Milestones

Last week I was invited to lead a panel discussion at the FSC general assembly held here in Cape Town. The FSC is an international non-profit that foresees the responsible management of the world's forests. The FSC works primarily by certifying forest products, which allows ordinary consumers to know whether the products they are purchasing were produced sustainably or not. Just like blood diamonds there is massive trade in timber whose proceeds are going into the wrong hands, or leading to environmental degradation. FSC therefore addresses issues such as illegal logging,deforestation, and global warming that is threatening the world's forests. This is is critical because more than half of the world's forests have been degraded, destroyed or converted to other landuses.


So it was an honour to be invited for a side event at the FSC AGM on Ecological Networks. This was the first time I have led a panel discussion at an international event, but it went very well. I gave a talk entittled: Strategies of integrating freshwater biodiversity into conservation policy and management. This was followed by a one hour discussion with members of the audience, led by the 5-member panel.

I was flattered when the Organisers addressed me as Dr. Amis (see pic), even though I have not yet graduated. But this was totally understandable, because its not very often that students are lead panelists at international conferences.

And to crown my week of milestones, I was profiled in the African Conservation Telegraph (ACT), a newsletter of the Africa Section of the Society for Conservation Biology.
To Read my profile go to this website:
http://www.conbio.org/Sections/Africa/ACT%20Vol3%20Issue1%20BW.pdf