On November 28th and 29th, 2009, American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM) organized a successful and historic gathering of experts from the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and international wildlife conservation communities in Beijing, China.
The International Symposium for the Conservation of Endangered Species and TCM was held in conjunction with the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS) annual Herbal Committee meeting and was funded through a grant from Animals Asia Foundation. Through this event, ACTCM launched the issue of endangered species conservation, as well as the humane treatment of medicinal species such as bear, to the forefront of attention of TCM professionals from across China.
The event was unique in that, although there have been previous meetings dedicated to single species, like tigers, and smaller-scale regional meetings in China, there has never been a conference supported by a national TCM organization in China that has addressed such a diversity of topics within the broad theme of endangered species conservation and TCM.
The symposium brought together over 350 herbal vendors, practitioners, scholars, government officials, and policy makers from the fields of TCM and environmental conservation. ACTCM selected 18 leaders from across China to address conservation policy, alternatives to endangered species, as well as specific medicinal species such as bear, pangolin and turtles, among others.
Additionally, ACTCM President Lixin Huang conducted an interview with CNN Beijing in which she re-emphasized the messages of the symposium.
At the symposium, ACTCM also convened the first meeting of a working group of experts dedicated to this theme of endangered species and TCM. This group consists of top researchers from Chengdu University of TCM and Shanghai University of TCM as well as WWF scientists. ACTCM looks forward to building stronger partnerships with these institutions and organizations and collaborating on future research and educational projects as well as policy recommendations.
Through this project, ACTCM has laid a foundation for ongoing dialog about endangered species conservation and a more sustainable future of Chinese herbal medicine.
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About American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (ACTCM) has provided affordable, quality health care to the public and trained professionals in acupuncture, massage and Chinese medicine since 1980. In addition to its graduate curriculum, ACTCM offers continuing education, public education, community outreach and clinical services in acupuncture and herbal medicine. ACTCM has been the recipient of many awards for its curriculum, faculty and clinic, and has been voted “Best of the Bay” by both the San Francisco Weekly and the San Francisco Bay Guardian. ACTCM is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine and is a private, nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.