Dear Colleagues, We are pleased to invite you to the XVth International Conference of the Society for Human Ecology to be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, October 4-7, 2007. There will be a session about 'Contributions of fishermens local ecological knowledge and scientific research to marine mammal conservation' as detailed below. For more information about the conference and sessions, please check the link: http://www.societyforhumanecology.org/SHEXV.html SESSION I Indigenous / Local knowledge & Sustainability 1.6. Contributions of fishermens local ecological knowledge and scientific research to marine mammal conservation (S. Siciliano & S. Pacheco /ENSP/DENSP/FIOCRUZ & UNICAMP/FIFO/Inst. Terra & Mar, Brazil) Contact: sal@ensp.fiocruz.br or shirleypacheco@yahoo.com The local ecological knowledge (LEK) of fishermen has been applied in several conservation policies and practices related to fishery management around the world. Regarding marine mammals, studies addressing fishermens knowledge are still scarce. However, they have shown that in most cases their LEK is in high accordance with data obtained from scientific research. Most marine mammal species are poorly known. Some of these species are strongly affected by interactions with fishing gear, which makes fishermens LEK and cooperation greatly valuable for their conservation. For many threatened species time may be running out and since research on their biology are of long-term duration and generally expensive, the interface between fishermens LEK and scientific research should be widely explored to allow for expeditious decisions in favor of the protection and conservation of marine mammal species. Hope to see you there! Shirley Pacheco Shirley Pacheco de Souza Diretora Executiva - Instituto Terra & Mar Projeto SOS Mamíferos Marinhos PPG - Ecologia - UNICAMP Tel.: (12) 3862-1099 / 9144-6100 www.terraemar.org --------------------------------- Sick sense of humor? Visit Yahoo! TV's Comedy with an Edge to see what's on, when.