New Caledonia to host the first Oceania seabird symposium in 2024

New Caledonia's capital, Noumea (pictured), will host the very first Oceania seabird symposium in 2024, photograph by Sarah Macmillan (cc)

The inaugural Oceania seabird symposium, 2024 Oceania Seabirds: talking, listening & hands-on, will be held in New Caledonia next year over 23 – 26 September. 

Recognised as a French overseas territory, New Caledonia is located in the Pacific Ocean approximately 1200 kilometres off the east coast of Australia and has a population of just over 270,000. It comprises of the main island of Grande Terre, the four Loyalty Islands (Ouvéa, Lifou, Tiga and Maré), the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines and a number of remote islands. 

The Pacific Community (SPC) Conference Centre in the capital, Noumea, is the venue for the event, co-hosted by, The Pacific Community (SPC), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement – France (IRD Noumea), Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) and the World Seabird Union (WSU).

The symposium's mission is to:

• "Connect government policy makers, seabird conservation practitioners and scientists, land managers and communities from all Pacific Island countries and territories working with seabirds
• Increase our collective understanding of the value of seabirds to Pacific economies and communities including cultural values
• Highlight conservation and scientific initiatives currently underway or planned, to the benefit of region’s seabirds, their islands, and the seas where they occur and to the people of Oceania"

Information on the conference programme and schedule, abstract submission and student and participation support is yet to be released by organisers but will be available soon at the event website, https://oceaniaseabirdsymposium2024.com/.

To register your interest in attending, complete the expression of interest form, here.

29 November 2023