Events :: Worldwide

The COP to the Convention on Biological Diversity takes place every two years. This year it was held from 20 to 31 March in the Brazilian town of Curitiba. It was preceded by COP-MOP to Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety– a legal addition to the Convention on Biological Diversity- which took place also in Curitiba from 13 to 17 March 2006.

The main outcome of COP 8 meeting is a new impetus to the Convention and agreement on a "roadmap" to achieve the 2010 Biodiversity Target: of achieving a significant reduction in the rate of loss of biological diversity by 2010, as a contribution to poverty alleviation and the Millennium Development Goals.

Web site: http://www.biodiv.org/meetings/cop8mop3/default.shtml

The conference is focused on forest ecosystem problems and management in national parks and protected areas. In this respect, issues such as planning of the forest ecosystem management, economic self-preservation, game in protected areas, tourist-valuation of national parks and other protected areas, legislation, multifunctional values of forest ecosystems and others will be discussed. Official languages are English, Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian.

For further information: http://www.sfbl.org; Faculty of Forestry in Banja luka, PhD Milan Mataruga; Address: Stepe Stepanovica 75a, 78 000 Banja Luka; tel/fax: +387(0)51 460-550 ; e-mail: mmilan@blic.net

The conference addresses scientists and managers active in nature conservation, environmental impact assessment and landscape planning. Along with the presentation of technological and biological conservation know-how, the conference aims to provide goaled-oriented results and to prove their implementation in nature management. The conference provides an opportunity to critically assess the achievements of nature protection in general and the scientific methods that are currently used internationally. It aims to determine to what extent the many different nature conservation activities for maintaining the quality of protected ecosystems are successful. As an example we will present the results of a nation-wide monitoring study in which the effectiveness of the conservation status and management measures imposed are examined.