Only three months remain until the symposium in Goa. Preparations are in full swing, and we currently have over 700 registrations! Thank you all for your enthusiasm and support.

Programme Schedule:

The main symposium will be held between the 27th and 29th of April at the Kala Academy in Panaji, Goa. We have scheduled about 400 abstracts distributed over several oral, speed and poster sessions.

Workshops and Regional Meetings

A host of workshops and regional meetings are scheduled for the 24th – 26th and 30th of April. The workshops lined up include: Stable Isotopes, Marine Invasive Species, Satellite Telemetry and Turtle Rehabilitation. A statistics workshop is also planned. Regional meetings include: Africa regional meeting, Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia regional meeting, LatinAmerica meeting (Retomala) and Mediterranean meeting. In addition, the IUCN / MSTG will hold its annual meeting on the 30th of April.

Special This Year

Special to the Goa symposium is a Fisheries Forum, scheduled for the 25th of April, which seeks to provide a platform for discussion of fisheries, livelihoods, natural resource management and conservation. Also planned as part of the Fisheries Forum is an photographic exhibition of communities, craft and gear.

A special South Asia Mini-Symposium is scheduled for the 26th of April. This regional meeting will bring together conservation groups and others from within the region to help strengthen networks and address issues that are of common interest to the region.

Social Events

Don’t miss out on the exciting social events planned for this year’s symposium. You can sign up for the Welcome Event and Farewell Banquet on the registration website (http://iconferences.seaturtle. org).

Auction

The auction is an exciting symposium tradition that provides endless entertainment each year, but also helps us raise money towards travel for next year’s symposium. Do bring all things turtle and turtle-like that can be sold at ridiculous prices for a good cause.

To know more about these events, log on to our website.

Travel Related Information:

For those of you who are traveling from outside India, do make sure that you have applied for a visa well in advance. To help easy processing of visas for participants, we are collecting details which will be forwarded to the Embassy / Indian mission in your country. Do write to us if you have not already been contacted by our coordinators. More details about visa related procedures and travel is available on our website.

You can book rooms online through our appointed travel agency ICE-India. Details are available on the website. A list of low budget accommodation is also now available on our website. Book now to avail of the early bird rates that are on offer to symposium participants.

You may also use the discussion forum on seaturtle. org to find room partners if you are traveling alone, and other information that you may need.

If you are a travel grant applicant and have not heard with regard to your travel grant, please contact youregionaltravelchairimmediately.Travelgrant recipients will be intimated about the mode of payment and related details in a separate email in April, 2010.

Group tours

Group tours are currently being planned by the symposium travel and tour partners. Information on this will be shortly available on our website. You mayalsousethediscussionforumonseaturtle.org to find travel partners, and other information that you may need.

Registration:

If you have not already registered for the symposium, you may do so online at http:// iconferences.seaturtle.org. The early bird registration fee is no longer available; the current registration fees are:

High income: $ 230
Regular income: $ 160
Student / low income / participants from developing countries: $ 60

Vendor and Exhibition Tables:

If you would like to purchase a vendor table, please make sure you register online and indicate the number of tables you would like to purchase. Our vendor coordinator will be in touch with you for further details. In case of any queries or information needed, do feel free to write to Vijitha Pereira at vijitha@hostindiaevents.com.

Support for the Symposium

Support for the symposium has been received from many donors and individuals, but we still have a long way to go. We encourage individuals and donors to contribute to the symposium. Please contact us for further details.

More Information

Do remember to visit the website http://iconferences.seaturtle.org and http://india.seaturtle.org/symposium2010 for the latest news and updates about the symposium.

For general queries and inputs, write to our symposium coordinator, Seema Shenoy at seemashenoy83@gmail.com.

I look forward to seeing you all in Goa!