About

Rationale

The last three decades have marked the rise of conservation biology as a bona-fide scientific discipline. Beyond scientific enquiry, conservation biology is paramount for our ability to maintain global biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, for future generations. It is therefore central for delineating environmental policies and for responsible decision making at all levels - from the legislator to the park ranger. Originally, conservation biology dealt predominantly with ecological means of preserving small and declining populations of animals and plants, endangered due to human actions. However in recent years, there has been a growing recognition of the imperative role that human actions and attitudes at various levels have, not only in contributing to the problems, but also in any attempt at solving them. Alongside these, today we are much more aware of the many services natural ecosystems provide humans. Attempts are made to quantify and incorporate these services at all stages of initiatives for safeguarding biodiversity. Therefore conservation grew out of the confines of biology into a truly inter-disciplinary field - conservation science.
It is therefore high time to establish a dedicated Israeli conference for conservation science. Such a meeting will be highly important for the following reasons:

It will cement conservation science as a unique scientific discipline, with dedicated scientists, practitioners, paradigms, tools etc.
It will serve to establish an Israeli community for interactions amongst people interested in conservation from diverse fields such as philosophy, economy, sociology, geography, anthropology, architecture and urban planning, law, mathematics, chemistry, biology etc.
It will present a platform for conservation practitioners working outside academia to present their work and ideas.
It will promote active engagement of the public with science (for example through citizen science initiatives) and thus serve as a bridge between academia, conservation managers and the general public.
It will enable fruitful scientific exchange of knowledge and ideas between local conservation biologists and leading international figures in the field.
It will create an overall positive furor and enthusiasm for this highly important field, its prospects and challenges within the particular Israeli setting, to both established scientists and those joining the field.

The conference is fully backed by the International Society for Conservation Biology through its local chapter and thus will also provide an important link between Israeli conservation research and conservation practitioners across the globe.

Concept

The theme for the conference is “Past, present and future of Israeli conservation”. We aim to examine, honor, and learn from our conservation roots, disseminate and discuss the cutting edge Israeli conservation science today, and lead the way to better conservation research and practice in the future.
Each day of the conference will begin with an inspiring talk by a world-renowned international guest speaker. The plenary on the first day will be followed by a session of talks by the some of the founders of the science and practice of conservation biology in Israel. This session will explore the history of conservation in Israel along its many facets – Conservation science in Israel, Conservation legislation, Environmental NGOs in Israel, Biodiversity trends in Israel and Marine conservation.
Several sessions of themed contributing-talks will provide access to the state of the art conservation research and practice in Israel today, and these sessions will be augmented by a poster session, in which the participants of the conference will have free time to inspect the different posters and interact with their authors.
The conference will end with a panel in which our invited local and international conservation experts will discuss the future of conservation in Israel – where should we go from here and how do we get there?
The conference will also offer plenty of opportunities for socializing and networking including a pre-conference excursion, an evening social event on the first day and a birding trip in the early hours of the morning of the second day.