Social service is one of the basic functions of universities. The team members of the Centre have always regarded social service as one of the top priorities of our work, and have been actively using our professional advantages to provide a number of services, such as advising on politics, law enforcement appraisal, professional training, popular science publicity, turtle rescue, and so on, so as to assist in the construction of an ecological civilization. We have repeatedly called for the revision of wildlife protection laws and lists, implemented advanced wildlife protection legislation and policy concepts, and effectively contributed to the improvement of the ecological civilization governance system and governance capacity; we have insisted on identifying specimens for law enforcement and management agencies for free for decades. Meanwhile, we have also provided professional training for law enforcement and management agencies, which has helped to build up the capacity of frontline conservationists; we have created the Chelonians Museum, which has the richest species of chelonians and the largest collection of specimens in China, and opened it to the public for a long time as a base for popularization of science, teaching and research; we have created the first rescue station for sea turtles in domestic universities, and have carried out long-term publicity on rescue and protection of sea turtles, which has played an important role in raising the awareness of the public about the protection of sea turtles.

In January 2016, US Ambassador to China Max Bocas (third from the right in the front row) was in Sanya

Release turtles together with teachers and students from the turtle rescue station