WHMSI IV Agenda

Sunday, December 5

Participants arrive

6:00pm: Interim Steering Committee meeting

7:30pm: Dinner

Monday, December 6

8:00am - 8:30am: Registration

8:30am - 9:15am: Welcome by Hosts

9:15am - 10:00am: Introductions

10:00am - 10:15am: Break

10:15am - 11:15am: Updates since WHMSI 3

• Regional Capacity Building Projects, 2009-2011 - Richard Huber
• Purpose and Organization document
• WHMSI.net / WHMSI Pathway - Melissa Normann

11:15am - 12:00 pm: THE HONORABLE R. LINDSAY THOMAS, (RET.), Keynote Speaker

Congressman Thomas served as U.S. Congressman from Georgia’s First District from 1982 to 1993. He chairs the Board of Directors of the International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF). From 1998 to 2002, Thomas served as the Federal Commissioner of the Georgia, Florida, and Alabama Tri-State Water Compacts and for six years as president and chief executive officer of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Congressman Thomas represented the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games as the director of state governmental affairs. He was recently elected chair of the Georgia Corporation for Economic Development, a public/private sector marketing initiative. From 2002 to 2010 he was the Senior Vice President, Governmental Relations for AGL Resources.

12:00pm - 12:15pm: Announcements

12:15pm - 1:30pm: Lunch

1:30pm - 4:30pm: Thematic Session: “Enhancing Collaboration Among Migratory Bird Conservation Initiatives” - Alberto Yanosky

• Integrating Migratory Bird Conservation Initiatives
• Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS or Bonn Convention)
• The African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA)
• Southern Cone Grasslands Alliance
• La Convención de Ramsar en las Américas
• WHSRN: Shorebird Conservation at a Hemispheric Scale

2:45pm - 3:00pm: Coffee Break

4:30pm - 5:30pm: WHMSI Purpose and Organization: Adoption in Principle by Participants

6:30pm: Welcome cocktail

Tuesday, December 7:

9:00am - 12:00pm: Presentation of 2009 FEMCIDI Capacity Building Grants:

• WHSRN, MANOMET, and WWF – "Adaptation to climate change for marine turtles & Climate change adaptation workshop for shorebird conservation in the Southern Cone" - Diego Luna Quevedo
• BioCiencia RELCOM – "First Workshop of the Latin American Network for the Conservation of Bats" - Laura Navarro
• SCSCB – "Promoting Caribbean Wetland Conservation: A training workshop for monitoring, education and conservation" - Lisa Sorenson
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology - "eBird" - Christopher Wood

12:30pm - 1:30pm: Lunch

1:30pm - 4:30 pm: Thematic Session: Enhancing Collaboration among Marine Protected Area Initiatives - Alessandra Vanzella-Khouri

• Introductory presentation
• The connectivity of marine populations in the WCR and the Caribbean MPA Management Network and Forum (CaMPAM)
• Dinosaurs Among Us: Saving the Last Sea Turtles
• The Agoa marine mammal sanctuary: linking marine sanctuaries for the conservation of marine mammals and ocean biodiversity

4:30pm - 6:30pm: Selection of Steering Committee members

Report to Plenary on Committee selection.

6:30pm - 7:15pm: Interim Steering Committee and New Steering Committee meet to discuss transition.

Wednesday, December 8:

Field Trip to Biscayne Bay National Park / Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (rain date Thursday, December 9)

8:00am - 11:00 am: Boat tour to learn about Seagrass Recovery/Blue Carbon

11:00am - 6:00 pm: Biscayne Bay National Park and Fairchild Botanic Garden

6:00pm - 8:00pm: Cocktail reception at Fairchild Botanic Garden

Thursday December 9:

9:00am - 12:00 pm: Announcements

• WHMSI Sustainability
• Resources
• Communication/Outreach

12:00pm - 1:00pm: Lunch

1:00pm - 3:00pm: Thematic session summaries:

• Summary of thematic session on enhancing collaboration among migratory bird conservation initiatives - Alberto Yanosky.
• Summary of thematic session on enhancing collaboration among marine protected areas - Alessandra Vanzella-Khouri.

New Initiatives:

• Bats Across Our Borders - Nina Fascione, Executive Director, Bat Conservation International
• Climate Adaptation Knowledge Exchange - Kate Graves, Island Press and Alessandra Score, EcoAdapt
• Landscape Conservation Cooperatives - Robert Ford, USFWS
• Discussion of GEF/WHMSI/UNEP interest in WHMSI - Richard Huber, Organization of American States

3:00pm - 5:00 pm: Session led by new WHMSI Steering Committee

5:00pm: Meeting Closure