The Annual Meeting 2017 of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) Asia-Pacific Chapter came to a successful end on March 28, marked by the announcement of Dr. Alice Hughes of Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) as chairwoman of ATBC AP 2018.

   The general theme of the annual meeting is “The past, present, and future of Asian biodiversity”.

Over 300 tropical biologists and conservation scientists from 37 countries and regions gathered together at Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG) during March 25-28 to share their views on regional conservation and showcase the latest theories on the origin of the Asia-Pacific region's extraordinary diversity.

 Five renowned scholars like Antony Lynam, chaiman of ATBC-AP, Bob Spicer, Emeritus Professor of Earth Sciences at the Open University, UK were invited to give plenary lectures. They talked about “Conservation practice: the importance of science, security and serendipity”, “Community based approach towards the conservation of China’s biodiversity”, “Tibet, the Himalaya, Asian monsoons and biodiversity – are they related?”, “Co-existence of human and wildlife in China: where and how?”, and “Asking ecological questions at community level” respectively.                                                             

In total, 148 lectures have been delivered on four major topics: patterns and processes of biodiversity, biogeography and evolution of Southeast Asian biodiversity, addressing the threats to Southeast Asian biodiversity, and sustainable use and production of natural resources.

 To encourage early career tropical biologists and students, the meeting also gave prizes to outstanding oral presentations and poster presentations.

 The oral presentation entitled “Reorganization of taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic ant biodiversity after conversion to rubber plantation” by LIU Cong from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University won the first prize. Ada Chornelia of XTBG won honor of best poster presentation.

  Prof. Chen Jin, director of XTBG, conferred honor certificates to winners of oral and poster presentations by early career scientists and students.

At the closing ceremony, it’s announced that the annual meeting 2018 will be held in Kuching in Malaysia and Alice Hughes will serve as chairwoman of ATBC Asia-Pacific Chapter 2018.

Interactions between lecturers and audience.