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2009 ANNUAL MEETING TO HIGHLIGHT ASIA, PACIFIC

The 23rd annual meeting of the Society for Conservation Biology will be held from 11-16 July 2009 in Beijing, China. Our local host will be the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The recently completed Olympic Games effectively introduced Beijing to the world, so you know that you can expect a vibrant city, efficient services, and an outstanding venue. SCB's Asia Section is dedicated to making this a truly outstanding meeting.

While we of course expect the global representation of topics and participants common to SCB's annual meetings, we would like to take this opportunity to provide a spotlight on conservation biology in Asia and the Pacific. This region is home to half the world's human population, yet has maintained outstanding wildlife populations in many places. Nevertheless, challenges to conservation of biological diversity are also multiplying, mostly focused on competition for land. We hope that symposia and workshops will address human-wildlife conflict, the trade in wildlife and animal products, non-native invasive species, the influence of conservation biology on major infrastructure projects, emerging zoonotic diseases, and the contribution of conservation biology to maintaining the ecological functions that are essential to human wellbeing. We all look forward to welcoming you in Beijing.

2010 Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Nagoya, Japan

SCB's annual meeting in Beijing can be seen as a prelude for the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which will be held in Nagoya, Japan in 2010. This Convention is the strongest international instrument for implementing the policies and practices developed through conservation biology.

Jeff McNeely, President of the Asia Section of SCB, has visited Japan four times during 2008 to meet with government officials in preparation for the Convention, which is expected to draw representatives from the more than 190 governments that are Parties to the CBD. This session of the Conference of the Parties will focus on the 2010 Biodiversity Target. Governments will be discussing the progress they have made in their commitments to reduce the loss of biological diversity by 2010 and addressing what should be undertaken next. For further information, see www.cbd.int/convention.

Jeff McNeely

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