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The National Forestry and Grassland Administration recently issued the Notice on Announcing the List of the First Batch of Reorganized Key Laboratories of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration. The Key Laboratory for Ancient and Precious Trees Protection of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, led by BUA and co-built by Beijing Academy of Forestry and Landscape Architecture and Beijing Forestry University, as well as the Key Laboratory for Colorful Tree Species of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, led by Hebei Agricultural University and co-built by BUA and Hebei Academy of Forestry and Grassland Science, are on the list. This marks a major breakthrough achieved by BUA in the construction of ecological protection and agricultural and forestry research platforms.

Ancient and precious trees, hailed as "green national treasures", are important carriers for inheriting Chinese civilization, safeguarding ecological security and promoting the construction of ecological civilization. Currently, protection of ancient and precious trees nationwide still faces challenges such as backward monitoring technologies, poor health assessment systems and weak rejuvenation and restoration technologies. Actively integrating superior resources inside and outside the university and collaborating with top research institutes in the industry, BUA has applied for and obtained approval for the construction of the "Key Laboratory for Ancient and Precious Trees Protection of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration". The move aims to build an integrated protection technology system covering resource investigation, smart management, health assessment and cultural inheritance. The laboratory will focus on four core aspects: smart management of ancient and precious trees, analysis of longevity mechanisms, precise health rejuvenation, and protection planning and excavation of cultural value, carrying out cutting-edge basic research and addressing key technological challenges. The laboratory will be directed by Professor Duan Liusheng from BUA, who is a Chang Jiang Scholar of the Ministry of Education and a recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, while gathering interdisciplinary scientific research talents including authoritative experts in the industry such as Researcher Cong Richen, to form an innovation pattern featuring leadership by strategic scientists, collaboration among multiple sides and synergy across disciplines.

In recent years, BUA has built a solid foundation in the field of ancient tree protection. Successively, it has obtained approval for the construction of the National Forestry and Grassland Ancient Tree Health and Ancient Tree Culture Engineering Technology Research Center, led the establishment of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Research Center for the Protection of Ancient and Precious Trees, and set up the first undergraduate major and postgraduate program in ancient tree protection in China, published the first textbook series on ancient tree protection, and built a gene bank, a digital museum and a smart management platform for ancient trees that are all leading at home. Approval of the said key laboratory will further strengthen BUA's leading position in the field of ancient tree protection, and drive the construction of related disciplines, talent training, and the commercialization of scientific research achievements to a new height. The laboratory aims to become a domestically leading and internationally renowned research platform for the protection of ancient and precious trees within five years, developing a number of core technologies with independent intellectual property rights, promoting the formulation of relevant standards and popularization of technologies, cultivating a team of high-caliber professional talents, and providing solid technological support for the scientific protection of ancient and precious trees, the construction of ecological civilization and the inheritance of culture in China.

The Key Laboratory for Colorful Tree Species of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration focuses on the major needs arising from national ecological civilization construction and urban and rural greening and beautification, with three core research offices, respectively dedicated to the creation of excellent germplasm resources and breeding of improved varieties, mining and mechanism analysis of coloration trait genes, and innovation of efficient propagation and cultivation technologies, set up under it. The laboratory is committed to addressing key industrial challenges such as the lack of improved varieties of colorful tree species, unclear coloration mechanisms and backward propagation technologies, and building an innovation system across the whole process from breakthroughs in basic theories to the formulation of industrial standards.

As a co-builder of the laboratory, BUA will fully leverage its unique strengths in disciplines such as landscape plant genetics and breeding, molecular biology and ecological landscape design, and focus on frontier research such as the mining of functional genes of colorful tree species, the analysis of trait regulation mechanisms and the innovation of characteristic germplasm. It will deepen cooperation with peer universities and research institutes, to jointly drive the independent innovation of colorful tree species in China, and provide technological and talent support for the "Scientific Greening" and "Beautiful China" initiatives. Several core teachers from BUA's team for molecular design and breeding of forest trees and team for innovation of landscape plant application will join the laboratory as key members.