Belgium: Ambassador Bruno Angelet and Deputy Bart Vodderie meets Terry Townshend

The Ambassador of Belgium to China and Mongolia in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Belgium, Bruno Angelet, and the Deputy Head of Mission, Bart Vodderie, met with Terry Townshend recently. The Delegations extended their pleasure from their meeting.

Reportedly, Terry Townshend, an advisor to the Chinese Government, visited Belgium to meet with the delegations and discuss ways to strengthen their relationships.

The Ambassador of Belgium, Bruno Angelet and the Deputy Head of Mission, Bart Vodderie, welcomed Terry Townshend and honoured him for his contributions to saving and protecting nature. The meeting was based on preserving the natural environment and many endangered species.

Since 2010, Terry Townshend has been based in Beijing, initially as an advisor to the Chinese Government on the drafting of a General Law on Climate Change.

In recent years, Terry has focused on his passion, wildlife conservation, creating the “Birding Beijing” website and an innovative community-based program that tracks many of Beijing’s iconic birds.

He has initially worked very actively to serve the natural Diversity. He has worked on projects to help save some of China’s most endangered birds from extinction and wildlife conservation projects focusing on the Snow Leopard.

During their meeting, Ambassador Angelet and Mr. Vodderie confirmed the Belgian Embassy’s continued commitment to the Ambassadors for Nature Initiative, created by the Ambassador of New Zealand to China initiative in July 2022.

Under the Nature initiative, an informal group of diplomatic missions in Beijing dedicates themselves to managing their embassy premises and grounds in a wildlife-friendly, biodiversity-enhancing way. Considering the Ambassador’s passion for Swift, they also discussed how the Embassy can contribute to protecting and improving Beijing Swift’s environment.

Ambassador Angelet and Mr. Vodderie were also honoured to receive Terry Townshend’s latest book, The Birds of Beijing.