16th Annual SEAZA Conference Communiqué

 2-6 September, 2007 (Malaysia)
  1. The 16th Annual Conference of the South East Asian Zoos Association was held on 2-6 September 2007 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Hosted by Zoo Negara at the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC), a total of 153 participants registered for the conference. The following 15 countries and territories were represented: Australia, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States and Vietnam.

  2. On Sunday, 2 September, the SEAZA Executive Board met. Major issues discussed included:

    • Confirmation of Laos’ withdrawal as the 2008 conference venue and acceptance of Thailand (Khao Kheow Open Zoo) as the new venue.

    • Approval of a new policy requiring stating that all new institutional members, as well as any zoo applying to host the annual SEAZA conference, must submit to a welfare and ethics assessment before being approved as an ordinary institutional member or a conference venue.

    • Approval for the reduction of the Individual Associate Member fee from $150 to $100, and Institutional Associate members from $500 to $200.

    • The following Executive Board member changes were made:

      • Pao-Chung Chen (Taiwan), Sophon Dumnui (Thailand), Suzanne Gendron (Hong Kong), Phan Viet Lam (Vietnam), Jansen Manansang (Indonesia), Hon Mun Wong (Singapore) and Mohd Nawayai Yasak (Malaysia) elected to new terms on the Executive Board.

      • Jansen Manansang elected to a second term as President, Sophon Dumnui elected to second term as 1st Vice-President and Phan Viet Lam elected to first term as 2nd Vice-President.

      • Rahmat Shah designated as an Advisor to the SEAZA Executive Board.

      • G. Agoramoorthy and Richard Tenaza granted Honorary status on the SEAZA Executive Board.

  3. The 16th Annual Conference of SEAZA was officially opened on 3 September. The following speakers presented:

    • Dr. Mohamad Ngah, Chairman of the SEAZA 2007 Organizing Committee and Director of Zoo Negara. Spoke on the great effort by the Organizing Committee to make the conference happen, as well as the conference theme of “The Changing Faces of Zoos” addressing the challenge in front of zoos in having to be both a successful business and a conservation advocate at the same time.

    • Drs Jansen Manansang, President of SEAZA and Director of Taman Safari Indonesia. Spoke on the launch of the SEAZA Future 2015 strategy document (the association’s roadmap for the next 8 years), the upcoming partnership with ASEAN, as well as global issues discussed at this year’s CBSG and WAZA conferences including the amphibian crisis and the upcoming Year of the Frog, climate change’s impact on biodiversity, zoo sustainability and zoos in need. The President’s speech concluded with the traditional SEAZA cheer created by Honorary Founding President General D. Ashari: “SEA-ZA…SEA-ZA…SEAZA!”

    • Parliamentary Secretary of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Yang Berhormat Dato’ Sazmi Miah. Spoke of the government’s challenge in protecting Malaysia’s wildlife resources and how much valuable conservation information can be learned during the SEAZA conference as he discovered in a pre-meeting with President Manansang, Chairperson Agoramoorthy and others.

  4. Thirty-six (36) presentations were given in the following areas:

    • Conservation (Suzanne Gendron)

    • General Topics 1 (Dr. Mohamad Ngah)

    • General Topics 2 (Dr. Wong Hon Mun)

    • Health (Dr. Kevin Lazarus)

    • Husbandry (Bernard Harrison)

    • Zoo Management (Tan Kit-Sun)

  5. Four (4) Plenary sessions were presented focusing on the following topics:

    • “Policies on Wildlife Management and Conservation: Malaysian Perspective”

    • "The Welfare and Ethics on Wildlife Conservation and Management in South East Asia”

    • “Malaysian Experience on Wildlife Conservation and Management”

    • “Zoo, Wildlife Medicine and Surgery – An Update on Latest Practices and Technologies Applied”

  6. Five (5) group discussion workshops were held in the following areas:

    • Amphibian Crisis (Kevin Johnson)

    • Aquarium Committee (Pisit Na Patalung)

    • Conservation Committee (Drs Jansen Manansang)

    • Education Committee (Suzanne Gendron)

    • Welfare and Ethics Committee (Dr. G. Agoramoorthy)

  7. During the Annual General Assembly, the following information was shared with the membership:

    • Changes to the Executive Board and its leadership positions as a result of the Executive Board meeting. See previous information.

    • Executive Board decision concerning welfare and ethics assessments being required for new ordinary institutional members and for members wanting to host future SEAZA annual conferences.

    • Reports by the President, Secretary, and Chairpersons of the Constitution & Bylaws and Education Committees.

    • Change of venue for the 2008 Annual Conference from Laos to Thailand.

  8. Social programs:

    • 2 Sept (Sun), A conference icebreaker was organized at the Riverside Lounge in the PWTC complex.

    • 3 Sept (Mon), The conference Welcome Dinner was held in one of the PWTC ballrooms featuring Malaysian cuisine as well as conservation advocate Malaysian singer ZainalAbidin performing his famous song “Hijau” meaning “green”. Also performing were Malaysian artists RAM and Pija.

    • 4 Sept (Tue), An evening tour and dinner was arranged to view magnificent synchronous fireflies in their natural setting at Kuala Selangor.

    • 5 Sept (Wed), Following SEAZA tradition, the Farewell Dinner ended the conference with smiles and laughter as skits were performed by representatives from each country and territory participating in the conference. These varied from jokes and origami demonstrations to conservation messages given with laughter and an elaborate Thai dance in full traditional costume.

    • 6 Sept (Thu), A tour of Zoo Negara was available to conference attendees.

    • 7 Sept (Fri), A post-conference tour of Taman Negara, Pahang was available to participants as an addition to the standard conference program.