IMPACT 2012 - International Conference on Managing Protected Areas under Climate Change

Climate Change and anthropogenic activities are challenging European habitats and their management. Especially protected areas are confronted with the pressing need to monitor changes, adapt management strategies and consider flexible responses to future developments.
IMPACT sets out to meet the growing need for sharing knowledge and experiences in the field of biodiversity conservation and climate change. Taking a transdisciplinary perspective, the aim of the conference is to bring together researchers, conservation managers and decision-makers in the field of nature conservation. It provides a platform for dialogue to develop a better understanding of the complex impacts of climate change on biodiversity on local level and the means to adapt management in protected areas accordingly. We anticipate 150 international participants to enjoy two days of technical sessions, workshops, poster exhibits and social activities, and one day of excursions.
Topics:
Monitoring and modelling of climate-induced impacts
Assessing sensitivity to climate change
Actual and future management practices
Awareness raising and stakeholder involvement
Legal aspects and policy recommendations
Climate change and the development of robust adaptation strategies are the key challenges of conservation management of the future. Climate smart conservation requires continuous adaptation to changing climate and their ecological consequences. Inter- and transdisciplinary research on cross-cutting themes is needed to provide mutual learning between all actors and the development of effective strategies.
IMPACT will present good practice examples and share experience of putting adaptation strategies into action.
IMPACT will improve the integration of research outputs into conservation projects as well as the identification of unsolved problems and further research needs. It will efficiently help conservation managers today to make decisions about climate impacts of the future.
One of the conference aims is to found the association "Climate Change and Protected Areas". This association should serve as a sustainable network for transdisciplinary exchange of experts in this field.
Keynote Speaker
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Cramer, Mediterranean Institute for Biodiversity and Ecology (IMBE), Aix-en-Provence (France), Member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
Dr. Rob Jongman, Senior Researcher, Alterra, Wageningen (The Netherlands)
Sandor Csete, University of Pecs (Hungary)
Alejandro Iza, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Environmental Law Centre, Bonn (Germany)
Martin Sharman, European Commission, DG Research (Belgium, tentatively accepted)
Scientific Committee
Prof. Dr. Anca Sarbu, University of Bucharest (Romania)
Prof. Dr. Birgit Kleinschmidt, Technische Universität Berlin (Germany)
Prof. Dr. Georg Janauer, University of Vienna (Austria)
Prof. Dr. Mitja Kaligaric, University of Maribour (Slovenia)
Prof. Dr. Stefan Heiland, Technische Universität Berlin (Germany)
Dr. Fred Hattermann, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, (Germany)
Dr. Jadwiga Sienkiewicz, Environmental Protection Institute (Poland)
Dr. Juliane Albrecht, Leibniz Institute of Ecological and Regional Development, Dresden (Germany)
Dr. Katrin Vohland, Museum for Natural History, Berlin (Germany)
Dr. Marc Zebisch, EURAC, Bozen (Italy)
Dr. Marco Neubert, Leibniz Institute of Ecological and Regional Development, Dresden (Germany)
Dr. Michael Förster, Technische Universität Berlin (Germany)
Dr. Sven Rannow, Leibniz Institute of Ecological and Regional Development, Dresden (Germany)
Mateusz Grygoruk, Biebrza National Park (Poland)