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The scoping expedition will involve: developing collaborative contacts with potential project partners and regional stakeholders in the Qinling Mountains project region, particularly local project partners Dr Liang Gang and Dr Michael Lau, students at Shaanxi Normal University, and officials from the Ministries of Forestry and Agriculture; preliminary development of fieldwork and training protocols for a regional monitoring programme; assessing data availability and requirements; developing a collaborative agreement in preparation for an MoU with Shaanxi Normal University; assessing existing field research and conservation capacity; preliminary assessment of field sites for CGS monitoring in the Qinling Mountains; co-ordinated review of threats (including relative impacts of industry and other terrestrial land uses upon salamander habitat, e.g. sedimentation, over-fishing, dam construction, water diversion and drainage, agricultural/industrial pollution, human waste water, and local exploitation of wild CGSs); visiting local CGS farms to offer disease monitoring services linked to the broader project; and developing appropriate protocols and contacts for regional community education and awareness-raising about CGS conservation issues and the wider Qinling freshwater ecosystem.