48 <strong>annual</strong> <strong>report</strong>
i ANNUAL MEETING j The Annual Academic Meeting of <strong>Nature</strong> <strong>Conservation</strong> <strong>Foundation</strong>, was held over three days, from the 20 th to the 22 nd of March, 2007. It was held at The Roost hotel in Mysore and was well attended by senior scientists, research scholars, research affiliates, visitors from other organisations, from within and outside Mysore and other well wishers. It consisted of 10 different sessions, held over the 3-day period. We began with an update on the six different programmes that are currently running within NCF, and this work was summarized by the individual Programme Heads. The six programmes being the High Altitude Programme, Rainforest Restoration Programme, Community-based <strong>Conservation</strong> Programme in Arunachal Pradesh, Primate Programme, Deciduous Forest Programme, and Marine Programme. The rest of the sessions were divided into sections titled Species Ecology, Behaviour and Evolution, Community Ecology, Community-based <strong>Conservation</strong>, Ecological Patterns and Processes, Human Impacts, <strong>Conservation</strong> Planning and Policy, Human Dependence, Socio-economy and Conflicts, Guest Presentations, and five Workshops. There was also a screening of the film, Rediscovering the Munzala, produced by Pavithra Sankaran, Media & Outreach Manager of NCF. Our visitors Included Anand Nadathur, Sriram Nadathur, Suri Venkatachalam, and Sudhakar Mallya, from Nadathur Holdings & Investments, who have also started a Trust called the Nadathur <strong>Conservation</strong> Trust (NCT). NCT is currently a key collaborator and supporter of NCF. From ATREE, we had Ravi Chellam (Director), Harini Nagendra, and Jagdish Krishnaswamy, and from NCBS we had Uma Ramakrisnan, Suhel Quader, and Kavita Isvaran, Dr. Eben Goodale, Maya Ramasawamy, a prominent wildlife artist and whose work graces quite a few of our books and posters, Indrila Guha and Rajarshi Banerjee (Advisors - Sundarban Program, WWF – Eastern India), and Nandita Hazarika, from Ecosystems India, Guwahati, as well as a host of other visitors were present. The meeting concluded with an informal dinner on the 22 nd evening, where all the visitors and members of NCF, had a chance to unwind after the intensity of the three days. i j <strong>annual</strong> <strong>report</strong> 49