Multispecies Clouds
Early Spring Ecotour of Multispecies Communities: Hiking in Jingxi Forest Farm
2023.04.08 Saturday
Location
Jingxi Forest Farm
Whole Day
The special public program of the exhibition “Multispecies Clouds”, “Meshwork”, has been launched since this January with a series of talks with anthropologists and participating artists. In her lecture, anthropologist Wang Yishan talked about how training and learning to “see” is not only based on the mind's perception, but also on the ability to connect with and sense multiple species. The latter is the ability to open ourselves up to non-humans, to be emotionally triggered by them and to trigger them in appropriate ways at the same time.
In early spring, we are invited by the Shan Shui Conservation Center to a one-day biodiversity survey in the western suburbs of Beijing, where the Center has been working on biodiversity and restoration in the Jingxi Forest Farm since 2019. This event will lead a nature walk and plant sample survey to learn about aquatic life, investigate early spring plant diversity and look for traces of wildlife.
The event will be co-recruited by us and the Shan Shui Conservation Center. If you would like to experience the hiking in Jingxi Forest Farm and have interesting exchanges with participants from different works of life, please sign up for this event and we look forward to meeting you in the forest.
Activities:
Nature walks: surveys of understorey plants and aquatic life, search for traces of wildlife (poo, skeletal remains, food marks, etc.);
Nature guided walks: the origins and main work of the Jingxi Forest Farm.
Number of People:
Up to 10 people
1. In principle, this is a individual signing process. If you are joining with friends or family, please individually complete the registration form.
2. 10 other participants will be gathered by Shan Shui Conservation Center, making a total of 20 participants for the hiking.
Basic Requirements:
Stay in contact with the staff and do not leave the group during the event;
No smoking or carrying fire in the forest area; Each person will be required to scan a QR code to register on entering the mountain;
Persons over 18 years of age and in good health, with experience of hiking in the Beijing countryside preferred;
No professional work experience is required, anyone who is interested in hiking can also sign up.
Meeting Time and Venue:
April 8 (Saturday)
7:50 East meeting point: Jiande Gate Metro Station, Exit C.
8:30 West meeting point: West Diaoyutai Metro Station, Exit A.
Schedule:
7:50-10:30 Meet and greet at Jingxi Forest Farm
10:30-10:40 Opening, introduction to the project site
10:40-12:40 Valley hike, aquatic life survey
12:40-13:30 Lunch
13:30-15:00 Mountain hike, trail finding, understorey plant survey
15:00-16:30 Hike back to the starting point
16:30-17:00 Wrap-up and sharing
17:00-18:30 Return to the city by shuttle bus
Note: The intensity of the walk is 12km, 6 hours, 400m ascent
What We Provide:
Round-trip transportation from the meeting point to the Jingxi Forest Farm;
Insurance (*please provide your real name, mobile phone number and ID number at the time of registration in order to purchase insurance);
Expert introduction.
What to Bring:
Jacket, long sleeves and trousers, sports shoes;
A light lunch, drinking water;
Sun protection (hat, sunscreen, sunglasses);
Rain gear (umbrella, rash guard, etc.);
Insect repellent and common personal medication.
How to Register:
Scan the QR code to fill in the questionnaire to sign up until 23:59 on Wednesday 5th April.
You will be contacted through the contact details you provided by 18:00 on Thursday. If you do not receive it, please stay tuned for our next event.
Aboout Jingxi Charitable Protected Area:
Located on the outskirts of Beijing, the Jingxi Charitable Protected Area is a conservation project jointly implemented by China Environmental Protection Foundation, Shan Shui Conservation Center and Jingxi Forest Farm with the support of Huatai Securities and Ant Forest, the project is also supported by the COP15 Executive Committee Office and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Landscape Architecture. The project is dedicated to the conservation of species such as the brown moorhen and the forest ecosystem of northern China, thanks to the participation of 19 million netizens.
About Shan Shui Conservation Center:
Founded in 2007, Shan Shui Conservation Center is a civil nature protection organisation that focuses on species and habitat conservation, hoping to demonstrate pathways and methods of harmonious coexistence between humans and nature through a balance of ecological conservation and economic and social development. We focus on species such as the snow leopard on the Tibetan plateau, the giant panda in the south-western mountains and golden monkey, as well as nature around the city. We work with local communities to develop conservation practices, conduct systematic research based on citizen science, explore innovative solutions and distil conservation knowledge and experience with a view to achieving ecological equity.
About Meshwork:
“Meshwork” is a special public program throughout the course of “Multispecies Clouds,” consisting of forums, lectures, conversations, podcasts, screenings and book clubs.
“The metaphor of ‘meshwork’ refers to how individuals and knowledges are entanglements; they emerge through encounters with others – as ‘lines of becoming’, they are not pre-existent, self-contained and separate entities.”(Tim Ingold) As Ingold points out, this notion describes how we build connections through encounters and contacts, and thus form the intersecting courses of action in personal, intellectual, and interdisciplinary research activities. Like “Multispecies Clouds,” “Meshwork” as a metaphor is also a way of "storytelling," a way of unfolding the emergent, the fluid, the contingent, the historical, and the narrative “lines of becoming”. We will invite practitioners from various fields to participate in this “entanglement” and to work together to create new indeterminate networks.
