Virtual Global Biodiversity Forum - Call for Participation

[James Birchler]

Please add your voice to Virtual Global Biodiversity Forum (VGBF),
slated
to run from June 9 through July 5 in conjunction with the 14th Global
Biodiversity Forum taking place 18-20 June in Montreal, Canada. VGBF can
be
accessed online at http://vgbf.geog.ucsb.edu as well as by email (see
below
for details on listserv signup procedure).

The GBF provides for an independent, open and strategic mechanism to
foster
analysis and unencumbered dialogue and debate among interested parties
to
address priority ecological, economic, institutional and social issues
related to the options for action to conserve biodiversity, and use
biological resources sustainably and equitably.  The purpose of VGBF is
to
complement existing GBF activities by making them available to a larger
number of participants for a longer period of time. VGBF offers people
throughout the world who cannot attend GBF gatherings the opportunity to

participate in discussion on biodiversity-related issues.

The 14th session of the Global Biodiversity Forum
(GBF14-Montreal/SBSTTA4)
will be convened in Montreal, Canada, from June 18-20, 1999, immediately

prior to the fourth meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity's
Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice
(SBSTTA4) in Montreal, 21-25 June 1999. GBF14-Montreal/SBSTTA4 will
focus on
the following themes:

1 - Building biodiversity into sectoral strategies and action plans

2 - Ecosystem approaches to the management of biodiversity in drylands

3 - Resolving the conundrum of scale in adaptive management - households
to
large landscapes

VGBF consists of a webforum linked with a set of email listservs: all
listserv conversations are mirrored to the webforum and vice versa.
This
design makes it possible for people with web access as well as people
with
only email access to participate.  The VGBF website and webforum can be
found at:

http://vgbf.geog.ucsb.edu/

Information and online forms for signing up for the webforum and any
VGBF
listserv are available at the website.  Alternatively, if you desire to
sign up directly for a listserv, please follow the instructions
immediately
below:

(1) Select a workshop of interest and choose the appropriate listserv.
There are three listservs, one for each workshop.  They are named
"VGBF14-n-List", where n is the number of your workshop of interest.
For
instance, the listserv that will carry discussions concerning building
biodiversity into sectoral strategies and action plans (Workshop 1) will
be
VGBF14-1-List.

(2) Send email to the VGBF List Requests address,
lists at vgbf.geog.ucsb.edu,
with the phrase "subscribe [name of list]" in the subject header or body
of
your message. Example:

        subscribe VGBF14-1-List

(3) You will receive an email confirmation shortly thereafter, which you

must reply to within 24 hours. This is to confirm that we have your
correct
email address.

VGBF is being developed by Jim Proctor of the University of California,
Santa Barbara in conjunction with the World Conservation Union (IUCN)
and
under the guidance of the GBF Steering Committee.  Please contact Dr.
Proctor (jproctor at geog.ucsb.edu) if you would like additional
information.