The "2025 Symposium on Ethnobotany and 'Belt and Road' Science & Technology Exchange Cooperation" was successfully held in Wuhan from October 17 to 20, 2025. Directors from Yunnan International Joint Laboratory of Health Plant Resources Development (HPRD Lab) actively participated in this academic event to boost Sino-Thai collaboration in ethnobotany.
Hosted by Wuhan Botanical Garden of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hubei Botanical Society, and Wuhan Botanical Society, and co-organized by South-Central Minzu University and Jianghan University, the symposium gathered over 160 experts, scholars, young researchers, and industry representatives from China, Malaysia, Thailand, Nepal, Madagascar, Myanmar, and other countries. Its core mission was to explore ethnobotany’s role in supporting national strategies, advancing regional cooperation, and driving sustainable development under the "Belt and Road" Initiative.
Ruyu Yao, Director of HPRD Lab, and Angkhana Inta, Deputy Director of the Laboratory and a professor from Chiang Mai University in Thailand, attended the symposium. Director Yao delivered a keynote report titled "Let Local Herbs Benefit the Global Health: Cross-cultural Communication of Traditional Herbal Knowledge". In his presentation, he emphasized the profound value of localized traditional herbal wisdom and highlighted the necessity of international cooperation in promoting such knowledge to transcend regional boundaries, ultimately enabling it to serve global health needs. His remarks resonated with the symposium’s focus on "Belt and Road" collaboration, offering a practical pathway for linking local plant resources to global health challenges.
Meanwhile, Dr. Inta stood out in the international academic exchange segment – a highlight of the event – by sharing her research on "Cross-Cultural Ethnobotanical Comparative Studies Between Thailand and India". Her presentation deeply analyzed the similarities, differences, and inheritance of traditional plant knowledge across the two countries’ cultural contexts, offering valuable insights for protecting transboundary traditional botanical wisdom and promoting cross-regional resource sharing.
The symposium featured four parallel sub-forums ("Life and Grand Health," "National Strategy and Resource Exploration," "Cutting-Edge Science & Technology and Economic Services," and "Youth Forum"), 64 academic reports, poster exchanges, and field visits to the Moshan Campus of Wuhan Botanical Garden. These activities facilitated in-depth interactions among participants.
As a bridge for Sino-Thai scientific and technological cooperation, HPRD Lab has been committed to advancing collaborative research in ethnobotany, medicinal plant protection, and traditional knowledge inheritance. The participation of Directors Ruyu Yao and Angkhana Inta in this symposium further strengthens academic ties between China and Thailand, and contributes to the shared goal of sustainable utilization of plant resources and protection of biodiversity under the "Belt and Road" framework.
Group Photo of Dr. Angkhana Inta, Dr. Ruyu Yao, and Prof. Kanchit Thammasiri at the Symposium