2010
1. TECHNICAL VISIT TO FOREIGN INSTITUTIONS: We were able to organize one visit for staff of the Land Development Department and Kasetsart University under the umbrella of WASWAC to visit institutions in Malaysia during April 1-7, including Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang, with the coordination of Prof Habibah; Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI) at Serdang with coordination of Mr Lim Ah Hong; and the Universiti Putra Malaysia with coordination of Prof Cek Fauziah of the Land Management Department.
2. ESTABLISHMENT OF WASWAC SECRETARIAT IN BEIJING: After having been around for several years in Beijing, China, the WASWAC Secretariat has eventually found its right place – International Research and Training Center of Erosion and Sedimentation (IRTCES). Prof Ning Duihu has been designated to be WASWAC’s Secretary General.
3. LANDCON 1010 AND THE ESTABLSHMENT OF WASWAC WORLD CONFERENCE SERIES: WASWAC organized the 1st Council Meeting and LANDCON 1010 Conference on Combating Land Degradation in Agricultural Areas through the leadership of Prof Li Rui of the Institute of Soil and Water Conservation in Yangling, Shaanxi, with support from many Chinese institutions at Xi’an, China, during October 11-15, 2010.
4. PRESENTATION OF AWARDS FOR 2010: During the banquet on October 12, four awards were given to following persons: Prof Liu Zhen, Director General of Department of Soil and Water Conservation: Special Award 2010; Prof Peng Cui, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chengdu, Sichuan, China: Distinguished Researcher Award 2010; Prof Rattan Lal, Ohio State University, OH, USA: Norman Hudson Memorial Award 2009; Prof J.S. Bali, Patron, Soil Conservation Society of India (SCSI), India: Norman Hudson Memorial Award 2010.
5. ELECTION OF THE NEW WASWAC PRESIDENT FOR 2011-13: It was announced in September 2010 that the new WASWAC president would be elected for the period of 2011-13. Nomination was made for Prof Li Rui of China, Dr Suraj Bhan of India and Dr Habibi Bibalani Hashem of Iran. From the election be-mail, Prof Li Rui got elected as the new president and the news was announced at the closing of the LANDCON 1010 meeting in Xi’an on October 14, 2010. The President-elect will start his work from January 1, 2011 on ward.
6. PROMOTION OF THE SOIL MUSEUM PROJECT: The WASWAC has been promoting the soil museum project to many countries, as this is a very good way to invest for our younger generations. To continue with the Guangdong Museum of Soil Science, a group of Thai scientists from the Land Development Department and Department of Water Resources in Bangkok traveled to China in December and worked with the scientists of the Guangdong Institute of Eco-environmental and Soil Sciences to plan their soil museum and had a chance to learn about other museums of similar or related kinds in Xi’an, Yangling, Shanghai and Nanjing.
7. PRODUCTION OF SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 6 ON VEGETABLE AGROFO: WASWAC has agreed with the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State (NCA&T) University to produce a series of books that reports the outcomes of the USAID-funded TMPEGS research project on Vegetable Agroforestry that was done in Indonesia, The Philippines and Vietnam during 2003-08. The book series will be produced in cooperation with the World Agroforestry Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. The four volumes that will sit in a box will feature the research results from Vietnam, Indonesia, The Philippines, and Summary, which will appear respectively in January, February, March and April 2011.
8. THE PRODUCTION OF BOOKS: We have been trying to help our members by publishing books of general worldwide interest. Two examples have shown the trend that what we have been doing have been so far accepted. The first is the No-Till Farming Systems book (Special Publication No. 3) and the second example is the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT): Global Applications (Special Publication No. 4).
9. COOPERATION: During a recent encounter among several present and past presidents of the international organizations that deal with soil onmountainous terrain of upper Guangdong Province, we pledged to work together for the better world. In the photo you may see from lefProfessor Jose Rubio (Spain, President of ESSC – European SocietSoil Conservation), myself as the Immediate Past President of WASWAC, Doug Wimble (Australia, a past president of IECA – International Erosion Control Association), Prof Winfried Blum (Austria, President of ECSSS – European Confederation of Soil Science Societies) and Prof. Miodrag Zlatic. The personal encounter may enable the cooperation among organizations that we represent to proceed to the ultimate goal as we wish.
2011
1. Establishing the second council in the term of 2011-2013 with 30 members and standing council with 9 members, including honorary President , President, Immediate President, Advisor, 3 Vice Presidents, Secretary Genera and Treasurer.
2. Starting Official Registration of WASWAC in China.
3. For the registration and standardized management, the revision of the statutes of association is launched.
4. A group of 4 scholars led by Prof. Li Rui, president of WASWAC visited LDD of Thailand from May 16 to 24.
5. The three groups of scientists and governmental officials from LDD of Thailand in total of 49 personnel visited the IRTCES, Institute of SWC at Yangling and other places of China.
6. A training course on Soil and Water Assessment Tool- SWAT was organized by WASWAC from July 24 to 20 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province of China.
7. On Sept. 15, the documents on applying for the approval of the Journal were submitted to the Ministry of Water Resources of P.R.China.