As Deputy Chief of the Division of Nature Reserve Management for the Ministry of Forestry, Mr. Yan administers projects related to environmental conservation and the sustainable use and development of natural resources. He is interested in promoting personal responsibility and the wise use of natural resources to protect the environment and is currently working on conservation projects in cooperation with the World Wildlife Federation. Mr. Yan studied wildlife conservation at the Northeast Forestry University in Harbin, Heilongjiang in China and received additional training in wildlife and National Park management from the Australian National Park and Wildlife Service. He is a member of the Ornithological Society of China and attended the Asian Wetland Symposium in Otsu and Kushiro, Japan in October 1992 and the First Conference on National Park and Protected Areas of East Asia in Beijing in September 1993. His published works include 'The Present Status, Problems and Development of China's Nature Reserves', which appeared in The Journal of the Northeast Forestry University in 1989.