Events

Virtual Conference Series on Global National Park Management

Theme: Global National Park in the New Normal: Challenges and Opportunities  

Organizers: National Park Research Centre, Faculty of Forestry, University of British Columbia; National Park Research Centre, Beijing Forestry University; and UBC-AFPNet Americas Office 

Sponsor:  The Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation

Dates: August 7- August 28, 2020

 

For decades, studies have highlighted the connection between national parks and human wellness. The recent global pandemic has enhanced this connection, as populations worldwide are increasing their dependence on national parks to address the physical and mental impacts of Covid-19. However, the pandemic has also resulted in temporary access restrictions to parks and protected areas in order to mitigate disease transmission. These trends have important consequences for park management, including the diminishment of park resources and staff, the suspension of management and restoration programs, and an elevated public appreciation for parks. As parks reopen, it is important for relevant decision-makers to anticipate the short and long-term impacts of Covid-19.

While the global pandemic has presented protected areas with many new challenges, it has also provided us with opportunities to strengthen management strategies. The UBC National Park Research Centre would like to invite the world’s leading park experts to discuss the importance of our parks and to address the short and long-term pandemic impacts.

 

Theme: National Park in the New Normal: Challenges and Opportunities

Participants: ~100

I hour (45 minutes’ talk and 15 Q&A)

Time: Each Friday (Vancouver time)

 

Please see the lecture posters below for more information.

 

 

 

Lecture I.

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Harvey Lock, Banff, Canada

Title: National Park in the New Normal: Challenges and Opportunities

Time: Friday, August 7, 2020, at 5:00 to 6:00 pm Vancouver Time

Saturday, August 8, 2020, at 8:00-9:00 am Beijing Time

Zoom link: https://ubc.zoom.us/j/68349119895

Dr. Harvey Locke is a conservationist, writer, and photographer who is a recognized global leader in the field of parks, wilderness and large landscape conservation based in Banff. He is co-founder of both the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative and the global Nature Needs Half Movement and serves as Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas Beyond the Aichi Targets Task Force. Named one of Canada’s leaders for the 21st century by Time Magazine, Harvey received the Fred M. Packard International Parks Merit Award at the IUCN World Parks Congress in Australia. Since 2018 he has been very active in China including serving as an expert member of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development’s Special Policy Studies group for the Convention on Biological Diversity and working

with members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Ministry of Environment and Ecology.

 

 

 

LECTURE II: 

Keynote speaker: Prof.  Cristian BONACIC, Department of Ecosystems & the Environment, School of Agriculture & Forestry Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Title: Biodiversity and protected areas of Latin America: challenges and future opportunities after Covid-19

Time: Friday, August 14, 2020, at 5:00-6:00 pm, Vancouver Time

Saturday, August 15, 2020, at 8:00-9:00 am, Beijing Time

Zoom Link:  https://ubc.zoom.us/j/65760757203

Dr. Cristian Bonacic graduated from the University of Oxford, UK, and has worked at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile for 30 years, as Department Head in 2010 and 2016. He has received national and international prizes like the Lama Medicine Award from South American Camelids specialists by the American Veterinarians association, and also, an Award for his contribution to Science (2017) by the Chilean DVM Board and the Whitley Commendation Award by HRH Princess Anne in The United Kingdom (2007). He’s a visiting professor at the Nelson Institute of The University of Wisconsin, funded by a Tinker Fellowship in 2015.  His research interests and collaborations have included wildlife management inside protected areas, wildlife conservation, the sustainable use of wildlife and local communities.

 

His current research also includes the role of protected areas in Latin America to conserve jaguars (Panthera onca) and Mountain lions (Puma concolor). This project seeks to provide recommendations to combine sustainable livestock production (Sustainable Development Goals 2) and biodiversity conservation (SDG 15), funded by the Latin American Observatory of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

 

 

Lecture III.

Keynote speaker: Prof. Dr. Ramesh Krishnamurthy, M.Sc., Ph.D. Scientist, Wildlife Institut

e of India (MoEFCC, Govt. of India), Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

Title: Covid-19 Challenges of Protected Areas Management in India: Towards Integrated Nature-Culture Solutions

Time:  Friday, August 21, 2020, at 8:00-9:00pm Vancouver Time

Saturday, August 22, 2020, at 11:00-12:00 am Beijing Time

Zoom Link:  https://ubc.zoom.us/j/65760757203

 

Dr. Ramesh Krishnamurthy is a scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India and is also an Adjunct Professor with the Faculty of Forestry, UBC. He specializes in Landscape Ecology, Species Recovery Strategies and Integration of Technology in Wildlife Research and Management. He serves on various commissions of IUCN and academic/conservation associations. His research and conservation experiences are mainly on birds and mammals of the Western Himalaya, Shivalik-Terai Landscape and Central India regions. Presently, he is involved in a diversity of projects that include the Reintroduction and Monitoring of Tiger Populations in Panna Tiger Reserve (Madhya Pradesh), Conservation Breeding and Reintroduction of Western Tragopan in Himachal Pradesh, Application of Wireless Sensor Networks for Forest and People Protection, Integration UAV (Drone) for wildlife research and management, and Climate Change Effects on Riverine Forests and Indicator Species along the Ganges. He has received the prestigious Distinguished Foreign Scholar Award by the US Regional Association of the International Association for Landscape Ecology and the NASA-MSU Professional Enhancement Award by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and Michigan State University, USA.

 

 

 

 

LECTURE IV: 

Keynote Speaker: Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Sam, Vietnam National University of Forestry, Vietnam

Title: National Park in the New Normal: Challenges and Opportunities of National park management in Vietnam

Time: Friday, August 28, 2020, at 5:00-6:00 pm Vancouver Time

Saturday, August 29, 2020, at 8:00 – 9:00 am Beijing Time

Zoom Link:  https://ubc.zoom.us/j/65760757203

Prof. Dr. Hoang Van Sam is a professor, senior lecturer, researcher and director of the International Cooperation Department at Vietnam’s National University of Forestry. He graduated MSc and PhD in plant taxonomy and biodiversity conservation from Leiden University, in the Netherlands. His research expertise focuses on national parks and nature reserves in Vietnam. He is the author/co-author of more than 90 articles on plant taxonomy, biodiversity conservation, forest resources management. Prof. Sam has successfully lead18 research projects; acted as chair/co-chair for 10 international conferences; and supervised 10 PhD, 58 MSc and 62 BSc students in Vietnam, Laos and China. He has been invited to lecture and present on tropical plants, plant diversity, and biodiversity conservation at academic institutions in Vietnam, Germany, The Netherlands, Japan and USA.