Conservation Optimism Summit

2:45 - 3:15 PM Rebuilding tropical fisheries village by village
Steve Rocliffe

For many years, the Vezo – traditional fishers in southwest Madagascar – saw marine conservation as a threat, a way of preventing them from accessing their fishing grounds. In these coastal communities, where seafood is the sole source of protein and income is less than US $2 per day, waiting years for the uncertain benefits of a protected area to spillover represented too high a risk − and too severe an economic sacrifice − to be a workable solution. A decade ago, Blue Ventures set about trying to overcome this issue, working with these communities to understand their concerns and develop a low-risk approach to marine protection that would return meaningful economic benefits in timeframes that worked for them. This talk uses powerful imagery and voices from the field to help tell the story of how some of the poorest coastal communities are helping their seas to recover.

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I'll be presenting from my Mac, but need the usual projector screen set up

3:15-4:15 PM Managing (Turtle) Conservation Program in Developing Countries
 Shailendra Singh PhD & Kalyar Platt PhD 
Session will discuss the management  of long-term conservation projects in developing countries using non-marine turtle conservation as a model. We will share the positive learnings of the organisation (TSA) and local partners, while implementing the recommendations of regional (Asian) and national conservation action plans targeting threatened freshwater turtles in response to crisis especially in asian countries located along Indo-Burma chelonian Biodiversity Hotspot in last 10 years. Global conservation status of threatened species, strategic conservation planning,implementation and success stories will be added as examples. Moreover session will include tested methods of conservation linkages and approach, campaigning, networking, stakeholder participation, capacity building, culture  and sustainability issues, which are essential for establishing and managing any long-term project to conserve “less" magnificent species in developing countries. The session would be useful for donors, conservationists, organisations and students, who may be willing to conduct, associate  and/or support similar conservation project in the region.
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Project Screens and White- board will be required