Each Symposium will focus on specific contemporary issues, but the primary and secondary focal areas are listed below. Special Sessions for 2023 will be included in the list when they are finalised. Spotlight Sessions are also included in the list and are highlighted in green with a live link to their webpage.
Protected and Conserved Areas
- Protected Area Management Effectiveness
- Biodiversity Stewardship
- Delineation and Management of Buffer Zones/Zone of Influence
- Transboundary Conservation
- Land Restitution and Co-Management of Protected Areas
- Integration of Cultural Heritage and Biodiversity Management
- Eco-Tourism
- Community-Based Conservation
Species Conservation
- Threatened Species Conservation
- Spotlight Session: Plant Conservation
- Spotlight Session: Conservation Genetics
- Sustainable Resource Use
- Advances in Monitoring and Surveillance
Landscape and Ecosystem Conservation
- Systematic Conservation Planning
- Land-Use Planning
- Securing Critical Biodiversity Areas
- Spotlight Session: Ecosystem Restoration
- Biodiversity Economy
- Ecosystem Goods and Services and Ecological Infrastructure
- Ecological and Evolutionary Processes
Conservation Tools
- Spotlight Session: Innovative Technology and Data Management
- Legal, Policy and Ethical Issues
- Biodiversity-Related Multilateral Environmental Agreements
- Sustainable Conservation Financing
- Resource Economics
Environmental Education and Awareness
- Effective Communication
- Interpretation
- Role of Social Media in Conserving Biodiversity
- Citizen Science
Global Change Conservation
- Conserving in the Face of Global Change
- Impacts of the COVID and other Pandemics on Conservation
Threats to Biodiversity
- Spotlight Session: Biological Invasions
- Climate Change
- Land- and Marine-Use Changes (including but not limited to mining activities)
- Pollution (including but not limited to plastics, herbicides, pesticides, effluents from urban areas, mining, and industry)
- Exploitation and Unsustainable Resource Use
- Wildlife Crime