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Biodiversity and Integrated Pest Management: Working Together
for a Sustainable Future

A conference in Manado, North Sulawesi, Indonesia
Conference: July 4–5, 2013, Sintesa Peninsula Hotel
Field trips: July 6–7, 2013
Cost: $150 (overseas participants) | $75 (overseas students, sponsors, Indonesian participants) | $25 (Indonesian students)
Event press release
Updated June 4, 2013

Submit an abstract

The abstract submission system closed on April 15. Conference organizers began to send out email notifications of acceptance decisions in late March.

Crested Black Macaque, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Photo: Merle Shepard

Conference description

Balancing biodiversity preservation with food production presents a challenge. If we are to survive as a species, food production is paramount. But the gradual destruction of forests, watersheds, and other natural habitats in order to produce that food could lead to the eventual demise of our natural resource wealth. Integrated Pest Management (IPM), an ecological approach to suppressing pest species, employs tactics that cause the least ecological disruption. There is a need and urgency for proponents of IPM and biodiversity to work together, but they have rarely been considered as partners for a sustainable future. This conference aims to bridge this divide by bringing together these two key groups.

The conference site, North Sulawesi, Indonesia, has long been appreciated for its great biodiversity. Alfred Russel Wallace, the famed 19th century British naturalist, spent considerable time in this region, collecting various kinds of insects and birds throughout the island of Sulawesi, and 2013 represents the 100th anniversary of his death. Many of his ideas on evolution and natural selection, which paralleled those of Charles Darwin, were crystallized from his observations of high speciation in this area.

Release of biocontrol agents, North Sulawesi, Indonesia.
Photo: Merle Shepard

Keynotes

Our featured speakers have changed.

We regret that M. S. Swaminathan and Tony Whitten will be unable to join us.

However, we are pleased to announce three new keynotes for the events. Jan van Tol of Naturalis Biodiversity Center in the Netherlands will speak on Alfred Russel Wallace's biological explorations of North Sulawesi. In addition, Carlo Fadda of Bioversity International and K. L. Heong of IRRI will be talking about the intersections of biodiversity and IPM.

Registration

The registration cost (listed above) includes snacks and lunch, transportation to/from the airport, and field trips. If you will be accompanied to the conference for meals by a non-participant, we kindly ask that you register that person at the $75 rate.

Registration and payment processing will be handled in-person at the conference site. The registration desk will be open in the foyer of the Sintesa Peninsula Hotel (the conference site) from July 2 to July 4. The registration fee may be paid in cash either in USD or IDR (1 USD= IDR 10,000).

Hotels

The conference will be held at the Sintesa Peninsula Hotel in Manado. Discounted rates will be available at nearby hotels, all of which are walking distance from the conference site. Local organizers will provide transportation to/from the airport and hotels if you provide them with your travel information; please email Dantje T. Sembel or Wiske Rotinsulu for assistance.

There is now a downloadable list of hotels and rates, featuring a map of the area and the conference site.

If you are unable to make arrangements for a hotel, local organizers can help. Please send your name, arrival and departure date and time, flight schedule, details for accommodation (standard, deluxe, etc.), and preferred hotel to Dantje T. Sembel or Wiske Rotinsulu. Hotel payment can be done in person upon arrival with cash or checks.

Field trips

While we are still organizing, we anticipate having field trips available to the following places: Tankoko Reserved Forest, a highland trip to Tomohom and around Lake Tondano, Bunaken coral reef, and Lembeh coral reef. Participants will likely be able to choose one field trip on each of the field trip days. We will be returning on each day to Manado, so you can arrange hotel accommodations in the same place throughout the conference and field trip days.

During registration, you may also sign up for field trips, and they will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. On field trip days, snacks and a light lunch will be provided at no extra charge.

Travel tips

If you are unfamiliar with travel to and from Indonesia, here are some recommendations for air travel. Participants can fly into to Manado directly from Singapore, and Silk Air/SQ flies to Manado. Flights are also available from Jakarta to Manado (direct or transit depending on time and airlines). Airlines we recommend checking with are Garuda, Lion Air (this airline has the most frequent flights), Batavia Air, Sriwijaya Air, and Merpati.

There will be a small medical clinic at the conference site in case you have any health-related questions during the conference and field trip days.

Contact us

If you have general questions about the conference, please contact B. Merle Shepard (Clemson), Dantje Sembel (Sam Ratulangi University, Indonesia), or R. Muniappan (Virginia Tech/IPM CRSP).

Organizers

B. Merle Shepard (Clemson), Dantje Sembel (Sam Ratulangi University), and R. Muniappan (Virginia Tech/IPM CRSP)