ICSU ROAP SPG on Ecosystem Change Meets in Kuala Lumpur

The ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific Science Planning Group (SPG) on Ecosystem Change met in Kuala Lumpur on 16 and 17 October 2008. The Group is chaired by Dr Doris Capitrano, Senior Fellow, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines. Present were Distinguished Professor Kamaljit Bawa, President of the Ashoka Trust for Research on Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Professor Lu Yonglong of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Associate Professor Toshimori Takahasi of Utsunomiya University, Japan, Professor Muhamad Awang of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, Ms Tran Thi Le Anh the Deputy Director, Integrated Coastal Zone,Marine and River Basin Management Division, Vietnam Environment Protection Agency (VEPA), and Professor Mohd Nordin Hasan, Director of ICSU ROAP. Professor Thomas Elmqvist of Stockholm University was unable to attend. The Group discussed inter alia plans for enhancing research on ecosystem change in Asia and the Pacific region, and how to make more effective use of knowledge about ecosystems in the interface between science and society towards achieving a more sustainable and equitable development.