ESUG General Meetings

Our 2019 General Meeting was central to a programme arranged during 23-25 April with the group on Sustainable Use & Management of Ecosystems in IUCN's Commission on Ecosystem Management. The meetings, for which a full report is available, were kindly arranged by Dr Viktor Šegrt and attracted 30 participants from all six non-polar continents. During the first session we were privileged to host His Excellency Andrew Dalgleish, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to the Republic of Croatia, who kindly launched the Naturalliance.org multilingual network for global with local communication on conservation through sustainable use. 

 

Participants in the opening session also enjoyed a presentation by Dr Angela Andrade, the Chair of IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management. Further talks showcased the Perdixnet project and other material on restoring farmland ecosystems, considered the conservation of aquatic ecosystems through angling, looked at opportunities for conservation networking through ecotourism, especially in Croatia, and enjoyed a presentation on a new network for falconry and conservation in the Americas. 

 

On Wednesday 24 April there were also break-out sessions on the farming, aquatic and tourism topics introduced on the first day, and to consider opportunities to network for managing mammals by rural communities. Training to use the networking software was provided by its creator, Nick Casey of Anatrack.  

 

 

Dr David Scallan had very kindly arranged for the 2015 ESUG General Meeting to be in the offices of the Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation of the EU, starting with a sandwich lunch for members at 13.00. Members were welcomed by Ludwig Willnegger, Secretary General of FACE, who noted that this would be the last of ESUG's four meetings at 82 Rue Frederick Pelletier, because FACE was due to move on 1 June to 205 rue Belliard. Full details of the meeting are in the draft Minutes, which you can download and follow links to all the documents associated with the meeting.

 

When the General Meeting ended at 17.00, members travelled to a reception to launch the Perdixnet Portal at the Bozar Gallery of Fine Arts in Brussels (see photograph). They were guests of the International Association for Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey, for which ESUG built the new portal in 18 languages.

A General Meeting was held on 24 June 2015 at the Research Institute of Wildlife Ecology, University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna. Thanks to the generosity of Professors Arnold and Ruf at the Institure, and local logistics by our member Prof Fritz Reimoser, this was the 3rd ESUSG meeting at FIWI, with the Hotel Schloss Wilhelminenberg conveniently just across Savoyenstrasse together with comfortable and inexpensive alternative lodging in a hostel. Members and observers came from Brazil, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, the UK, Ukraine and of course Austria, including the Austrian government.

 

The highlights of ESUG’s meeting were its decision to confirm the name European Sustainable Use Group, as a proud reflection of its origin, and to open its doors to members from all over the world. This makes ESUG a suitable support organisation for both the Sustainable Use and Livelihoods (SULi) specialist group of IUCN, and the thematic group for Sustainable Use and Management of Ecosystems (SUME) which joined ESUG for an inaugural meeting on 23 June. ESUG also now recognises its exceptional network of Country Coordinators in the statutes, and agreed for Committee to work on a new Working Group structure and licensing for its portal operations. Minutes download on the right.