Rwanda to Host International Biodiversity Conference 23 July

Text of report by Gaaki Kigambo entitled “Rwanda to host international biodiversity conference” published in English by Rwandan newspaper The New Times web site on 10 March

Rwanda is to host an international research conference on biodiversity conservation and sustainable resource management. According to Prof Romain Murenzi, the minister in the president’s office in charge of science, technology and scientific research, the conference will target leading national and international conservation and natural resource management professionals. It is slated for 23-24 July this year.

Murenzi said the conference, the first of its kind, would provide a platform for exchanging research findings, ideas and knowledge in the long term conservation of plant and animal life not only in Rwanda but the world over. Speaking exclusively to The New Times, the minister said the conference will be a cornerstone in the use of research information to develop sound policies and practises towards biodiversity conservation and natural resource management not only in Rwanda but also in countries of all participating professionals.

Some of the institutions involved are the Ministry of Science, Technology and Research in the President’s Office; the Science, Technology and Research Institute (IRST); the National University of Rwanda (NUR); and the Rwanda Environmental Management Authority (REMA). Others include the Office of Tourism and National Parks (ORTPN); Rwanda Agricultural Sciences Institute (ISAR); Institute of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry (ISAE); and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (DFGFI).

Rwanda boasts a wealth of biodiversity and natural resources through a network of national parks, water bodies, hills, mountains and wetlands that are decked with many endangered flora and fauna. The conference will cover ecosystem health – particularly the correlation between ecosystem, human, domestic animal and wildlife health – as well as economics, tourism, conservation and communities.

The conference is being organized under four themes: conservation biology, which will focus on the biology, behaviour and ecological processes of threatened species and their habitats, sustainable management of natural resources, which will discuss the results of biological, economic and social research in sustainable management of natural resources. Minister Murenzi said papers of no more than 200 words (abstract submission) about the themes are invited from those willing to participate in the conference.

(c) 2007 BBC Monitoring Africa. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.