By LEI Fengyun & BI Weizi

Professor Alfred Pitterle. (PHOTO: International Talent Magazine)

Professor Alfred Pitterle is a silviculturist and ecologist at the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, Austria, and a winner of the 2008 Chinese Government Friendship Award.

Pitterle first came to China in 1978 and has been deeply involved in Sino-European forestry cooperation, witnessing the rapid development of China's ecological protection.He highly values the ecological civilisation proposed by China, which advocates the concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature.

Active participator in Sino-European forestry and ecological research

Pitterle was born in March 1949 in Austria, graduated from BOKU in 1969 and has been involved in teaching, research and international academic exchange at BOKU for decades. In 2008, he received the Chinese Government Friendship Award for his active participation in Sino-European forestry and ecological research cooperation and his support for the internationalization of disciplines at the Central South University of Forestry and Technology (CSUFT).

Pitterle's cooperation with the Forestry Department of Hunan province began in 1996, with the feasibility study of the "Sino-German Financial Cooperation Afforestation Project Phase I" in Hunan, which lasted for more than ten years and made important contributions to local forestry development. From 1998 to 2008, as the quality monitoring expert of the Sino-German Financial Cooperation "Ecological Afforestation Project in Dongting Lake, Hunan," Pitterle and his professional team completed the quality sampling monitoring of more than 30,000 hectares of afforestation, ensuring the high quality and standard of the project.

More importantly, Pitterle brought many new concepts of "urban forestry" to Hunan, and also contributed to the cooperation between Changsha and Vienna on the protection, management and use of urban water source forests. On his recommendation, CSUFT joined the Austrian Eurasia-Pacific Academic Association in 2007, which effectively promoted academic and talent exchanges between Austrian universities and scientific research institutions. Since then, as a professor at BOKU, a special representative of the "Eurasia-Pacific Uninet" (EPU), and a consultant expert of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), he has been actively involved in China-Austria, China-Europe scientific research and ecological cooperation, training and guiding Chinese students.

China a pioneer in carbon neutrality

In September 2021, Pitterle was invited to participate in the "International Cooperation and Development Forum on Carbon Neutrality" of the China International Fair for Trade in Services, and delivered a keynote speech on "Carbon Neutral Planning, Measurement and Evaluation System", in which he put forward three important ideas:

First, harmonious co-existence between man and nature is sustainable development. The world is currently facing a common crisis that required the concerted action of all of humanity.

Second, he suggested that multidimensional evaluation criteria need to be established to achieve unity and balance between urban and rural life, human development and nature's diversity.

Third, China has become a pioneer in carbon neutrality. Strategic adjustments based on carbon neutrality will not harm employment, but rather create new opportunities. If it continues to be quick in response, China will gain an advantageous position in this race.

Passion for China's forestry and ecological development

Since his first visit to Beijing, Heilongjiang and Shaanxi in 1986 for scientific research and exchanges, Pitterle has made hundreds of visits and inspections of China's forestry and ecological situation in most parts of the country, and has established ties with the State Forestry and Grassland Bureau, the Chinese Academy of Forestry, and many other research institutes and universities.

On September 27, 2019, on the recommendation of the Society of Forestry of China, Pitterle attended the "Reception for Foreign Experts to Celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the People's Republic of China" at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, a great personal honor for his dedication and contribution in the field of China's ecology and forestry.

This article is in cooperation with International Talent Magazine.