Living with Wildlife conference – making Africa sustainable through conservation
The human dimension of wildlife conservation is on the blackboard at a major international conference set for Windhoek early January next year. The conference will bring together in one venue a diverse group of scientists, conservationists, development specialists and other experts whose work incorporate the existential factors of environmental protection. The theme is “Living with Wildlife.”
This week the Cheetah Conservation Fund announced it is the local host for the 2018 Pathways Africa Conference, in collaboration with the Human Dimensions of Natural Resources Department at Colorado State University’s Warner College of Natural Resources. Other confirmed partners at this stage are the Large Carnivore Management Association of Namibia and the Namibia Nature Foundation.
Pathways Africa is scheduled over six day from 06 to 11 January 2018 at the Safari Hotel and Conference Centre in Windhoek.
Key discussion will comprise the Changing Nature of Wildlife Conservation; Wildlife Trafficking and Demand Reduction; Landscape Connectivity; Human-Wildlife Conflict; Community-based Conservation; Linking Science to Action; Policy and Legislation, and Transboundary Species Management.
Pathways Africa 2018 in Namibia is designed to increase professionalism and effectiveness in the human dimensions of natural resource and wildlife management.
Confirmed keynote speakers include Maxi Pia Louis, Director of the Namibian Association of Community-Based Natural Resource Management Support Organisations (NASCO), and John Kasaona, Executive Director of Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC).
“We are excited to be co-hosting Pathways Africa 2018 in Namibia. There are so many innovative and interesting wildlife management projects based on our continent. Pathways Africa will bring together visionary wildlife managers, leaders in conservation policy, and students and academics who are forging new frontiers here, so we may learn from each other”, said Dr Laurie Marker, Founder and Executive Director of the Cheetah Conservation Fund, extending an invitation to both scholars and non-professionals who care about wildlife and the future of humanity.
“We are pleased that Namibia was chosen as the site for the next conference. Conservation is part of our country’s constitution, and a key component of our mission is to train the next generation of scientists, ecologists and agriculturalists. Our holistic approach to conservation encompasses making Africa sustainable for the future,” stated Dr Marker.
Pathways Africa is sponsored by USAID East Africa; WWF; Air Namibia; LCMAN; NNF; FNB Namibia; Bronx Zoo; Colorado State University, the Namibia University of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, and the Cheetah Conservation Fund.
(Photograph courtesy of the Desert Lion Conservation Project)
