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Wildlife Trust Launches International Network at World Conservation Congress in Bangkok

PALISADES, New York, Nov. 17 - /EWire/ -- Wildlife Trust, an innovator in conservation science and the emerging field of conservation medicine, will officially launch the Wildlife Trust Alliance, an international network of leading conservation organizations, during the third annual World Conservation Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, November 17-25, 2004.

During the Congress, The Wildlife Trust Alliance will present its Conservation Platform on November 18, 2004, and will induct Yolanda Kakabadse as the first member of its Advisory Council.

"We believe that the key to conservation success is long-term local involvement," says Dr. Mary C. Pearl, President of Wildlife Trust, noting that, "lessons learned on the local level often do not reach a larger audience." The Alliance will provide a framework for joint research, accreditation and policy analysis and recommendation.

"Given the need for a global voice for local conservation, The Wildlife Trust Alliance will be an important vehicle in bringing attention to urgent issues in the developing world that are being inadequately addressed," comments Dr. Claudio Padua, the Brazil-based Coordinator of the Alliance.

Yolanda Kakabadse, who is stepping down as President of the World Conservation Union this year, is also President of the Ecuador-based Fundacion Futuro Latinoamericano, a conflict resolution organization. She is the former Minister for the Environment for Ecuador. Ms. Kakabadse noted, "The Wildlife Trust Alliance is an innovator in creating successful, egalitarian international partnerships for conservation. I am looking forward to providing advice and drawing attention to this new form of collaboration in my capacity as a Wildlife Trust Alliance Councilor.

The Conservation Platform will feature a brief ceremony honoring Ms. Kakabadse, followed by a roundtable discussion on how conservation organizations around the world can more effectively make common cause for issues of global benefit.

The Congress is being sponsored by The World Conservation Union (IUCN), the international body that brings together individuals, organizations and governments to focus on environmental issues. Every three to four years the Congress is held to address three principal elements: conducting the business of the Union, assessing the work of IUCN Commissions and taking stock of conservation.



The founding organizations of the Wildlife Trust Alliance are:

Argentina: Fundación Aquamarina (www.aquamarina.org/ar) Brazil: Institute for Ecological Research (IPE) (www.ipe.org/br) Chile: Fauna Australis (http://www.fauna-australis.puc.cl/) Cuba: Cuban Conservation Collaborative Guatemala: Center for Biodiversity Conservation India: Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (www.asiannature.org) Indonesia: Yayasan Peduli Konservasi Alam Indonesia (PEKA) United States: Wildlife Trust/Consortium for Conservation Medicine (www.wildlifetrust.org and www.conservationmedicine.org) Venezuela: Provita (www.provitaonline.org)

Individual members include conservation scientists from Mexico, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Uruguay.

Dr. Pearl reports that The Wildlife Trust Alliance is also developing seven model projects to address points of conflict between human and natural systems, including: newly settled rural landscapes and deforestation; agricultural systems and chemical pollution; mosaic landscapes and large ranging species; ecology of emerging diseases; coastal marine conservation and fisheries; flagships of conservation practice (e.g., charismatic threatened fauna); and biodiversity conservation in the context of rural economic development.

About Wildlife Trust Wildlife Trust is an international organization dedicated to innovative conservation science and conservation medicine, linking ecology and human health in the New York region and around the world. Wildlife Trust trains and supports a network of local scientists in over twenty countries in their efforts to save endangered species and their habitats and to protect the health of ecosystems that are vital to life on Earth. More information can be found on their website, www.wildifetrust.org.

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For more information or to speak with Dr. Pearl, Dr. Padua, or Ms. Kakabadse, please contact

Jane Trombley of Temin and Company at (212)588-8788 or news@teminandco.com

www.wildifetrust.org