Please see announcement below: FIRST CALL FOR PROPOSALS THE 1ST INTERNATIONAL MARINE CONSERVATION THINK TANK 25-28 November 2011 The Marine Section will be hosting a special set of marine themed focus groups, designed to address specific problems and hopefully come up with concrete plans and solutions, on marine conservation issues of special concern for the southern hemisphere. The meetings are being planned to be held immediately prior to the SCB global meeting in Christchurch, New Zealand. Workshop themes include: Antarctic issues Reefs in crisis MPA effectiveness Deep sea ecosystems Marine wildlife tourism High seas governance Small, isolated populations Sustainable fisheries We are currently looking for short (one page maximum) proposals for 1-3 day sessions under these themes or other themes directly relevant to marine conservation in New Zealand and the Oceania region. Proposals should be for projects that have a high conservation impact with defined and substantial outputs (e.g. publications, reports, legal text, policy briefs, white papers or action plans). Venues and audiovisual materials will be provided for these meetings. Focus group leaders will be requested to present their findings during a special session during the International Congress for Conservation Biology which immediately follows the Think Tank (28 November to 2 December). For more details International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB) visit: http://www.conbio.org/Activities/Meetings/2011/ Proposals will be peer-reviewed and due to limited sessions available, the final selection will be highly competitive. Registration for the Think Tank will be via the ICCB website. Focus group attendance will be limited to the number of spots available (40) in each session, with priority given to experts identified in session proposals. Proposals should identify focus group leader(s) and potential panel leaders (if valid) that have confirmed attendance. (NOTE to US participants- Thanksgiving in 2011 falls on Thursday 24th November, so we highly recommend making the most of the gorgeous scenery and wildlife of New Zealand and take a Thanksgiving vacation in New Zealand – for details about what Christchurch has to offer for single or family vacations see: http://www.nzescape.com/christchurch-attractions.html). More links will also be available soon on the travel section of the ICCB webpage. Please send your proposals to: imccprogram@conbio.org by 11 December 2010 Carolyn Lundquist, John Cigliano, Chris Parsons & Carol Scarpaci IMC Think Tank steering committee