wolong Panda Reserve as part of a tourist group when the earthquake struck. She was about to have her photograph taken hugging a large panda when the trip turned to terror and boulders and rocks began to fly overhead as trees tumbled down.
Tragically five staff members of staff at Wolong National Reserve were killed, but it has been reported that all the pandas in the reserve are safe. However, all the panda houses have been damaged and supplies of bamboo, apples, and veterinary medicine for the pandas, as well as food and tents for the staff, are urgently needed.
Since her return, Ms Wong had started to raise money for the victims of the earthquake, and the Wolong Panda Reserve.
Judy Ling Wong said "Giving money in general at this difficult time really helps, but giving to the Wolong Panda Reserve means driving the major tourist attraction of the area which will support the local people into the future as well as fund research and protection of this endangered animal so dear to us all. BEN will collect money and send funds to the Centre. We will be asking the British ambassador Sir William Ehrman to help us form a link to the Wolong Panda Reserve for the future."
Donations can be made via Black Environment Network (www.ben-network.org.uk).
The Panda Reserve is situated in a remote area close to the epicentre of the quake which destroyed most of the roads and communications.
It houses up to 150 pandas, and attracts explorers, tourists, animal-lovers as well as scientists, and receives more than 100, 000 visitors each year.
After making their escape from the Panda Reserve, Ms Wong and the other tourists in the group spent four days sleeping on the tourist bus, surviving on food and water given to them by local villagers. The group was eventually flown out of the Wolong nature reserve by helicopter to Chengdu, the provincial capital, from where they flew back to the UK.
Ms Wong was appointed Board Member to the CCRI in April 2008. The CCRI is a specialist rural research centre and the result of a unique collaboration between the University of Gloucestershire, the University of the West of England and Hartpury College.
Judy Ling Wong is a keynote speaker at the 12th Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons which is being organised by the CCRI, and will take place on 14 – 18 July 2008. For further information please contact Gill Parker gparker@glos.ac.uk
ENDS
______________________________________________________________Contacts:
Press Officer, Julie Ryan
Office Manager, Chris Rayfield, crayfield@glos.ac.uk or telephone 01242 714121
Other Information:
The Black Environment Network (BEN) promotes equality of opportunity with respect to ethnic communities in the preservation protection and development of the environment. BEN works across diverse sectors in the context of sustainable development, integrating social, cultural and environmental concerns. Current themes include natural conservation, urban design, history and heritage, identity, health, employment, and access to the countryside and urban green spaces.
The Countryside and Community Research Institute (CCRI) is a new body created by the University of Gloucestershire, the University of the West of England and Hartpury College. It is one of the leading specialist rural research centres in the country with programmes of research in rural community development, rural poverty, agri-environment policies, agri-tourism, local sustainability, local economic development, EU and UK rural development, and the planning system in the countryside.
Judy Ling Wong CBE. FRSA. HonFCIWEM. HonPhD
Judy Ling Wong is the UK Director of Black Environment Network, with an international reputation as the pioneer in the field of ethnic participation in the built and natural environment. Judy lives in Llanberis, a village set against the dramatic landscape of Snowdonia in Wales, and is a major voice on policy towards social inclusion.
Judy has worked extensively in various sectors - in the arts, in psychotherapy and in community engagement. This multiple background means that she is uniquely place to take forward the development of an integrated approach to environmental participation, bringing together different fields and sharing cultural visions. She was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 1997 in recognition of her contribution to contemporary environmental thinking. She was awarded an OBE as part of the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2000 in recognition of her pioneering work in establishing ethnic environmental participation. In 2003, she was made an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institution for Water and Environmental Management. In 2005, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Gloucester. She was received a CBE in the Birthday Honours 2007 for services to heritage.
She was appointed a Board Member of the CCRI in April 2008.
Issued by:
COUNTRYSIDE AND COMMUNITY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Dunholme Villa,
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