8th Annual SEAZA Conference Communiqué 1-3 November, 1999 (Vietnam) The Eighth Annual Conference of SEAZA was hosted by the Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens. The conference theme was "Coping with Crisis - Zoos in the next Millennium." The conference was officially opened at the Continental Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City, on 1 November 1999 at 8:30 am by the Honorable Vu Hung Viet, Vice Chair of the Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, in the presence of Mr. Nguyen Quoc Thang, Director of the Saigon Zoo Bt Botanical Gardens, SEAZA President Bernard Harrison, members of the SEAZA Executive Board, Dr. Wong Hon Mun of Jurong BirdPark, Singapore, Mr. Lukito Daryadi of Indonesian Zoological Parks Association, Indonesia, Dr. Kevin Lazarus of Taiping Zoo, Malaysia. The conference was attended by 114 participants from the following 18 countries and territories: Australia, Cambodia, China, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Vietnam. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Thang, Director of the Saigon Zoo 6~ Botanical Gardens and chair of the Organizing Committee extended a warm welcome to all the participants. He said that the theme "Coping with crisis - Zoos in the new millennium" was appropriately chosen so that toes could share how they dealt with crises and pressures they faced. He was glad to announce that more than 100 delegates from 17 countries and territories have registered for the conference. As one of the first member countries that attended the meeting in Bogor in October 1990 which gave birth to the official name of SEAZA, he was proud and honored to host the 8th SEAZA Conference in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. In his Welcome Address, Mr. Vu Hung Viet, Vice Chair of the Peoples Committee of Ho Chi Minh City elaborated on the diversity of fauna and flora in Vietnam with 7000 plant species, 275 mammal species, 825 bird species, 180 reptile species, 80 frog species, 471 freshwater fish species and more than 2000 marine fish species. 3 new species of mammals were also discovered within the past 10 years. The Government of Vietnam has also set up a master plan of 87 National parks and nature reserves, historical and cultural sites totaling nearly one million hectares. He also announced that a new zoological and botanical garden of 300 hectares, located 20 km from the city center, is being planned. The President of SEAZA also extended a welcome to all the participants and informed the delegates that while the conference was not held last year due to the regional economic situation, in November 1998, twenty nine delegates attended a SEAZA's Future 2005 Workshop in Bangkok, kindly hosted by the Zoological Parks Organization of Thailand. The President said that this year's conference theme, "Coping with crisis - Zoos in the new millennium." was first proposed during a time of pessimism in the region, but it now appeared that the economy in the region was recovering. The number of papers to be presented reflected a willingness and eagerness to share expertise and experiences regionally. Time would also be spent on working groups, one of which would be facilitated by Dr. Ulysses Seal, Chairman of the Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (CBSG). He reported on the recent World Zoo Organization meeting in Pretoria, South Africa, sharing points made by their keynote speaker, Dr. Bill Conway. Dr. Conway noted that with ever increasing habitat destruction and the accompanying and alarming rate of species loss, there is a need for the zoo world to be far more proactive about environmental conservation. CBSG was commissioned to conduct a series of workshops to establish in-situ projects in the three regions with the current greatest biodiversity - Asia, South America and Africa. Support for these projects should become a part of the zoo world's twenty first-century vision. Mr. Harrison closed with thanks to the hosts for their hard work and reminded the conference participants of the long-standing tradition of performing a skit or song during the closing dinner. During the scientific sessions, 29 papers were presented covering four major themes, namely Biodiversity, Conservation and Education, Health and Husbandry, Management and Exhibits. Seven additional papers that were not presented due to time constraints were included in the conference proceedings. Workshop sessions were also carried out. There were five workshop groups led by chairpersons as follows:- Conservation Ulysses Seal Marketing Campaigns Jansen Manansang Welfare & Ethics Agoramoorthy Communications Kevin Lazarus Training Tan Kit Sun The Conference program included a visit to Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens and visit to Cu Chi Tunnels, kindly hosted by Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens. The Agenda for the General Assembly sessions covered the following: (1) SEAZA President's report, (2) Secretary's financial report, (3) Fundraising and Constitution & By Laws Committee Chairman's report, (4) Ethics & Welfare Committee Chairman's report, (5) Communications Committee Chairman's report, (6) Education Committee Chairman's report, Conservation Committee Chairman's report and studbook keepers' presentation, (8) Training Committee Chairman's report, (9) A presentation by the Philippines representative on hosting the SEAZA conference in Y2000, (10) Re-election and election of the Executive Board and (11) a call for Y2000's conference theme. The following Executive Board Members were unanimously re-elected and elected by the voting member countries or territories: President Bernard Harrison Vice-President and Chair (Communications) Kevin Lazarus Secretary Wong Hon Mun Immediate Past President General D. Ashari Chair (Constitution 8i Bylaws and Fund-raising) Richard Tenaza Chair (Conservation Education) Suzanne Gendron Chair (Welfare & Ethics) G. Agoramoorthy Chair (Conservation) Subash Chandran Chair (Training) Tan Kit Sun Chair (Conference Programme) Pisit na Patalung Member Lukito Daryadi Member Idris Abdul Malik Member Nguyen Quoc Thang The members approved the proposed amendment to the Bylaws of SEAZA in Article 1 Section 1 which originally read: "The affairs of SEAZA shall be managed by an Executive Board elected at a meeting of the General Assembly. The Executive Board consists of nine (9) members. The members shall be a President, Vice-President, Immediate Past President, Secretary, two (2) members at large, and the Chairs of the three standing committees. They will be at least three (3) different member countries with voting representation in SEAZA. Unless he declines, the Vice- President shall be elected as the next President. Executive Board members serve terms of three (3) years from their election. On expiry of the office, the member may stand for re-election. " The following was the proposed change:- "The affairs of SEAZA shall be managed by an Executive Board elected at a meeting of the General Assembly. The members shall be a President, Vice-President, Immediate Past President, Secretary and the Chairs of standing committees. They will be at least three (3) different member countries with voting representation in SEAZA. Unless he declines, the Vice-President shall be elected as the next President. Executive Board members serve terms of three (3) years from their election. On expiry of the office, the member may stand for re-election." The Welcome Dinner was hosted by the Department of Communications and Public Works of Ho Chi Minh City. A sumptuous spread of Vietnamese food was prepared for the delegates who were also entertained by a group of musicians and singers. The highlight was an extraordinary performance on a traditional bamboo musical instrument. 0n the last day of the Conference, the Philippine delegate gave a short presentation to the members regarding Philippine's hosting of next year's conference at Iloilo. It was tentatively scheduled for the first week of December, 2000. The theme for next year's conference is "SEAZA 2005 Re-visited." CBSG would be planning a workshop, on behalf of SEAZA, to identify the important endangered animal species in the region. This workshop is scheduled to be held in June or July 2000. Khao Kheow Open Zoo , Thailand offered to host the work shop. Pisit proposed that we create a World Zoo Day. The President would take up the idea with WZO and the other regional zoo associations. The Closing Dinner was hosted by the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City on a boat. The delegates enjoyed tremendously the traditional Vietnamese music and performances, not to mention the delicious food. Each SEAZA member country also put up entertaining skits and other performances that put a nice touch to the grand finale of a wonderful conference. There were two optional post-conference tours. One was to Cuc Phong Endangered Primates Rescue Center and the other was to Tram Chin Nature Reserve with its waterfowl and cranes.