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2009 ANNUAL MEETING IN BEIJING

From 11 to 16 July, more than 1000 conservation professionals from 74 countries assembled in Beijing for Conservation: Harmony for Nature and Society, the first of SCB's annual meetings to be held in Asia. Plenary addresses were presented by Peter Raven (Missouri Botanical Garden), Fuwen Wei (Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences), David Lindenmayer (Australian National University), and Ma Keping (Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences). Symposia covered a full range of topics and geographic regions, but had a particular focus on Asia. Particularly heartening were the numerous presentations from young conservationists from China, indicating that the region's rich biological diversity is now being well studied by a highly competent coterie of field biologists. A constant theme throughout the sessions was the potential effects of climate change on species and ecosystems. Several workshops addressed communications issues with the aim of ensuring that the important messages from conservation biology are conveyed to the public, and especially to those making decisions that will affect biological systems.

Many attendees left with mixed emotions. Tremendous progress is being made on many fronts, yet stressors to natural ecosystems rapidly are becoming more numerous and intense. SCB must increase its effectiveness in presenting conservation science to policy makers. By the time we meet in Edmonton next year, we hope to make conservation biology more prominent in mainstream decision making. We also aim to ensure that messages about climate change address both responses of biological diversity and the contribution that ecosystems can make to climate adaptation. Thanks to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the State Forestry Administration for hosting the meeting and to the Institute of Zoology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Department of Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Management of the State Forestry Agency, China Wildlife Conservation Association, China Zoological Society, and Beijing Zoological Society for organizing the meeting. We also thank our sponsors, Wiley-Blackwell, Conservation International, ESRI, the Rufford Foundation, and the U.S. Geological Survey.

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