For the past 45 years, Alfred Pitterle, a professor of silviculture at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Austria, has engaged in China-EU programs with a focus on forest management. In 2008, he was awarded the Friendship Award, China’s highest award for professionals from overseas who have made significant contributions to the country’s development, in recognition of his commitment to promoting China-EU ties in ecological protection. In an exclusive interview with Beijing Review reporter Peng Jiawei, Pitterle shared his views on how China and Europe can work together to build a global eco-civilization, in which humans and nature harmoniously coexist. Edited excerpts from their conversation follow:
Beijing Review: You have been working with China on afforestation for over 40 years. How did this decades-long process of collaboration first begin? What keeps you coming back to China?
It all began in 1978, a
