The 25th EAZA Annual Conference will be hosted by the Royal Zoological Society of Antwerp (Antwerp Zoo and Planckendael), Belgium from 16 to 20 September 2008. The conference will take place at the Flanders Congress & Concert Centre in the heart of Antwerp, conveniently located in the Zoo and next to Antwerp Central Station. For the majority of the participants, the conference will officially start with an ice-breaker in the evening of Tuesday 16 September 2008. The TAG chairs and the EEP coordinators, however, will already have their first meetings earlier that day. After two conference days, a much-needed break in the full conference programme will be offered on Thursday (late) afternoon and evening, when all participants will be taken to Planckendael Zoo. Following another two days of meetings and the EAZA Annual General Meeting on Saturday 20 September, the 25th EAZA Annual Conference will be closed by a farewell dinner, kindly offered by Antwerp Zoo. As in previous years the EAZA TAG chairs and EEP coordinators will meet on Tuesday 16 September 2008. More information on these meetings will be sent to these groups in due course. Plenary sessions during this year's conference will be aimed at the entire zoo community. As usual, the conference programme will also include a session on the EAZA Conservation Campaigns. There is ample room to do presentations in parallel sessions throughout the conference, as well as to present posters. The Antwerp Zoo, built in 1843, is one of the oldest zoos in the world. The beautiful, distinctive buildings and garden are classified and are home to more than 6,000 animals and almost 770 species: penguins in Vriesland, elephants and giraffes in a unique Egyptian temple and a pink villa for the hippos. The Antwerp zoo has an international reputation due to its scientific research and its breeding programmes for endangered species such as the okapi and the bonobo. Best of all: all registered participants to the conference have free entrance to the zoo for the duration of the conference. www.eaza.net
Would i be right in saying at this meeting, this is the place where zoos decide and are accepted into the eep's or esb's that they wish to be a part of and animals are chosen to go to a new participant .
About 630 people from the 'zoo world' are gathering in Antwerp (Belgium) this week, to participate in the EAZA Annual Conference (16 - 20 September). The conference started on Tuesday evening with an ice-breaker, but was officially opened with a welcome session yesterday morning. There are many interesting sessions and meetings during the conference and special focus is on the impact of climate change on biodiversity and the role of zoos and aquariums mitigating these. All EAZA institutions will be asked to sign the Countdown 2010 Declaration. Countdown 2010 is a powerful network of active partners working together towards the 2010 biodiversity target. With millions of visitors per year zoos and aquariums play an important role, as they are the perfect channel to raise awareness for nature conservation. Other special sessions during the conference focus on collection planning and conservation education. As soon as the conference has finished, a review of the entire conference will follow shortly. www.countdown2010.net
