Pacific Islands Species Forum
6th-8th July 2015
Suva, Fiji
Call for Submissions
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS is 31st May 2015
The second Pacific Islands Species Forum will be held from 6th- 8th July 2015. Building on the success of the
inaugural PISF held in 2012, this Forum aims to generate information that will be valuable for governments and
communities in conservation planning and species conservation efforts.
The Pacific Islands Species Forum will take the form of presentations and working group discussions.
Presentations
These may take the traditional form of orally presenting your achievements and research, or using video or
visual methods to keep the audience engaged. Time will be limited to 15 minutes presentation. Opportunities
for questions will be provided.
Working groups
Following related presentations, breakout sessions will provide an opportunity for sharing knowledge, exploring
areas for collaboration and providing inputs into regional recommendations for species conservation. The
sessions will be guided in order to enable consensus for identifying conservation actions and next steps – this
will feed into the draft regional Species Strategy.
Presentations are invited that address the following Objectives:
1) Knowledge and Research
 Identification of current species or organism-focused research projects, including how work is being
designed, funded, and implemented, and how data is being generated and stored
 Identification of critical vulnerable ecosystems, including cultural and agro-ecosystems, the
conservation and sustainable use of which is the foundation of species and genetic diversity
conservation in the Pacific Islands
2) Threats to our Pacific Island species
 Identification of major threats to species (e.g. trade and use, invasive species, habitat loss and
alteration), and challenges to our progress in conserving them
 Identification and prioritize the control and management of invasive alien species (IAS) that pose serious
threats to species in the Pacific Islands
3) Solutions for species conservation
 Examination of progress in meeting species-and ecosystem-related MEA commitments (with a focus on
CBD, CITES and CMS), and how to overcome challenges
 Identification of relevant (Pacific) biological and cultural approaches that can achieve successful species
conservation - including prioritization of research and conservation efforts with reference to Pacific
Island species-level questions and approaches to resource custodianship
 Identification of community-based and co-management options for enhancing local awareness of
species conservation in the Pacific
Expected outcomes of the Pacific Island Species Forum
 Integration of species-specific information to government action plans, MEA commitments (Aichi
Targets, CITES, CMS), and regional species policies with particular emphasis on enhancing communitybased species conservation.
 Input to a roadmap for species conservation/species strategy for the region from 2016-2020 – in line
with the Framework for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas in the Pacific Islands region 20142020 strategy
 Guidelines for placing species-specific conservation issues in the context of broader socio-ecological
systems across local, regional, and pan-Pacific scales
 Provide input into regional and national IAS management and biosecurity plans
 Data and information available to add to regional databases and input to species recovery plans
 Peer-reviewed articles
 Raising awareness about species, ecosystems and their conservation needs beyond the scientific and
conservation community
 Commitment to actions from organizations/individuals
Side events
Organizations and individuals are invited to host lunch time or evening side events. These may be aimed at
releasing publications, delivery of a new action plan or strategy, or making a specific announcement related to
species work that your organization has been involved in. If you are interested in hosting a side event, please
contact IUCN directly.
All submissions should describe original conservation work, including research methods and techniques, results,
implications and future actions and directions.
We encourage interested attendees to submit abstracts that relate to the above themes.
Please complete the following form and return to helen.pippard@iucn.org by 31st MAY 2015
TITLE of submission
TYPE of submission
Please highlight
 PRESENTATION
 SIDE EVENT
THEME
Please highlight
 (1) Knowledge and research
 (2) Threats
 (3) Solutions
AUTHORS and affiliations
ABSTRACT
(maximum 250 words)