Tropentag, October 6 - 8, 2009 in Hamburg "Biophysical and Socio-economic Frame Conditions for the Sustainable Management of Natural Resources"

DAAD-International Alumni Summer School on “Conservation and Management of Biodiversity in the Tropics”

Centre for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture and Forestry (CeTSAF) - Tropenzentrum, Georg-August Universität Göttingen, Germany

Abstract

The summer school has taken place in Göttingen from 27 September ? 05 October
2009 within the framework of the Tropentag 2009 conference. This Summer School - organized by CeTSAF within the Göttingen-Kassel-Marburg German Alumni-Network (CGKM-AlNet) - complements the ongoing series of Summer Schools with biodiversity related issues, which are aimed to bring together alumni of German universities with a biodiversity-related professional background. Through the establishment of GAInBiNet (German Alumni International Biodiversity Network) in 2008, series of symposia are held which are addressing biodiversity related issues. Thus, GAInBiNet opens for a global audience of biodiversity experts.

The main objective of this Summer School on “Conservation and Management of Biodiversity in the Tropics” was the discussion of challenges and perspectives in conservation of biodiversity, the reduction of ecosystem degradation in the tropics and the contribution of biodiversity in achieving the millennium development goals (MDGs). The regional Summer School with its presentations, workshops and an excursion, and the participation and presentation at the Tropentag 2009 in Hamburg gave all participants the opportunity to share their experience and in-sights into biodiversity conservation issues in the tropics. The participants were professionals, academicians and practitioners in biodiversity related fields from developing countries.

At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, the Heads of State and Government committed to reduce the rate of loss of biological diversity significantly by 2010. This Summer School focuses on economic aspects of biodiversity addressed by the sustainable management and use of ecological resources, the value of biological diversity in politics and economy and the fair and equitable sharing of its benefits. The following were the major thematic areas:

· Ecosystem services
· Economic significance of the global loss of biological diversity
· Biodiversity and economy
· Biodiversity and corporate sustainability management
· Monitoring biodiversity
· Biodiversity information systems
· Managing biodiversity in developing societies
· Education and biodiversity.

Keywords: Summer school, biodiversity

Contact Address: Kerstin Wydra, Centre for Tropical and Subtropical Agriculture and Forestry (CeTSAF) - Tropenzentrum, Georg-August Universität Göttingen, Buesgenweg 1, Göttingen, Germany, e-mail: kwydrauni-goettingen.de