Mongolia
hosts an unique range of ecosystems from the taiga to the desert, and
its large areas of more or less unspoiled nature attract the
attention of the national and international conservation community.
Despite the vast dimensions of the country, shifts in agricultural
methods, deployment of pesticides, unsustainable forest management,
mining, illegal hunting and pest control, human-caused fires and huge
infrastructure projects have triggered increasingly pronounced
changes in the Mongolian ecosystems. The impact of global land use
and climate change puts new threats to Mongolian biodiversity and
also poses new questions to the scientific community.
Mongolian
and German scientists, together with colleagues from other countries,
have strongly contributed to a better knowledge of the fauna and
flora of Central Asia. Commemorating the 50th anniversary of the
joint “Mongolian-German Biological Expeditions” it is now
time to look back at the achievements that were made, and
simultaneously envisage those new cooperations that are needed to
face the new challenges.
The
Martin-Luther-University of Halle, in conjunction with the
Franckeschen Stiftungen of Halle, has a long tradition in the
exploration of Siberia and Central Asia. Several well known explorers
of the 18th century were once associated with the University of
Halle, among them Georg Wilhelm Steller and Peter Simon Pallas. These
special relationships to Central Asia have continued until today. The
University of Halle, in cooperation with other leading biodiversity
institutions of Germany, therefore invites you to an international
symposium on “Biodiversity Research in Mongolia”,
celebrating 50 years of cooperation between Germany and Mongolia in
this field. The meeting is to be held end of March 2012.
A
first cooperation agreement was signed by the Academy of Sciences of
the GDR and Mongolia in 1962, following an initiative of the former
Institute of Crop Plant Research in Gatersleben, Germany. Employees
of the University of Halle were asked to join the first large-scale
expedition, leading to a cooperation contract between the
universities of Halle and Ulaanbaatar in 1967. Since then the
cooperation proved to be very successful, not only in terms of
scientific output but also with respect to education and teaching
programs on both sides: more than 70 Mongolian scientists received a
degree from Halle University. These graduates are now found in the
top positions in Mongolia. The expedition members published more than
300 scientific papers, enhancing our knowledge on the ecosystems of
Central Asia extremely. German scientists had a leading role in the
establishment of large protected areas in Central Asia. The
cooperation was joined by additional German universities (i.e.
Göttingen, Greifswald, Hamburg, Marburg, Osnabrück, Kassel)
research institutes, and free-lance scientists after 1990, which were
generously supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische
/ Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the German Science Foundation
(DFG) and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
The
symposium is therefore also thought to be a scientific-strategic as
well as political strategic event which we would like using to
strengthen our communal partnerships, projects and collegial
friendships for the next decade, with the aim of understanding the
Mongolian ecosystems even better and conserving these unique habitats
for future generations.
For
more information and Call for Papers
(oral talks/posters;deadline
for submission of abstracts [in English]: 31 December 2011) please
download the 1st Circular.
Downloads:
1stCircular International Symposium in Halle/Saale 25-29 March 2012“Biodiversity Research in Mongolia (PDF, 642 kb)
applicationform symposium (Word, 27 kb)
applicationform hotel (Word, 27 kb)
No comments:
Post a Comment