Sustainable Use Specialist Group and Zoological Society of London Symposium on Recreational Hunting - October 2006

Information booklet: PDF, 142Kb.

Email: joy.millerzsl.org; Tel: 020 7449 6281

On 12th and 13th October 2006, the IUCN SSC Sustainable Use Specialist Group (SUSG) and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) will be holding a two-day symposium at the ZSL meeting rooms in London with the title:

'Recreational Hunting, Conservation and Rural Livelihoods: Science and Practice'.

The proceedings of the conference will likely be published as a book by Blackwell Publishing. The goal of this initiative is to summarise information and provide analysis on biological and socio-economic impacts of recreational hunting activities. The issues addressed will include:

• the importance of recreational hunting in threatening or benefiting target populations and their ecosystem,
• the impact of recreational hunting on the rural economy and local communities,
• the ethical issues associated with hunting for recreation,
• recreational hunting within the context of tourism,
• the role of governance in the management of recreational hunting as an incentive for conservation,
• practical implications of the findings for conservation.

The 22 presentations planned will be grouped under the headings 'Setting the scene', Hunting and science', 'Hunting & endangered species', 'Hunting & society' and 'Hunting & governance'. Many topics will have more than one presenter which accounts for the 36 presenters who have so far confirmed. They represent an enormously wide spread of expertise which should mean a rich feast of knowledge at the symposium and an authoritative publication in due course.

Logistics and formal registration will be handled by ZSL who will issue the detailed prospectus and form in April or sooner, subject to SUSG raising the funds needed to pay presenters' expenses and other unavoidable costs. SUSG will make sure that all members receive the ZSL information. Meanwhile, if you can join us, please put the dates in your diary and let Jon Hutton, SUSG Chair, know via j.huttonunep-wcmc.org including whether you will need financial support - priority is for presenters. (NB. This is not Jon's personal email but can be used to log information of the kind envisaged) There can, of course, be no commitment to funding anyone until the necessary money has been raised. We hope that Regional SUSG Chairs and others with an interest in the topic will try to be present, not least because of what follows.

Crocodile Specialist Group 18th Working Meeting - June 2006

Dr Grahame Webb, Chair of the IUCN SSC Crocodile Specialist Group and former Chair of the IUCN SSC Australia and New Zealand Sustainable Use Specialist Group, and Tom Dacey, its Executive Secretary, announce:

"The 18th Working Meeting of the IUCN SSC Crocodile Specialist Group is scheduled to be held in Montélimar, France, 19-23 June 2006. Details can be viewed on our meeting website at: http://www.lafermeauxcrocodiles.com/rubrique.php3?id_rubrique=14 "

These events are often attended by c.200 people and there is considerable cross-membership between CSG and SUSG. Don't wait to register.

Manual for Agricultural Biodiversity - call for contributions

Biodiversity and landscape quality issues related to farming are of high and increasing importance, particularly in Organic Agriculture.

Based on a motion the IFOAM General Assembly decided in 2002 that particular Landscape and Biodiversity Standards are developed and included into the IFOAM Basic Standards. A key issue for a successful implementation will concern good and practice-oriented information. ELPR Ltd. (see www.litzibuch.ch/Planung_und_Forschung/biodiversity_manual.php) is mandated by IFOAM to elaborate a manual which provides easily comprehensible and directly applicable principles, examples and ideas for farmers and certification bodies.

However, the manual will be of generic nature addressing best practice in regard to landscape quality and biodiversity issues in agriculture, but with a link to the organic landscape and biodiversity standards.

The manual is elaborated within a wide, international network of experienced institutions (including of third world countries). Contributions from experienced RSUSG-authors are welcome! Please contact abosshardlitzibuch.ch

First Meeting of Signatories to the CMS Saiga MoU and Technical Workshop

CMS and the CITES are very pleased to announce that the Forestry and Hunting Committee of the Ministry of Agriculture, Kazakhstan, has offered to host the First Meeting of the Signatories to Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) concerning Conservation, Restoration and Sustainable Use of the Saiga Antelope (Saiga tatarica tatarica). The meeting will take place in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from 25-26 September 2006.

The meeting is a joint cooperative initiative between CMS and CITES. It has been designed in part to provide an important contribution to the discussion of the saiga antelope by the 54th Meeting of the CITES Standing Committee which will take place in early October 2006 and which will review the implementation of CITES Decisions 13.27-13.35. The Forestry and Hunting Committee, the European Commission, the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety of Germany, CITES and CMS will co-sponsor the meeting.

Among the MoU Meeting Objectives will be to (1) share information on the Saiga‘s conservation status within the respective Range States; and (2) review the status of implementation of the MoU and the Action Plan and determine future priorities. Documentation will be available only from the CMS Website:
http://www.cms.int/bodies/Agreement_MoU_Meetings.htm

CMS are very pleased to announce that Uzbekistan has joined the MoU. The Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan, H.E. Bakhtiar T. Gulyamov, signed the MoU on behalf of the Nature Protection Committee on 23 May 2006 in Bonn, see www.cms.int/news/current_news_page.htm

CMS and CITES also announce that a one and a half day technical workshop and partnership initiative is scheduled in conjunction with the MoU meeting. The IUCN Species Survival Commission’s Antelope Specialist Group and the European Sustainable Use Specialist Group will convene this special event planned for 23-24 September 2006.. The aim will be to: (1)  review the Saiga's conservation status; (2)  develop a tabular summary of Saiga-related projects and activities within the Range States; and (3) recommend priority activities under the Action Plan that could form the basis for a medium term international work programme.
Lyle Glowka Tom de Meulenaer is the CMS Agreements Officer  CITES Senior Scientific Officer
E-Mail: secretariat@cms.int; web: www.cms.int

(NB this is a slightly shortened version of the official CMS/CITES call to the two meetings.)

Next World Conservation Congress

The next World Conservation Congress will be held in Barcelona, Spain, in October 2008. Precise dates are not finalised but will probably be 6 to 16 October.

IUCN Appoints Acting DG

Ibrahim Thiaw, currently West Africa Regional Director of IUCN, has been appointed Acting Director-General of IUCN while the process of appointing a successor to Achim Steiner is going on. Achim becomes Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme on 15 June.

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