Mission and themes
Words of welcome
by Prof. Dr. Paulo Teixeira
and Prof. Dr. Paulo Speller
Dear Professionals and Students in Wetland Science, Natural Resource Management, Water Policy and Nature Conservation,
On behalf of the Federal University of Mato Grosso and the Pantanal Research Centre (CPP), we have the pleasure and honor to invite you to attend the 8th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil, to take place from July, 2008. This is the first conference of its kind in South America, a subcontinent with a large variety of wetlands that cover about 15% of its land surface. These wetlands have a great importance for the water balance of the different ecosystems, their biodiversity and multiple benefits for the human population.
Increasing environmental pressures on the integrity of ecosystems because of a growing human population, rapidly rising economic development, and cross-country development initiatives result in accumulating negative impacts on the wetlands and cause a rising concern of the scientific community, local population and the political sector. However, none of the South American countries has a specific policy for the sustainable management of wetlands and their resources yet. The development of tools for wise use and conservation of the different wetland types and their resources is an urgent task of our times.
The recent discussion about the consequences of global climate change indicate dramatic effects in the hydrological cycle on all continents and stress the importance of studies on the role of wetlands in this context. Negative side-effects on wetlands caused by the expansion of agro-industries to increase the production of biofuels can be anticipated and have to be mitigated by sustainable management.
In the last decades, South American universities have provided new insights in tropical wetland research and management. However, we feel that the intensification of exchange with the international scientific community is urgently needed to face the new challenges. The 8th INTECOL International Wetland Conference will provide a platform for scientists to discuss and exchange results of their research on wetland ecology. We hope that this conference in Cuiabá will also initiate an intensive discussion about the transfer of scientific results into national policies of South American countries.
The organizing committee will do its very best to make your stay in Cuiabá as pleasant as possible, to provide you with detailed information about the Pantanal and its ecological settings during the excursions and to guarantee a high-level scientific conference.
We want to express our thanks to the organizer of the 7th Intecol wetland conference, Prof. Dr. Jos T. A. Verheuven to use the scheme of his conference homepage as a basis for our homepage.
Organization:
Information:
Centro de Pesquisa do Pantanal
Av. Fernando Correa da Costa,
Campus da UFMT – Bloco CCBSIII
Sala 210/213 – 1º Andar
CEP: 78060-900
Cuiabá - Mato Grosso - Brasil
Tel: +55 65 3615 8285
www.cppantanal.org.br
8thintecol@cppantanal.org.br
Photos: Izan Petterle
www.izanpetterle.com
