Date: September 18-20, 2024
Location: Riga, Latvia (EU)
Safeguarding biodiversity remain a topical challenge of our time, thus we would like to announce the upcoming international conference: "Safeguarding Biodiversity: Red Lists and Beyond." This conference will convene from September 18th to 20th, 2024, in the city of Riga, Latvia, and it is organized by the Institute of Biology at the University of Latvia in collaboration with the Nature Conservation Agency.
Conference aim: to share experience, transfer knowledge and best practice on national and regional redlisting and application of the IUCN methodology, conservation of threatened and rare species, as well as development of biodiversity data systems.
Venue: University of Latvia House of Nature, Jelgavas iela 1
We kindly invite experts, researchers, practitioners and students to attend the conference. We will ensure this event to offer a great platform to delve into discussions, explore innovative approaches, and foster collaborations aimed at protecting our planet's unique biodiversity.
Note: If you wish to join the conference virtually, please email madara.eihe@lu.lv, and we will send you the link one day prior to the selected sessions.
Guidelines for Poster Presenters:
Please bring your printed posters on September 19th and display them in the designated poster area, according to your assigned poster number. Kindly remove your poster after lunch on Friday.
Guidelines for Oral Presenters:
The conference language: English.
The format of the conference: hybrid (face-to-face and remotely).
Preliminary agenda:
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...Topics:
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The scientific program will be structured in plenary, oral and poster sessions.
Participants are invited to submit abstracts on research and discoveries relevant to the conference topics and workshop. The abstracts can be submitted by filling out this application form.
We kindly encourage all potential attendees to apply in time, as the number of participants in person (face-to-face) will be limited. Participants will be approved in the order of submission of their abstracts.
For inquiries and updates, please contact us at lifeforspecies.conference@gmail.com
Malin Rivers and Emily Beech (UK) from Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), Richmond, will present on "Global Tree Assessment – Prioritising conservation action for trees on national, regional, and global scales."
Biography - Malin Rivers
Malin Rivers is the Head of Prioritisation at Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). After studying at Imperial College (BSc), University of Birmingham (MSc) and University of St Andrews (PhD), she has devoted her entire career to plant conservation. Malin joined BGCI in 2014, where she is leading the Global Tree Assessment – an initiative to assess the conservation status of the world’s tree species. She was the lead author of the publication State of the World’s Trees, published in 2021, and has also published many scientific articles. In 2023 she co-authored her first book Rare Trees. She is also the new chair of the IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group and a member of the IUCN Red List Scientific Committee.
Biography - Emily Beech
Emily Beech is Tree Red List Manager at Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). Emily joined BGCI in 2014 and has been coordinating Red List assessments for the Global Tree Assessment, with a focus on Latin America, the Caribbean and the Pacific. As an IUCN Red List trainer, she has delivered training in Red List methodology across the world, in English, French and Spanish. She is a member of the IUCN SSC Global Tree Specialist Group, the IUCN Red List Technical Working Group and IUCN National Red List Working Group.
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Christina Biggs (US) will present “Re:wild’s Lost Species program - an initiative committed to halting extinctions and conserving biodiversity.”
Biography
Christina Biggs leads Re:wild’s Exploration Strategy as well as the Search for Lost Species. She manages searches for the top 25 most wanted list, as well as taxa-specific partnerships around birds, fishes, sharks, and amphibians. Since taking over the Lost Species program, Christina has conceived and launched a geographic Lost Species search model that is currently piloting in several African countries.
Prior to joining Re:wild, she was a senior biologist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where her main areas of research were cephalopod aquaculture and deep-sea invertebrates. She planned and led expeditions aboard ROV-equipped vessels to document and collect previously undescribed species. While employed at Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, Christina was a member of the Animal Response team that handled U.S. Fish and Wildlife confiscations of illegally trafficked animals. Other projects included annual surveys of the occurrence of tropical fish congregations along the U.S. eastern seaboard, known as Gulf Stream Orphans, in conjunction with the New England Aquarium. Christina is an AAUS research and rescue diver and an avid underwater enthusiast.
Christina Biggs recently discovered the Spirostreptus sculptus millipede crawling over her boot during an expedition in Makira Natural Park, not realizing it was a lost species. Dmitry Telnov later sent the specimen for analysis, which revealed that it hadn't been documented since 1897. Read more about this discovery here and here.
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Professor Joan van Baaren, University of Rennes, UMR CNRS 6553 ECOBIO, will present “Conservation of biodiversity in intensive agricultural areas: engaging farmers through living labs”.
Biography
Joan van Baaren, PhD, is the principal investigator of a Biodiversa project (Conserves) (2023-2026), in which the objective is to maximize biodiversity in intensive agricultural areas from Brittany to the Czech Republic, since it is in this type of area that the potential is the greatest. In this project, they are adopting a living-lab approach, in order to convince farmers of the interest of conserving biodiversity in their fields. As part of the Biodiversity-Climate Chair, she is also working on an ecological and economic comparison of the values of ecosystem services.
More information about Joan can be found here: https://ecobio.univ-rennes.fr/en/interlocutors/joan-van-baaren
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Dmitry Telnov, Institute of Biology, UL (LV), will present "LIFE FOR SPECIES Project's contribution to the protection of rare and endangered species in Latvia: results, challenges, and next steps."
Biography
Dmitry Telnov, PhD, is a Latvian entomologist, biogeographer, and conservationist. He is a fellow and vice president of the Entomological Society of Latvia as well as the executive editor of the "Biodiversity, biogeography and nature conservation in Wallacea and New Guinea" book series, as well as a member of the editorial board of the "Latvijas Entomologs", ZooKeys and Tijdschift voor Entomologie journals. He is primarily known for his taxonomic works on Coleoptera, biogeographic research in the Papuan region and in the Wallacea, and nature conservation activities across the EU and beyond.
Christina Biggs recently discovered the Spirostreptus sculptus millipede crawling over her boot during an expedition in Makira Natural Park, not realizing it was a lost species. Dmitry Telnov later sent the specimen for analysis, which revealed that it hadn't been documented since 1897. Read more about this discovery here and here.
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Nicklas Jansson, the County Administrative Board of Östergötland, Nature Conservation, will present “Creating artificial habitats for hollow tree beetles”
Biography
Nicklas Jansson, PhD, is an entomologist. His research revolves mainly around old trees, oak-living beetles and conservation. Nicklas has explored various aspects of preserving the beetle fauna on old oak trees in various countries. He has developed and tested artificial oak-wood nest boxes for oak living species. Such boxes can successfully support local insect diversity and provide “stepping-stones” between isolated areas.
Nicklas is also a member of the Redlist committees for beetles in Sweden and for saproxylic beetles in Europe.
More information about Nicklas can be found here: https://liu.se/en/employee/nicja39
Participation fee: free of charge (EUR 0.00) for author of oral or poster presentation and EUR 150 for accompanying person.
Organizers: Institute of Biology of the University of Latvia in collaboration with the Nature Conservation Agency of the Republic of Latvia.
For inquiries and updates, please contact us at lifeforspecies.conference@gmail.com
Looking forward to welcome you in Riga, Latvia.
LIFE FOR SPECIES project team
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The conference is organized by the Project “Threatened species in Latvia: improved knowledge, capacity, data and awareness” (LIFE19 GIE/LV/000857 - LIFE FOR SPECIES) with the financial support of European Commission and the State Regional Development Agency, Republic of Latvia
This material is created with the financial contribution of the LIFE programme and the European Union. This publication reflects only authors’ view. Neither CINEA (European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency) nor European Commission are responsible of any use that may be made, or the information contained therein.
