ICCB 2013 Program - Society for Conservation Biology

Coffee Break
10:00 to 10:30
Exhibit Hall A
Monday
late morning session: 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Symposium: The Impact of Animal Release on Biodiversity and Human Health: Exploring
Opportunities to Bridge Conservation and Religion
Room 301
Monday, July 22, 10:30 to 12:30
Organizer(s): Stephen Awoyemi, SCB Religion and Conservation Biology Working Group; Jame Schaefer, Marquette University,
Department of Theology
The Buddhist practice of animal merit release is threatening biodiversity, ecological integrity, and human health. The effects
of this ongoing practice provides an opportunity for conservation biologists and Buddhist leaders to collaborate in conserving
wildlife in Asia and demonstrating true compassion for animals, their habitats, and human health as originally intended through
this practice. The focus of this symposium clearly dovetails the ICCB 2013 theme of Connecting Systems, Disciplines, and
Stakeholders. This proposed symposium also strategically addresses the central goal of the United Nations (UN) Decade for
Biodiversity (2011-2020) which is to re-orient society towards recognizing the value of biodiversity and conserving it.
10:30 The Animal Release Project: An Overview
Stephen M. Awoyemi (also Moderator), RCRC, RCBWG, SCB
10:45 Ecological Knowledge to Reduce the Religious Practice of Releasing Invasive Species
Yiming Li, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Acade
11:00 Advancing the Collaboration of Religious and Conservation Biology Communities
Jame Schaefer, Marquette University
11:15 Mercy Release Should not be Commercialized
Fengqing Yu, Wildlife Ark, China
11:30 The Chinese Buddhist Practice of Release Life: Past, Present, and Future
The Venerable Benkong Shi, Grace Gratitude Temple, USA
11:45 Life Conservation, Mind Cultivation
Li-Yi Cheng, Bliss & Wisdom Group, Taiwan
12:00 Wildlife Release and Life Education Programs of Wildlife First Aid Station
Fang-Tse Chan, Endemic Species Research Institute
Open discussion follows from 12:15 to 12:30
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Symposium: Raising the Bar: Large Landscape Conservation Innovations in Canada’s Boreal
and Australia’s Outback
Room 302
Monday, July 22, 10:30 to 12:30
Organizer(s): Jeffrey Wells, International Boreal Conservation Campaign; Barry Traill, Pew Environment Group
The North American Boreal Forest and the Australian Outback share the distinction of being two of the last, very large
unfragmented ecological regions left on Earth. The intact nature of these regions means that, unlike in most of the world, the
opportunity to proactively maintain and conserve large scale functioning ecosystems and biodiversity still exists. These regions
are also seen by some as the last frontiers for unbridled natural resource extraction. Efforts to maintain the ecological integrity
and biodiversity characteristics of these massively large ecological regions has required innovative new ideas that integrate across
widely divergent systems, disciplines, and stakeholders at impressively large scales. The results have raised the bar for large
landscape conservation initiatives around the globe. For example, over 526,000 km2 (130 million acres) of protected areas are
now in place in Canada’s Boreal Forest region and governments in two of the largest Canadian provinces (Ontario and Quebec)
have committed to establishing over 800,000 km2 (200 million acres) of new protected areas in recent years. Similarly Australia
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