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INTERNATIONAL SECTION NEWSAUSTRAL AND NEOTROPICAL AMERICA The second annual meeting of Board of Directors of the Austral and Neotropical America Section, supported by the generous contribution of the Christensen Fund [see SCB Newsletter 11(1)], was held in Antigua, Guatemala, from 22-25 April. The meeting was attended by seven Board members: J.A. Simonetti (President, Chile), L. Calvo (Secretary, Guatemala), C. Olivo (Nominations, Policy, and Audit, Bolivia), M. Vázquez (Communications, Ecuador), M. Acosta (Membership and Programs, Cuba), M.A. Marini (Education, Brazil) and A. Cuarón (Conservation, México). Past President J.P. Rodríguez (Venezuela), who was unable to attend, submitted a written report of the Section's activities. In accordance with the Section's Strategic Development Plan for 2002-2005, approved during the first Section Board meeting in La Habana, Cuba, the April meeting addressed four issues: SCB presence, increasing membership, fundraising, and capacity-building. To foster both SCB and the Section's regional presence, Board members will give short talks using a standard PowerPoint presentation during meetings and other events. Board members will extend invitations to professionals and promising students to become members of SCB (the Section currently has 900 members); individuals who meet certain criteria will be eligible to benefit from a sponsored membership. Candidates must be residents of a developing country and have access to electronic mail. Instructions are at www.conbio.org/Membership/SponsorshipRequest.cfm. To support capacity building, the Section decided to spend a small amount of funds on student subscriptions to scientific publications in electronic format. The Section also will sponsor short courses in conservation biology in the region, and will oversee the short courses committee for the 2005 annual meeting in Brasília. In addition, the Section took advantage of the presence and experience of the Board members attending the meeting in Guatemala to organize a set of eight lectures in association with the Mesoamerican Society for Biology and Conservation. These lectures, held on 23 April at the Universidad del Valle, were offered as direct contributions to increasing the capacity of a new generation of conservation professionals, and were attended by 66 students from Guatemala, El Salvador, and México. Based on this positive experience, the Section plans to sponsor and co-organize symposia, workshops, and other scientific meetings throughout the region in association with local and regional organizations to maximize SCB's presence and collaborative efforts. The Section believes that access to information is important for developing strong conservation initiatives and facilitating the exchange of knowledge. As a contribution to information access, we are now linking to our Web site scientific magazines and regional training programs related to conservation. Furthermore, to promote publication of significant research in important international journals, the Section is soliciting volunteers to provide suggestions on English grammar and clarity of writing to authors whose native language is not English. We seek volunteers with good English and Spanish, Portuguese, or French writing skills. To participate contact Miguel Vázquez, biodiversidad1@ecociencia.org. The Section considers the 2005 annual meeting, organized by M.A. Marini, as a priority and a chance not only to promote SCB and to strengthen regional membership, but also to foster training and international conservation synergies. Section Board members will serve on various committees for the meeting: plenary speakers and symposia (M.A. Marini, J.P. Rodríguez, and J.A. Simonetti), oral and poster presentations (A. Cuarón), travel awards (L. Calvo), fundraising (A. Sánchez-Azofeifa), student activities (C. Olivo), and short courses (M. Acosta, L. Calvo, M.A. Vázquez, and C. Olivo). Nominations were solicited and elections conducted for President Elect and two Director positions on the Section Board. The President Elect position became vacant as J.A. Simonetti assumed the Section's presidency. Congratulations to Marcelo Gonçalves de Lima, the new Director of Education, and Lorena Calvo, re-elected as Secretary. The President Elect position remains open. Selection of a South American venue for the third annual meeting of the Section Board will depend on local support, travel costs, and opportunities to offer a series of lectures or a short course. Alternatively, the meeting may be postponed and held during SCB's annual meeting in Brasilia. Miguel Vázquez AUSTRALASIA It's a glorious time of year in this part of the world; in southeastern Australia, spring is heralded by the blooming of Acacia dealbata (silver wattle). Australasian Board members Menna Jones, Andy Mack, and Jean-Marc Hero recently returned from SCB's annual meeting. Australasian students and researchers, including two of the Section's former student award winners, Samantha Fox and Miriam Supuma, were well-represented. Congratulations to Tara Martin from the University of Queensland for winning the first-place student award for her presentation "Do experts know anything about birds and grazing? A Bayesian approach using expert opinion." Harry Recher, ex officio Board member and editor of Pacific Conservation Biology, was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM - Member General Division) in the Queen's birthday honors list in June. He received his award for "service to ecological science, particularly through the development of ecosystem management in Australia and as an educator, author and advocate for biodiversity." This is a significant honor and we congratulate Harry for the recognition of his work. Membership of the Section currently stands at 341. About half of our members hail from countries within the region, including Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and the Pacific Islands (including Hawaii and Guam). Because we are one of the smallest Sections, it is imperative that we increase our membership to reach a critical mass. New Board Members Section elections were finalized in mid-April. We welcome two new Board members, Nicola Nelson and Tish Silberbauer, and returning members Rob Davis and Marc Hero. We also welcome two ex officio Board members, Harry Recher and Dick Frankham. Many thanks to our outgoing members, Angie Penn, Meg Montgomery, and Eric Dorfman, for their invaluable help in the challenging stages of initiating the Section. The current Board is
The Australasian Section's annual board meeting was held 2-3 September at Taronga Zoo in Sydney. The generous assistance of the Christensen Fund allowed all our Board members to meet face-to-face for the first time since the Ecological Society of Australia meeting in Cairns in December of 2002. This meeting gave us the opportunity to strategically plan the next few years of Section activities and focus on building the Section to its full potential. The Board will provide an update in the November issue of the newsletter. Please feel free to contact any of the Board members if you have ideas or suggestions for how you would like to see the Australasian Section develop. Conference Activities and Student Awards This year the Section is supporting two regional conferences, the 6th New Guinea Biology Conference and the XXII International Congress of Entomology. Due to the great success of the 5th New Guinea Biology Conference in 2003, the Section decided to continue supporting this conference in 2004. The 6th conference, Biological Conservation through Research and Education, will be held 7-9 October at The University of Papua, Manokwari Campus in West Papua. For more information contact the organizers at biocon2004@yahoo.com. The Section is contributing funds to help students travel to the conference and to provide student awards. SCB support for conferences like this not only helps to foster conservation biology within our region but also helps to forge bridges between sometimes-isolated conservation biologists. Last year's student prize winners were so pleased and honored to be recognized. Our small contribution really makes a direct impact on these students. We would like to extend support for student awards to conservation-related conferences in the Pacific Islands. If you know of any appropriate venues, please contact Rob Davis, radavis@cyllene.uwa.edu.au. The XXII International Congress of Entomology, Strength in Diversity, was held 15-21 August in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The winner of the student prize will be announced in the November newsletter. Menna Jones EUROPE The Europe Section held its annual elections in November 2003. This year, there were openings for three ordinary Board members and for President Elect. Participation by the Section members in the nominations and voting was low. Andrew Pullin (University of Birmingham, United Kingdom) stood unopposed and was duly elected as President Elect. After serving one year on the Board, Martin Dieterich (db&p consultants, Kirchheim, Germany) was re-elected for a full three year term. Two new members, Isabel Sousa Pinto (University of Porto, Portugal) and Owen Nevin (University of Central Lancashire, United Kingdom), were also elected to the Board for three years. Our active secretary, Peter Pearman (Michigan State University, USA), was not re-elected and his dynamism and tireless efforts will be missed. Section members should note that nominations are open for three positions for the 2004 election. Nominations should be sent to europe@conservationbiology.org before the closing date of 15 October. A list of nominees will be circulated to the membership before the end of October with voting to be concluded by the end of November. The level of participation in the 2003 elections was disappointing and the Board encourages all members of the Section to become actively involved in the nominations and voting process. The involvement of members in the activities of the Section is critical to the effective operation of the Section and the Board would like to thank the members of the Policy Committee for their input in drafting of Resolution Advocating an Expanded Role for Scientists in Reviewing the Efficacy of the EU Nature Conservation Directives, CAP and CFP. This Resolution is currently available for all members to view at www.conbio.org/Europe. European Union nature conservation directives, the CAP, and the CFP are highly complex. Their application has a tremendous impact on biodiversity preservation. Diversity in terms of implementation hardly allows approaching overall efficiency of these directives and policies in a pan-European context. However, the importance of science-based monitoring of nature conservation efforts is an overriding theme that applies to the situation in Europe in general. We consider such monitoring a basic prerequisite for optimization and for an exchange of ideas between different national or state programs. If approved, this resolution will be distributed, under the direction of the Section's Policy and Communications Committees, to key legislators and media outlets across Europe. The Section's Board met in the Doñana Biological Reserve, Spain in January 2004. It was decided that the Section would hold the First European Congress on Conservation Biology in 2006. A call for hosts of the congress was issued in the spring and the Board is pleased to announce that we have accepted a proposal from Eger, Hungary. In addition to organizing the congress, efforts have been made to increase the profile and membership of the Section. These include the establishment of links with the British Ecological Society and German Ecological Society with the intent of having official representation at their 2005 meetings. The Section has been invited to take part in the 2004 meeting of the Italian Ecological Society (SItE), where we will be organizing a symposium. The Section also plans to host a symposium at the 2005 SCB annual meeting. It was agreed that the Section should give scientific sponsorship to events organized by groups whose goals are in agreement with ours unless a Board member objects; however, if an organization wishes to use the Section logo a Board or committee member must be on the event organizing committee. A presentation at the Section Board meeting addressed potential cooperation between the European Platform of Biodiversity Research Strategy and the Section. The Board felt that cooperation would be beneficial to both parties and has established an ad hoc committee to promote cooperative efforts. It also was agreed that we should provide subsidized memberships for individuals willing to become actively involved in the Section, e.g. through committee membership. We aim to offer full support to 40 new members in 2004 and 50% support to 80 members in 2005. During the Board meeting and subsequent discussions, much consideration was given to our role as a society within Europe. It is important to recognize the differences that exist between conservation biology in North America and Europe. Environmental awareness, activism, and conservation are well established in Europe and there are already many prominent players in the field. To be effective as a new and growing body the Section needs to offer something new and different. As a professional society of conservation biologists, both research academics and field practitioners, we are in fact different from the many groups promoting conservation issues throughout Europe. As a board we see the Society acting in the role of advisor rather than advocate within the framework of European government. As such we must strive to act at a high level within the administration, promoting rigorous research and science-based policy and management. A portfolio has been produced to aid in the efforts to become better known within the administration. Copies of this portfolio will soon be available on the Section's Web site. Distribution of the portfolio will be coordinated by the Communications Committee under its new chair, Isabel Sousa Pinto. While promoting our advisory role at a legislative level we must not neglect our role in the dissemination of current knowledge of conservation biology not only within the research community but also to practitioners and policy makers. English is the language of science, especially conservation science, and as such it is the language in which journals, proceedings, and textbooks are published. Yet those who carry out conservation and determine policies often do not conduct their work in English. If we are to have an impact on the practice of conservation in Europe we must act to provide up-to-date science in a diversity of languages. An electronic newsletter that includes a digest of current scientific papers has been proposed. Luigi Boitani, President of the Section, attended the March 2004 meeting of SCB's Board of Governors, a portion of which was devoted to the structure of Conservation Biology. The Section Board believes that internationalization of the journal should be approached not through a restructuring of the editorial board but rather through encouraging the submission of editorials and reviews from outside the United States. Having presented this as our position, the Board encourages Section members to submit original research, editorials, and reviews to the journal. Once again the Board encourages members' active participation in Section activities. Please take the time to review our current resolution and consider nominations for the upcoming Board elections. To contact the Board with any questions or comments e-mail europe@conservationbiology.org. Owen Nevin MARINE The Marine Section looks forward to working with the steering committee of the 2006 annual meeting in San Jose, California to include a substantial number of symposia and contributed sessions with marine and cross-cutting themes. We hope to take advantage of the region's large number of marine institutions as potential hosts of field trips and other events. We expect that marine attendance in 2006 will exceed attendance at the 2001 Marine Conservation Symposium in San Francisco, and our participation in the 2006 meeting is a step towards the Section's goal of increasing marine representation in SCB. The Marine Section had a very successful annual meeting. Two excellent symposia were convened, bringing international researchers at the forefront of marine conservation to present their research: The Sea of Cortez: Bi-National Science and Conservation in the Aquarium of the World and Designing Networks of Reserves: Theory, Tools and Case Studies. Marine-oriented workshops also were convened, and two contributed sessions were dedicated to marine conservation. Attendees at a presentation by Scott Johnston (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) at the start of the Section's membership meeting were treated to a lively discussion of the potential impacts of offshore wind development. As always, our social event was well attended. Carolyn Lundquist represented the Marine Section at the Board of Governors Meeting. We look forward to the 2005 annual meeting, and hope to involve our many marine colleagues in Austral and Neotropical America in the development of proposals for marine-themed and cross-cutting symposia. Please contact marine@conbio.org if you have potential symposium ideas. The deadlines for symposium proposals is 31 October. Updates on Marine Science and Policy United States fish stocks are rebounding. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released a 2003 report, Status of Fisheries of the United States, which shows continued progress toward reducing excessive fishing rates and rebuilding fish stocks to sustainable levels. In 2003, four fish stocks were fully rebuilt, a record ten species were removed from the list of overfished stocks, and overfishing practices were halted for five species. Effectiveness guidebook for managers of marine protected areas. A new guidebook for managers of marine protected areas (MPAs) managers was published in August as a result of a four-year partnership among the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Ocean Service and its International Program Office, IUCN's World Commission on Protected Areas-Marine, and the World Wide Fund for Nature. The book, How is Your MPA Doing? A Guidebook of Natural and Social Indicators for Evaluating Marine Protected Area Management Effectiveness, aims to help improve MPA management by suggesting a framework that links the goals and objectives of MPAs with indicators that measure management effectiveness. U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy report. On 22 July, the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy approved its Draft Final Report, which incorporated comments from the public review process. For updates see www.oceancommission.gov. The Blue Vision Conference was held in July 2004 in Washington, D.C. More than 200 "Seaweed Rebels" joined forces to discuss U.S. national and international policies for protecting the oceans. Carolyn Lundquist and Alan Thornhill represented SCB. For more information see www.bluevizmeet.com. Shortly after the meeting, a bill drafted by Congressman Sam Farr and others, Oceans 21, was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Other News Section events. As per our bylaws, two officers on the Section's Board of Directors will be retiring at the end of 2004. We are looking for motivated individuals with sufficient time to increase the role of marine conservation in SCB. The term of office is three years, beginning January 2005. If you are interested in running for these positions, please send a brief (maximum 300 word) statement describing your objectives in running for the Board and a brief summary of your experience in marine conservation biology to marine@conbio.org by 1 October. Nominations and self-nominations are welcome. We encourage scientists from all countries to run for these positions in order to further diversify our Board. Online elections will take place during November. Journal subscriptions. Funds remain to subsidize SCB memberships and subscriptions to Conservation Biology and Conservation In Practice for marine conservationists who reside outside of North America. Contact marine@conbio.org if you know individuals who could benefit from these funds. Communications. Please visit our Web site, new as of July 2004, www.conbio.org/Marine. The site includes links to marine job announcements, funding, policy, science, and other marine conservation areas of interest. If you have suggestions that might improve the content of the site, please let us know. Upcoming event. 23-27 October 2005 - First International Marine Protected Areas Congress, Geelong, Australia, www.impacongress.org/. Carolyn Lundquist and Elise Granek NORTH AMERICA At the 2004 annual meeting, the North America Section marked several transitions and launched a new set of initiatives to promote conservation in the region. First, as will occur every year, there was turnover on the Board of Directors. Karen Root (Bowling Green State University) and Andre DesRochers (Université Laval) completed terms on the Board; we owe them many thanks for participating in the organization of the Section during the past two years. Also, David Wilcove (Princeton University), who served as President of the Board for the past two years, stepped down as President. David will continue to serve as a member of the Board for the next year. New Board members are Reed Noss (University of Central Florida)--President Elect, Pam Krannitz (Environment Canada), Brian Czech (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), and Michael Reed (Tufts University). I (Middlebury College) changed roles, from Board member to Section President. Of the new initiatives we will pursue in the coming year, I will discuss only one here, leaving others for future newsletters. The primary activity of the Section over the past two years has been to engage our community of conservation biologists--researchers, practitioners, and educators--more directly in the arena of conservation policy. Despite the overwhelming support the SCB membership has shown over the past 20 years for the society to engage actively in influencing conservation policy, the Section chose to approach this issue cautiously. Part of our caution resulted from a desire to ensure that we established a strong initial record from which to build during the coming years, and part, quite frankly, reflected insufficient resources. Ours is a volunteer Board, and the SCB Executive Office was (is) overworked and understaffed, unable to take on many new policy initiatives. The results of our early efforts are noteworthy. Most importantly, we commissioned evaluations of proposed changes to the U.S. National Forest Management Act and proposed changes to the rules governing designation of critical habitat under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (see www.conbio.org/NAmerica for links to PDFs of these reports). Our contacts in the United States government have told us that both efforts were well received and highly influential, and that excerpts from both reports were read into the Congressional Record. These results convince me that the long-standing debate about whether SCB can engage in the conservation policy arena without sacrificing our scientific objectivity is settled. The sky did not fall and we have not been transformed into an advocacy organization. We can participate in debates about conservation policy, and we can participate without abandoning our core principles as scientists. (If you still have doubts, I encourage you to read both of the reports.) Furthermore, I believe deeply that we must participate in policy. If SCB's mission and goals are to have any meaning, we must continue on this course, expanding our efforts at a rapid pace. Easily said, and for most readers, these statements are not especially controversial. The real question is how we will accomplish our goal of increased participation in policy. It is an immediate priority of this Board to determine how we can achieve our goal given the existing financial and personnel resources of the organization. We will explore several options, ranging from fundraising to hiring a policy director for the Section to finding a way to hire a policy director for SCB, part of whose responsibility would be directed toward North America. We have not yet identified the best solution, but I guarantee that we will find it. Furthermore, I guarantee that this "policy initiative" for the North America Section will not exclusively focus on the United States, but will include Canada. Clearly, a long-term strategy for engagement in conservation policy must be well thought-out; thus, it cannot happen overnight. No one wants SCB to apply its scientific knowledge and skills to informing conservation policy more than me, but desire is no substitute for careful planning. Thus, our approach over the short term must remain the same: identify issues where knowledge of conservation science can constructively inform discussion about conservation policy (through our network of SCB members and friends), commission expert panels to write reports about these issues, and work to insert these reports into the policy debate. Ultimately, however, we will implement a comprehensive strategy that will allow us to be more effective in identifying issues and influencing the debate. As always, I am interested in hearing your thoughts about this or any issue of importance to the North American membership. One further news item to report: the proposed changes to our Section bylaws were approved by a margin of 456 to 7. My thanks to everyone who voted. Steve Trombulak, trombulak@middlebury.edu FRESHWATER WORKING GROUP The Freshwater Working Group held its second annual meeting at the 2004 SCB annual meeting. Of the 38 attendees, 28 were new to the group. This turnout suggested that there remains strong interest in the working group, but there is high turnover between annual meetings and we need to find ways of including people regardless of whether they attend the annual meeting. At the same time, the group agreed that the annual meeting presents a good opportunity to build interest in freshwater topics among individuals of all backgrounds and interests, and that consequently we should continue to sponsor symposia and other meeting events. Other points of consensus were a need to give the working group some structure in the form of roles and responsibilities and the value of liaising with other societies (e.g., North American Benthological Society, American Fisheries Society). We also decided to compile and disseminate a quarterly newsletter with information of interest to working group members. Please visit our Web site (www.conbio.org/freshwater) for information on new committees and volunteer opportunities, as well as to subscribe to the freshwater listserv. The group is open to all interested people. Robin Abell
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