On November 6, 2019, at the first meeting of the 4thcouncil meeting of World Association of Soil and Water Conservation (WASWAC) held in New Delhi, India, IWHR expert NING Duihu was elected new President of WASWAC, with a term of three years starting from January 1, 2020.

　　

　　Professor NING Duihu making speech as new President of WASWAC

　　A total of 24 council members or their representatives attended the meeting. Election of new President was held during the meeting, followed by election of new Vice President and Secretary General. Liu Xiaoying, another IWHR expert, was elected the next Secretary General of WASWAC.

　　Attendees of the meeting also discussed the priorities of the new councils and responsibilities of different special committees, and determined organizers of the 3rd WASWAC Youth Forum and the 5th International Conference.

　　

　　WASWAC council meeting

This year’s council meeting was convened during WASWAC’s 5th International Conference , which was held during November 5 to November 9. A total of 263 participants from 13 countries and regions attended the conference.

　　The theme of this year’s conference was “Soil and Water Resources Management for Climate-Smart Agriculture, Global Food and Livelihood Security”. Topics discussed during the conference included: current status soil degradation and future management; water resources management; sustainable agriculture system responding to climate change; planning and management of land use under dynamic changes of water and soil resources; policy intervention of water and soil resources to enhance global food security; and climate-smart agriculture. A total of 13 invited reports, 34 themed reports, 186 oral reports and 227 posters were made during the conference.

　　Founded in 1983 in Hawaii, United States, as a non-governmental, non-profit academic organization, WASWAC is the most influential international organization in water and soil conservation in the world. It aims to enhance worldwide technical exchange and collaboration in water and soil conservation, improve related research, design and management skills, and provide knowledge and technical support to reasonable use of water and soil resources, environment protection, and the sustainable development.

　　In 2010, the secretariat of WASWAC officially moved to China and was stationed at the International Research and Training Center on Erosion and Sedimentation of IWHR.

　　Since taking office as Secretary-General of WASWAC in 2011, Professor NING Duihu has made remarkable contributions, like establishing long-term mechanism of organizing WASWAC World Conference and Youth Forum regularly, founding the International Journal of Sediment Research which later became SCIE indexed, and carrying out exchanges and cooperation with several international and regional organizations. Such achievements have been highly appreciated by the WASWAC council as well as related international organizations.

　　The success of Professor NING’s election as WASWAC President is largely accredited to the vigorous development of water and soil conservation in China, as well as China’s active participation in international affairs as a responsible world power.