User login
DATE
June 12 - 16, 2011
VENUE
International Conference Centre
Arusha, Tanzania
Contact us
General Enquires / LOC:
loc(at)atbc-scbafrica2011(dot)org
Plenary Speakers
Our plenary speakers are a diverse and exemplary set of individuals whose personalities and commitment to tropical ecosystems and conservation inspire us on a daily basis...We hope you -- too -- will be inspired.
JOHN YONAZI SALEHE
13 June, Morning Plenary
Regional Forestry Adviser, World Wide Fund for Nature Eastern and Southern Africa Programme, P.O. Box 62660, Nairobi, Kenya (website)(Read John Salehe's biography)
Conservation biologists, conservationists and conservation in Eastern Africa: Are we winning?
It is a pleasure that this forum meets in Arusha where in 1961, the father of this nation, the late president Julius Nyerere, issued the Arusha Manifesto 50 years ago. I was in Standard 1 of primary school at the time.
For a long time, the field of conservation science has been growing in a positive way to address conservation challenges in eastern and southern Africa. The links between conventional conservation biologists, conservationists and conservation actions have improved over a period of time in the last century. Today we face a huge number of development challenges which include population increases, high poverty levels, climate change, impact of the private sector, erosion of traditional and cultural practices and, finally not the least, greed and corruption that impacts conservation. We are also privileged of the high tech Internet Technology which makes conservation communication easier but, at the same time our counter-productive efforts use the same technology. The region has a great number of conservationists, and also conservation scientists, but we still face governance challenges when we consider conservation priorities. This keynote address examines and evaluates the challenges that conservationists face, and looks into the conservation scientists as one of the key source of appropriate information that is well packaged for the policy makers for the optimal result of conservation. It is my hope that by focusing on Eastern Africa, we can begin to realise the complexities, challenges and successes in conservation, with the view to help broaden perspectives by collaborating with stakeholders in other tropical regions.
The Arusha Manifesto:
“The survival of our wildlife is a matter of grave concern to all of us in Africa. These wild creatures amid the wild places they inhabit are not only important as a source of wonder and inspiration but are an integral part of our natural resources and our future livelihood and well being. In accepting the trusteeship of our wildlife we solemnly declare that we will do everything in our power to make sure that our children’s grand-children will be able to enjoy this rich and precious inheritance. The conservation of wildlife and wild places calls for specialist knowledge, trained manpower, and money, and we look to other nations to co-operate with us in this important task - the success or failure of which not only affects the continent of Africa but the rest of the world as well.” - Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere, Arusha, 1961
DELALI BENJAMIN DOVIE
14 June, Morning Plenary
Technical Adviser, Climate Change Adaptation, Water Resources Commission of Ghana, Accra, Ghana (Read Delali Dovie's biography)
Millennium Development Goals or Millennium Conservation Goals?
The new development reality facing the world is in fact natural resource conservation under challenges of global warming and hence climate change impacts that will lead to extreme poverty and hunger, deteriorated education, gender inequality, child mortality and poor maternal health in the tropics. There will be frustrated efforts to manage major diseases, weakened environmental sustainability and poor share of benefits from global development partnership. A Millennium Development Goal (MDG) should take its root from where and how development emerges to what goes into it. The failure to recognise, understand and redefine the proximate drivers of environmental change to constitute a developmental challenge will undermine any development goal. There is no doubt that environmental sustainability issues arise at all levels of the MDGs and that is why the outcomes of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) have been crucial. For example the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) representing biodiversity and its cross-cutting issues, are directing clear pathways for the coupled human-environment system as the basis for development. In countries harbouring tropical rainforest in Africa, Asia, and Central and South America, for instance, biological resource use, human livelihoods and development are all inextricably linked. Consciously conserving natural resources (e.g. biodiversity and its benefits) and setting limits will better inform development. Conserving some externalities of climate change may also better inform development (e.g. storing excess run-off water for irrigation in drier months will reduce dependence on forest resources, hunger, and improve incomes to pay for good health and combat disease). The environmental sustainability goal of the MDGs is overtly misplaced, begging the world to ask “how long will ‘Economics Alone’ dictate development pathways?” In this plenary address, I argue that attainable Millennium Development Goals should have emerged from “Millennium Conservation Goals” yet non-existent, but could be better attractive if monetary values accompany conservation (e.g. ecosystem services).
MIGUEL MARTINEZ RAMOS
15 June, Morning Plenary
Academic Secretary and Senior Researcher, Centre for Ecosystem Research (CIEco), National Autonomous University of Mexico, Morelia Campus, Mexico (website)(Read Miguel Martinez's biography)
Beyond biology: Searching for initiatives for interdisciplinary research in socio-ecological systems
Over the past decades, tropical biology has grown splendidly exploring the origin, evolution, functioning, and maintenance of the amazing biodiversity displayed in the tropics. However, we need to go beyond biology to effectively help to reduce losses of such biodiversity under the unprecedented damages that humans are inflicting on tropical ecosystems. In this talk, I will argue that tropical biology requires urgent efforts to carry out inter-disciplinary work with scientists and non-scientists of the social arena (sociologists, anthropologists, economists, foresters, producers, decision makers) to establish bases for a sustainable management of ecosystems. In this view, it is required to explicitly recognize the so-called “socio-ecological systems”, where humans and their activities have a paramount position. Because contemporary biodiversity loss is being caused by social, political, economic, cultural factors, the study and understanding of these factors are crucial to develop suitable sustainable management schemes for tropical ecosystems. First, a brief description of the growth of tropical biology is shown, followed by a characterization of the major threats humans are inflicting on tropical ecosystems. Second, in the context of sustainable development of societies, conceptual frameworks that can be used to study socio-ecological systems are shown, indicating the type of approaches for generating knowledge, methodologies, tools and institutional initiatives for the conservation, use, restoration, and planning of ecosystems. Some study cases are used to exemplify such frameworks. Finally, a series of perspectives are presented as ways forward.
ROSIE TREVELYAN
16 June Morning Plenary
Tropical Biology Association, Cambridge, United Kingdom and Nairobi, Kenya (website)(Read Rosie Trevelyan's biography)
Building bridges: The role of capacity development in conservation in Africa
Biodiversity conservation requires skilled people coupled with the political and institutional support necessary to operate effectively. This in the broadest sense of the term is capacity, and there is worldwide concern that lack of national capacity is preventing countries from meeting their conservation goals. Africa is no exception. There is a lack of capacity to communicate scientific results effectively to policy makers, for example, and many conservation scientists consider themselves isolated from the international policy and science community.
One solution to bridging this gap is to incorporate capacity development activities into conservation projects, rather than see them as separate activities. At the same time, we need to know what impact capacity development has once the project has finished. There are several organisations tackling this issue. For example, the Tropical Biology Association is taking creative approaches both to capacity development and to measuring its impact in both the short and long term. The fact that TBA’s former trainees belong to an active international network of like-minded conservationists coupled with the follow-up support they receive appears to be a crucial factor in making sure that the impact of short-term capacity development can continue into the long term. For example, there are now TBA alumni groups in 13 African countries, formed independently once their training period with TBA had ended. I will finish by looking at how organisations involved in capacity development can be more effective in sharing how they measure the success (and failures) of their activities and the challenges that remain.
NIGEL STORK
14 June, Afternoon plenary
Head of Department of Resource Management and Geography, Melbourne School of Land and Environment, Burnley Campus, Melbourn, Australia (website)(Read Nigel Stork's biography)
The State and Fate of Tropical Forest Biodiversity
The world’s tropical forests play a vital role in the global carbon and hydrological cycles and are home to the majority of species. They are also vital for the livelihoods of more than half a billion people. Here I provide an overview of deforestation and conversion to agriculture, as well as the important role that secondary forests play in conserving biodiversity. Many biologists believe that we are in the midst of a 6th mass extinction event, predicting species losses of 100 a day due to deforestation and habitat loss. I review the evidence for this and suggest why this has not yet eventuated. I also examine just how much (or rather how little) we know about the magnitude of global diversity and about species extinction rates. Since 'to the nearest approximation all species are insects', I focus some of my attention on understanding invertebrate diversity and particularly that in tropical forests. Finally, I look at the prospects for tropical biodiversity in the face of climate change.
EMMANUEL N. CHIDUMAYO
16 June, Afternoon Plenary
Ecologist/Manager, Makeni Savanna Research Project, Zambia (Read Prof. Chidumayo's biography)
Challenges and opportunities in doing ecological research and training in tropical Africa: a Zambian experience
The presentation will give an overview of recent science research output in sub-Saharan Africa, highlight the main objectives of the “Africa’s science and technology consolidation plan of action (2005)” and raise key issues concerning conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in Africa. The remainder of the presentation will focus on my personal experiences in doing ecology research and training in Zambia based on scientific publications and involvement in university and extra-university human power. The talk will also emphasize the need to apply funds intended for applied research to advance basic research, the importance of knowledge exchange through interactions with people in different fields of work and expertise and the value of continuous education in advancing the science of conservation.
