6th ATBC Asia Pacific Chapter Meeting 2013

The 2013 Annual Meeting of the ATBC Asia-Pacific Chapter has been held at Banda Aceh, Sumatra, from 18-22 March. 

The meeting has been organized by the Government of Aceh, University of Syiah Kuala, Strategic Resources Institute, and Fauna & Flora International (FFI). ATBC has an active Asia Chapter that has met previously in Xishuangbanna, China in 2012, Bangkok, Thailand in 2011, Bali, Indonesia (with the main ATBC meeting), in 2010, Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2009, Kuching, Malaysia, in 2008 and Mahabalipuram, India, in 2007. The 2013 conference brought together researchers, students, biodiversity specialists, conservation practitioners, policy makers, universities, government agencies and non-government organizations from around the Asia-Pacific region under the overall theme of:

'Linking biodiversity science to policy and conservation action'.

Contact : asia@tropicalbio.org

(Illustrations : All marine pics, © S. Campbell/WCS, © M. Linkie/FFI or as mentioned.)

Venue

The Annual Meeting of the ATBC Asia Pacific Chapter has been held between 18 to 22 March 2013 Hermes Palace Hotel, Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia.

Hermes Palace Hotel, Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia. (© Tropicalbio.org)

Meeting Overview [pdf]

Programme Booklet : Low Res [pdf] - High Res [pdf] - detail of speakers [pdf]

ATBC Asia Chapter gather together for the final shared moments of our Aceh meeting (© Tropicalbio.org) (Click to enlarge)

 Fellowships

ATBC - Asia Chapter is offering a limited number of fellowships to participants from lower-income countries. The fellowship are ~$US 500 each and will be awarded to participants from lower-income countries presenting high quality papers (poster or oral) at the meeting. Preference will be given to younger scientists, conservationists, officials and policy makers. Applicants should first register for the meeting (registration fee fully refundable) and submit an Abstract. Applications for the fellowships can then be made through the Program for Field Studies in Tropical Asia website (www.pfs-tropasia.org).

(Asian Tapir © A.J. Lynam/WCS)

Program

General schedule

Keynote Speakers

• Dr Widodo Ramono (Director, Indonesian Rhino Foundation [YABI]) - Conserving the last Javan rhinoceros on our planet.
• Dr Tony Whitten (Director FFI Asia) - Is our science linking to policy and action, or is it mere displacement behaviour?
• Dr Sonja Luz (Wildlife Reserves of Singapore) - What role can a zoo truly play in wildlife conservation?
• Dr Ghazala Shahabuddin (Ambedkar University, Delhi) - Understanding Biodiversity-Livelihood Trade-offs in the Western Himalaya: Ecological, Social and Historical Insights from a Community-Managed Landscape
• Dr Erik Meijaard (People and Nature Consulting International) - Engaging unlikely partners in Indonesian conservation
• Dr William Laurance (James Cook University, Australia) - The 'hottests' of the biodiversity hotspots
• Dr Lucia Lohmann (University of Sao Paulo - ATBC President) - Using lianas to untangle the history of Tropical Ecosystems
• Dr Sanjay Gubbi (Panthera) - Reaching beyond the converts: saving tigers through productive partnerships

Symposia and conveners

Click here for guidelines for Symposia

• Integrating social science perspectives into conservation research and policy: Expanding the Toolbox. Chair: Ghazala Shahabuddin
• Biogeography, biodiversity and bioinformatics of the tropical Asian flora. Chair: Ferry Slik
• Nature beyond borders; thinking outside the protected area box. Chair: Aparajita Datta & TR Shankar Raman
• Frugivory and seed dispersal in tropical Asia. What are we learning and what needs to be learnt? Chair: Ahimsa Campos-Arceiz & Chution Savini
• Impact of deforestation on tropical vertebrates. Chair: George A Gale
• Transforming conservation science into conservation action. Chair: William F. Laurance
• From species to seascapes : innovative approaches to managing marine ecosystems. Chair: Stuart Campbell
• Effects of land use change on freshwater systems in Southeast Asia. Chair: Xingli Giam
• Patterns and trends in wildlife trade in Southeast Asia. Chair: David Bickford
• Vegetation responses to human overus. Chair: Wangworn Sankamethawee
• Flying the flagship: saving imperilled species from extinction. Chair: Matthew Linkie
  
  Oh so sensitive! Everything we don’t want to know about orangutan hunting and conflict killing by Erik Meijaard

• Restoration of tropical humid forest. Chair: Rhett Harrison
• Using ecology to understand mammal adaptation to human modified habitat. Chair: Wanlop Chutipong & Juan Manual Jose Dominguez

Special events

• Paper Writing Workshop (1 day, 17 March 2013) - www.pfs-tropasia.org.
• Proposal Writing Workshop (1 day, 18 March 2013) – Matthew Linkie (FFI) and Jeanne McKay (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology) Application for Fellowship (10 in total). Final report.

Ten happy Rufford participants having successfully completed the 1-day training workshop in Banda Aceh.

• Experimental Design & Data Analysis (Basic and Advanced, 6 days) - www.pfs-tropasia.org
• Workshop on SMART Conservation Software for law enforcement monitoring at conservation sites (5 days, 11 - 15th March 2013) - SMART training flyer - Workshop Agenda. Final report. 
• Conservation drone workshop (2 days, 16 - 17 March, 2013) - instructed by Profs Lian Pin Koh and Serge Wich - www.conservationdrones.org  
• Statistical modelling workshop: Spatial Modelling of Environmental Change and Species Distributions led by Dr Sean Sloan (James Cook University) and Dr Alice Hughes (CSIRO) - 23 - 24th March. Contact Matt Linkie matthew.linkie@fauna-flora.org. Final report.
• bioGENESIS Training Workshop on Evolutionary Approaches to Biodiversity Science  (16 - 17th March) - Organized by Susana Magallón Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, S.Magallon@ibunam2.ibiologia.unam.mx & Lúcia G. Lohmann Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil, llohmann@usp.br. Final report.

  A total of 23 young scientists / park managers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Japan, Sri Lanka, and Laos participated in the BioGENESIS training workshop in Banda Aceh.

Field trips

Bird watching in the Ulu Masen ecosystem and/or horse trekking through the forest (duration: 1 day trip) Elephant forest trekking in the Ulu Masen ecosystem – and/or bird watching (duration: 2 day trip) Elephant forest trekking and/or on-foot forest trek in the Ulu Masen ecosystem (duration: 3 day trip)

Ulu Masen over flight (duration: 1-2hrs) Pulau Banyak –chance to see dugongs while kayaking over the seagrass bed. Incredible snorkelling, lots of turtles and world class surfing spot – this is a hidden treasure (depart from Medan, 10hrs; duration: 2-4 days) Scuba diving (underwater volcanoes), corel reef snorkelling, fishing, mangrove replanting and relaxing on Pulau Weh (Sabang) - 12 rooms have been reserved at Santai Sumurtiga resort (http://santai-sabang.com/) on a first come, first served basis, please contact the owner Freddy (santaisumurtiga@yahoo.com.au)

Deadlines

Fees

Students from Country with Low Income, delivering oral presentation, funding for the registration fee and accommodation may apply for fellowships from the meeting organizers. Preference will be give to those attending workshops and for those presenting their thesis research results. If you need further support for your travel costs please contact your country representative for advice (information on the ATBC website AP chapter page)

List of High Income countries according to the World Bank:

Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Australia, Austria, The Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belgium, Bermuda, Brunei, Canada, Cayman Islands, Jersey Guernsey Channel Islands, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guam, Hong Kong SAR, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Rep. Korea, Kuwait, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macao SAR, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sint Maarten, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Martin, Sweden, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Virgin Islands (U.S.).

Accommodation

Registration fee includes single bed in twin-share accommodation, registrants to indicate preferred roommate. Single room fee $50/night. Due to space limitations, we request that participants share. We will try to accommodate all participants in Hermes Hotel, but in some cases an alternative hotel of similar standard may be provided.

Instructions for Presenters

Travel details

• Invitation letters

Invitation letters  will be issued by the Government of Aceh.  Tourist visa on arrival is now available.  Informaton will be provided.

• 30-day Visa Free Facility

The citizens of countries whose governments offer visa-free facility to Indonesians as well, will continue to enjoy visa-free stays. The 11 countries that are granted the 30-day visa-free facility are: Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Hongkong & Macao Special Administrative Regions, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

• 30-day Visa-On-Arrival - costs US$25 (need proof of departure from Indonesia within 30 days, and a passport photo).

The nationals of 64 countries will be able to apply for a visa-on-arrival valid for 30 days in Indonesia. The countries are: Algeria, the Arab Emirates, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Latvia, Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Oman, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Suriname, Taiwan, Timor Leste, Tunesia, United Kingdom and United States.

Flights and hotel bookings

• "Flight timetables for Banda Aceh" pdf
• Hermes Palace will transfer all hotel guests from airport. “The co-hosts will be waiting to meet you at the airport and will provide extra transportation to Hermes”.

An airport taxi will cost IDR70,000 (approximately USD7.5). You can only pay in Indonesian Rupiah and there is no taxi rank – all cars are private charter. However, an FFI-ATBC volunteer will be waiting at the airport to help with all transfers.

Organizing Committee

• Matthew Linkie, Fauna & Flora International, Aceh, matthew.linkie@fauna-flora.org
• Mochamad “Didi” Indrawan, Secretary of the Center for Biodiversity Strategies, University of Indonesia, mochamad.indrawan@gmail.com
• Antony Lynam, Secretary, ATBC Asia Chapter, and Wildlife Conservation Society, Asia Program, asia@tropicabio.org

Matthew Linkie (left), the local organizing committee and Tony Lyman (right).
(© Tropicalbio.org) (Click to enlarge)

Scientific Committee

Tommaso Savini (Chair), Conservation Ecology Program, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand tommasosavini@gmail.com (Photo : © Tropicalbio.org) George A. Gale, Conservation Ecology Program, King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi, Thailand, ggkk1990@gmail.com Timothy Trevor Caughlin, University of Florida, USA, Trevor.caughlin@gmail.com Stephen Browne, Fauna and Flora International (FFI) Singapore, stephen.browne@fauna-flora.org

Country Representatives (2012)

• Australia : Roger Kitching, Griffith University, r.kitching@griffith.edu.au
• Bangladesh : Abu Naser Mohsin Hossain, Forestry Department of Bangladesh, abunasermh@gmail.com
• Cambodia : Neil Furey, FFI / Royal University of Phnom Penh, n.furey.ffi@gmail.com
• China :  Chen Jin, Xishuangbanna Botanical Garden, cj@xtbg.org.cn
• India : Prasad Soumya, Indian Institute of Sciences, prasadsoumya@gmail.com
• Indonesia : 'Didi' Mochamad Indrawam, University of Indonesia, jamblang@cbn.net.id
• Japan : Aiba Shinichiro, Kagoshima University, aiba@sci.kagoshima-u.ac.jp
• Lao PDR : Bounsavane, bounsavanhd@yahoo.com
• Myanmar : Antony Lynam, Wildlife Conservation Society, tlynam@wcs.org
• New Zealand : Jason Tylianakis, University of Canterbury, jason.tylianakis@canterbury.ac.nz
• Sri Lanka : Enoka Kudavidanage, enokakudavidanage@gmail.com
• Singapore : Benjamin Lee, National Parks Board, canopyben@gmail.com
• Thailand : Pongthep Suwanwaree, Suranaree University of Technology, pongthep@sut.ac.th

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Institutional partners

• Government of Aceh

Environmental Control Agency: The Government of Aceh body that is responsible for conducting environmental impact assessments, supporting sustainable development projects, formulating climate change policy and supervising biodiversity management.

• University of Syiah Kuala

University of Syiah Kuala-Veterinary Medicine Faculty: Established in 1960, the Aceh-based Faculty is the only vet school in Sumatra. It has over 700 students and has graduated more than 1900 alumni. The Faculty is mandated by the Indonesian Veterinary consortium to deal with a range of wildlife medical issues and has a strong focus on human elephant conflict mitigation, wildlife medical treatment (such as conflict caught tigers) and livestock training linked to rural livelihood programmes, which is in collaboration with FFI.

• Strategic Resources Institute

Strategic Resource Institute (SRI): a local environmental NGO that works on developing multi-stakeholder climate change partnerships in Aceh, with a focus on clean development mechanisms, such as tidal power and geothermal energy.

• FFI - Indonesia Programme

Fauna & Flora International (FFI): an NGO works in over 40 countries. In Indonesia, FFI’s multi-faceted approach includes, for example, a Community Ranger initiative in Aceh province that has transformed former combatants, wildlife poachers and loggers into protectors of the forest, sustainable financing mechanisms through Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) initiatives in Jambi and Kalimantan provinces, identifying High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) to protect orang-utan habitat from conversion to oil palm plantations and law enforcement units to prevent tiger poaching in Kerinci Seblat National Park.

© Tropicalbio.org
Last Update : 1st April 2013