[Coral-List] Society for Conservation Biology Coral Reefs Working Group

[Fraser J-H]

Dear Coral List,

We would like to introduce the Coral Reefs Working Group at the Society for
Conservation Biology. As you all know, Coral Reefs are a global ecosystem
present on all continents except Europe and Antarctica. You can read our
short rationale, statement of intent and activities for the working group
so that everyone can know what we wish to achieve here (
https://conbio.org/groups/working-groups/coral-reef-working-group/). We
have also attached a list of our near-term objectives, as well as a couple
of projects that we aim to start soon.

Because coral reef science and conservation is global, one of the main
objectives of the CRWG is to represent the diversity of practitioners. We
aspire to communicate the goals of the CRWG, the policy statements and the
outreach in ways and languages that represent this diversity. Currently
both the rationale and the list of objectives are in English and will soon
be translated to French, because those are the languages that we (Fraser &
Dominique) are fluent in. Therefore, we are asking that any of you who
would be interested in joining the working group if and in writing or
translating statements into other languages please email either us with
your name and the languages you would be willing to translate to. In the
future, when we become an official working group, we will be holding
elections for board members, and we particularly want to encourage members
who are not European, North American or Australian to put themselves
forward for roles on the board. The majority of coral reefs are in
countries outside these regions, and we believe it essential for the
long-term health of the working group and reef conservation in general that
these countries are adequately represented and championed.

We are currently a provisional working group, and will be pushing for full
status later this year. To achieve full status, we need 100 signed-up
members but the more the merrier so please join us. To participate in the
CRWG you need to be a member of the Society for Conservation Biology. If
you have registered for or been to an SCB conference in the last 12 months
(e.g. IMMC, Oceania, Africa) you will likely have become a member of SCB
then. If not, the membership rates and benefits are on the SCB website here
(https://conbio.org/membership/become-a-member), and there are reduced
rates for students and members from developing countries. Currently the
CRWG only has provisional status, so once you join SCB (or if you are
already a member) you will have to send your SCB ID number to either Fraser
(f.a.hartley at gmail.com) or Dominique (dominique.pelletier at ifremer.fr ) for
them to add you to the membership list. If you are interested in joining,
we would like to know a little more about you:

- do you think of yourself as a practitioner, a scientist, a policy maker,
something else or a combination?

- are you a student?

- where do you work ?

- can we make this information available to the group?

We would also welcome suggestions for other activities the working group
could undertake, and let us know if you would be interested in helping with
any of these. Further, we will need to elect a governing board for the
working group, and if you wish to be involved please note your interest. We
will be holding elections later this year.

Many thanks for your time reading this long email,


Dominique Pelletier and Fraser Januchowski-Hartley



Dominique is a senior scientist at the French Institute for the
Exploitation of the Sea, currently based in Nouméa, New Caledonia. She was
trained as a modeler and biostatistician in the field of marine ecology.
She has been working on Marine Protected Areas for more than 15 years. She
has led a number of modeling projects and multidisciplinary projects to
address the issue of MPA management effectiveness. Her present project is
funded by managers of MPA and World Heritage sites in New Caledonia, and is
based on underwater video, and collection of data on lagoon uses and
pressures for assessment.


Fraser is currently a post-doctoral researcher at the Institut de Recherche
pour le Développement based at the University of Montpellier. His
background is in coral reef fish ecology, and is currently working on coral
reefs as a socio-ecological system, with his main goals being to identify
both how human use impacts reef health, and within this context how
provision of ecosystem services can be maintained to both benefit humans
and ensure the long-term future of coral reefs.

-- 
Fraser Januchowski-Hartley, PhD
UMR 248 MARBEC | Université de Montpellier 2 | 34095 Montpellier Cedex
| France
UMR 250 ENTROPIE | Centre IRD de Noumea, BP A5 | 98848 Noumea cedex | New
Caledonia
Email: f.a.hartley at gmail.com <f.hartley at exeter.ac.uk>
Skype: fraser.hartley
Phone: +33 (0) 6.59.72.75.90