Forestry Symposium

The Fifth Natural Forests and Woodlands Symposium

The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) is proud to announce the Fifth Natural Forests and Woodlands Symposium. The Symposium is to be held from 10 – 14 April 2011 atThe Richards Hotel, Richards bay, Kwazulu-Natal , South Africa . The symposium will be hosted by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The theme for the Fifth Natural Forests and Woodlands Symposium will be “Towards sustainable natural resource management in a changing environment”.

 The need to hold a symposium focussing on natural forests and woodlands was identified at the National Conference for Conservation Forestry held in October 1997. To date the Natural Forests and Woodlands Symposium has been hosted a total of four times. By presenting these series of symposia, the Department endeavours to promote the sustainable use and management of natural forests and woodland resources.

The Fifth Natural Forests and Woodlands Symposium will build on the successes of the previous symposia. The Symposium will consist of 5 main sessions with the following main themes:NaturalForests;Woodlands;Climate Change and Sustainable Natural Resource Management;Natural Forest and Woodland ProtectionandSocio-Economic aspects. In addition to the scientific programme, the Symposium will include a full dayfield excursion.

The Department regards this Symposium of critical importance to the sector and the sustainable management of our natural resources. The Symposium furthermore will provide an opportunity further common understanding about the key subject areas of the symposium and to facilitate communication among participants. The Symposium will also expose young scientists, researchers and learners to the sector and motivate them to commit to the sector and decrease (address) the current lack of capacity and skills.

Registration

The registration fee will be ZAR 990.00 per person for the symposium and field excursion and ZAR 750.00 per person for the symposium only. Student registration fee will be ZAR 650.00 per person for the symposium and field excursion and ZAR 550.00 per person for the symposium only. The fees include teas/coffee, lunches, all three social functions, programmes, abstract booklet and a copy of the conference proceeding. Registration fees are payable by means of bank deposit.

Banking details:

Bank: Standard Bank 
Branch: Arcadia 
Account no: 011278196 
Branch code: 010845 
Account type: Cheque

(please use delegate name as reference preceded by NFWS )

Delegates are requested to complete the Registration form and return the form to the Symposium Organiser no later than 15 November 2010. Registration forms can be submitted by fax or e-mail to:

E-mail: ronaldh@daff.gov.za 
Fax: +27 12 336 6656

Acknowledgement of receipt of registration forms and an invoice will be forwarded within 5 working days. No refund of registration fee will be considered after 1 January 2011

Call for papers

Contribution are called for in the form of paper presentations of 25 minutes in duration (20 minutes for presentation and 5 min for discussion) and poster presentations in line with the symposium theme and sub-themes as indicated in the “Symposium Themes”.

Deadline for submissions of abstracts is 26 November 2010.

Paper and poster titles together with an abstract of 300 words should reach the Symposium Organiser by no later than 26 November 2010 in order to compile a programme for the final announcement. Abstracts should be submitted by e-mail to ronaldh@daff.gov.za . The authors of accepted abstracts will be notified by e-mail. Papers presented at the Symposium will be published in the Proceedings of the Symposium while the abstracts of the poster presentations will be published in the Proceedings.

Internet and E-mail facilities 
Internet and e-mail facilities will be available in the form of two desktop machines. However, free Wifi will be available in the entire relaxation for the duration of the symposium.

Medical facilities 
A medical practitioner will be on 24 hour call for any medical emergencies encountered.

Discussion groups 
The Symposium organisers are planning to facilitate a number of informal discussions groups. Please forward possible topics you would like to discuss during the informal discussion sessions to the Symposium Chair.

PLEASE NOTE

Due to programme constraints, applications for paper / poster presentations will be peer reviewed and evaluated. Authors will be informed of the acceptance of their submissions by end of October 2010. Due to facility constraints, registration for the Symposium will be accepted based on a first registered, first accepted.

For more information please feel free to contact the Symposium Chair, Dr. Ronald Heath at:

Phone: +27 12 336 6981 
Cell: +27 83 611 6946 
E-mail: ronaldh@daff.gov.za