Virtual Meeting
Side Event
Asia-Pacific Chapter
Conservation Challenges and Initiatives across the Asia Pacific Region
Wed, July 28, 2021
Session 1: 8:30 - 10:30 India Standard Time (+5.30 hours UTC)
Session 2: 15:30 - 17:30 India Standard Time (+5.30 hours UTC)
The programme will include Human-Wildlife Conflict Discussion Panels, presentations on the Marvelous Marine Megafauna of Asia, Landscape Ecology and Conservation Genetics of Carnivores and Waterbirds as well as the Asia Pacific Chapter Annual General Meeting (AGM), so that ATBC AP can map its way forward in 2021-22
Session 1
Session 2
Aida
Ab Ghani
Aida graduated with a BSc of Food Technology in 2004. She worked at Zoo Taiping & Night Safari for two (2) years mainly focusing on Orang Utan and other wildlife ex-situ conservation activities in 2006/2007. At present, she has been working with the Sime Darby Plantation for more than ten years (2008-present) on sustainability-related subjects. Aida possesses a vast experience in the oil palm industry including establishing manuals and guidelines prior to achieving the sustainability certifications in Malaysia, Indonesia and West Africa, carrying out systems/certifications internal auditing, conducting High Conservation Value (HCV) assessments, working on field restorations and rehabilitation projects. Currently, she is studying a Master of Research on human-elephant conflict mitigation and management – in the perspective of SDP.
Ramesh
Krishnamurthy
I got introduced to wildlife science way back in 1993 through an under-graduation group project on Roosting Behavior of Green Bee-eater and subsequently, studied MSc. in Wildlife Biology at AVC College, Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu. Joined the Wildlife Institute of India in 1995 as a Biologist in the multidisciplinary Forestry Research Education and Extension Project in the Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh. After a short stint of studying the mountain ungulates, carried out a detailed investigation on the charismatic pheasants including the elusive Western Tragopan, which led to my Ph.D. degree in 2003. Meanwhile, I was involved in an applied research project on the tiger and associated species in the Terai Arc Landscape, which was the first large scale project in the country. Other key projects include Reintroduction of Tiger in Panna Tiger Reserve, Central India; Conservation Breeding of Western Tragopan in Himachal Pradesh; Establishment of state-of-art Landscape Ecology and Visualization Laboratory for the National Mission on Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem; Indo-US collaborative project on Wireless Sensor Communication; and E-bird (Drone) Technology for Tiger Reserves in 2013 which happened to be the first formal introduction to Un-manned Aerial Vehicle application in forest and wildlife sector in India, which has now gained momentum in several areas. I provide teaching inputs in landscape ecology, ornithology, habitat ecology, wildlife management, remote sensing and GIS, and human-wildlife conflict management.
David
McCann
The Conservation Manager for Scuba Junkie SEAS on Mabul Island, Sabah, Malaysia, David hails from Ireland where he gained his BSc Marine Biology and MSc Environmental Management & Conservation Biology at Queen’s University Belfast. He spent more than a decade working in conservation in Ireland, New Zealand and Malaysia. A former divemaster for Scuba Junkie, he has over 7,000 dives logged in SE Asia, including thousands as a guide at Pulau Sipadan. His current work includes raising awareness of marine conservation issues, as well as developing and implementing solutions.
Li-Ann
Smal
I am an aspiring marine conservationist who recently graduated from a master’s degree in Conservation Behaviour with a First. I am fascinated by marine mammals and their behaviour and am always keen to learn more in this area. I am primarily interested in cetaceans, and how anthropogenic threats may impact them. I also hold a BA in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin, with research experience in bilingualism and cognition.
Li-Ann
Smal
I am an aspiring marine conservationist who recently graduated from a master’s degree in Conservation Behaviour with a First. I am fascinated by marine mammals and their behaviour and am always keen to learn more in this area. I am primarily interested in cetaceans, and how anthropogenic threats may impact them. I also hold a BA in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin, with research experience in bilingualism and cognition.
Li-Ann
Smal
I am an aspiring marine conservationist who recently graduated from a master’s degree in Conservation Behaviour with a First. I am fascinated by marine mammals and their behaviour and am always keen to learn more in this area. I am primarily interested in cetaceans, and how anthropogenic threats may impact them. I also hold a BA in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin, with research experience in bilingualism and cognition.
Speakers
Moderator:
Robin
Chazdon
Robin Chazdon is Professor Emerita at the University of Connecticut and Research Professor with the Tropical Forests and People Research Centre of the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. She is the lead consultant with Forestoration International, a Senior Fellow with WRI’s Global Restoration Initiative and a Senior Research Associate with the International Institute for Sustainability in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the new Australia branch. Her research focuses on spatial planning for large-scale restoration and leveraging the potential for natural regeneration. She is an active member of the FAO Task Force on Best Practices for the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration and a member of the 1t.org Advisory Committee.
Opening speaker:
Pedro
Brancalion
Pedro Brancalion is Associate Professor at the Department of Forest Science, University of São Paulo, vice-coordinator of the Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact, and affiliated member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. He published >170 peer-reviewed papers, received >8,200 citations. He coordinates large research and technology projects financed by research agencies, NGOs, and private companies. Overall, he is a generalist focused on developing cost-effective solutions to conserve and restore tropical forests, based on interdisciplinary research and co-production of knowledge with multiple stakeholders.
Video Presenter:
Mariana
Oliveira
Mariana Oliveira is a senior analyst at WRI Brasil. In the Forests program, she supports projects management and programmatic contents related to forest landscape restoration strategies. Mariana has a BSc degree in Geography from São Paulo State University (UNESP), an environmental management post-graduate course at University of São Paulo (USP), and the certification on Tropical Forest Landscapes: Conservation, Restoration & Sustainable Use from the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies.
Program
28th July 2021
Session 1 [8:30 - 10:30 India Standard Time (+5.30 hours UTC)]
-
Asian Experience: Human-wildlife Conflict Panel Discussion (50 minutes)
Speakers and topics:
Dr. Ramesh Krishnamoorthy on Human-Leopard conflict (India
Ms. Aida Ab Ghani on Human-Elephant conflict
Mr. Bishnu Prasad Shrestha (Chief Conservation Officer, Bardia National Park) on Human-Tiger Conflict
Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya on Human–Elephant conflict
When the paths of people and charismatic megafauna such as the tiger and the elephant cross due to reasons inflicted mostly by people, such as deforestation and changes in land use patterns, both sides suffer. Managing such human-wildlife conflicts is an ongoing challenge in tropical biodiversity conservation in Asia. To highlight the nature and the extent of some of these key human-wildlife conflicts, Asian Partnership of ATBC will host a short event. Four speakers from India, Malaysia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka will be sharing experiences of Human-wildlife conflict in their respective regions that include human-leopard conflict in India, human-elephant conflict in Malaysia and Sri Lanka, and human–tiger conflict in Nepal. Each speaker will have 10 min introductory session, which last for 40 minutes, followed by 20min Q&A session. The scope will be the status of the conflict situation in a given country, challenges faced, and lessons learnt including a possible success story. A wildlife expert from the region will moderate this session.
-
ATBC AGM (1 hour)
-Welcoming Address
-Review of 2020-21 Activities
-Review of Sri Lanka 2019 Annual Meeting
-Treasurers Report
-Conservation Asia 2022 Joint meeting with Society Conservation Biology
-Open Floor: Discussion of possible membership activities 2021-22
-Election of Officers
-AOB
28th July 2021
Session 2: [15:30 - 17:30 India Standard Time (+5.30 hours UTC)]
-
Asian marine Mammals 101 (20 minutes)
Speaker: Naomi Brannan
Asia is home to nearly half of the world’s marine mammal species. From the enormous blue whale to the small finless porpoise, from the mysterious beaked whales to the charismatic harbour seal, from the herbivorous dugong to the carnivorous killer whale, there is a startlingly diverse array of species to be found across the region. This presentation will provide a brief overview of marine mammals throughout Asia and their basic biology, as well as a practical introduction to their classification, species identification and behaviour.
-
Application of conservation genetics and genomics in biodiversity monitoring and endangered species conservation (30 minutes)
-Talk 1- Diet metabarcoding reveals complex trophic niche relationships among carnivores and hidden biodiversity.
Speakers: Meng Yao and Xinning Shao
This talk will highlight the power of diet metabarcoding in resolving complex food-web interactions and aiding biodiversity monitoring and conservation management.
-Talk 2- Conservation genomics in endangered waterbirds in The East Asian–Australasian Flyway
Speaker: Yang Liu
This talk will show how conservation genomics provide comprehensive insights into understanding of current endangerment of endangered species which might facilitate their protection and management.
-
Schooling devil rays at Si Amil Island, Sabah, Malaysia (20 minutes)
Presenter: David McCann
Presented by David McCann, co-founder of SJ SEAS NGO in Sabah, Malaysia, this talk focuses on the recently uplisted (Data deficient to Endangered on the IUCN Red List), short-horned pygmy devil ray (Mobula kuhlii). This ray is at risk from targeted fishing efforts and as bycatch in the commercial fishing trade. Chance encounters with this species at Si Amil Island could present a unique opportunity to expand scientific knowledge about this rare species. Citizen science efforts have established the platform for scientific research with a view to improving elasmobranch conservation efforts on the east coast of Sabah, Malaysia.
-
Local Ecological Knowledge: The Marine Mammals of Eastern Sabah (20 minutes)
Presenter: Li-Ann Smal
Li-ann’s talk will focus on her recent Master’s thesis, in which local ecological knowledge was gathered through a mobile survey app to gain information on marine mammals in Sabah. The use of this method can overcome some of the challenges faced in studying marine mammals in this region, especially during a global lockdown. Data can be collected remotely, in collaboration with locals on the ground, to inform researchers about animal occurrence, seasonality, migration patterns, and threats. The use of a mobile survey has the potential to gain important insights into remote regions of the world, where other methods of research may not be possible, and is also highly adaptable to global changes that might occur, such as travel restrictions and lockdowns.
-
Landscape Approach and Operational Strategies Talk (20 minutes)
Presenter: Ramesh Krishnamurthy, The Wildlife Institute of India.
Landscape ecology as science and landscape approach as management framework offer conceptual models and unified framework that offer nature-based solutions for addressing Sustainable Development Goals. While the landscape approach has been recognized and vigorously promoted, it suffers from a clear operational strategy including the political will to implement a credible land-use policy in most countries. However, the fact that the India’s National Wildlife Action Plan ((2017-31) has brought in ‘Landscape Approach for Conservation’ explicitly clearly demonstrates the intent, but need to develop and implement operational strategies, with implications for regional countries (with so much of transboundary issues and the need for conservation diplomacy). Pitching the landscape approach as integrated development of conservation and economic goals, we propose spatially explicit framework for landscape approach and related management inputs including restoration and development contours. Given the complex management problems in the global south, ATBC will have significant role in taking forward this inclusive agenda and enable better synergy between scientific professionals, policy maker, operational executives, development planners and local communities.