Nature in the City Symposium


World Environment Day, San Francisco, June 1-5, 2005

 

Presented by the Nature in the City Committee, a collaborative of local grassroots organizations in San Francisco, California.

 

Date: Friday, June 3, 2005

Time: 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM

Place: Metreon, Yerba Buena Room, Downtown San Francisco

Register: Call (415) 564-4107

 

Introduction:

 

Cities have become essential to the global cause of biodiversity conservation since more people now live in urban areas than the countryside for the first time in history. Cities like San Francisco abound with wild nature. Given their dense populations and cultural diversity, cities are critically important for healing the human connection with nature. Public education, community partnership and stewardship, inter-organizational collaboration, government funding, scientific data collection, and advocacy are all critical elements of successful efforts to sustain urban natural resources management programs.

 

Mission:

 

The mission of the Nature in the City Symposium is to advance urban nature conservation and restoration in the world's cities, and to give delegates the tools to implement the Urban Nature elements of the Urban Environmental Accords.

 

Program Schedule and Speakers:

 

4:00 Welcome and Introduction

4:10 Poem & Comments on Urban Environmental Education

    Robert Hass, United States Poet Laureate, 1995-1997, and co-founder of River of Words

4:20 Downtown Raptors: The Peregrine Falcon Nest Webcam

4:30 Panel: Biodiversity Conservation and Restoration in the World's Cities

Speaker Biographies:

 

Brian O'Neill works for the National Park Service in the position of Superintendent of Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA). The GGNRA encompasses 76,000 acres of land within Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties. GGNRA has nearly 40 species of rare and endangered plants and provides habitat for between 15 and 20 federally listed animal species. GGNRA is the most visited unit of the US National Park System receiving over 20 million visitors annually. Mr. O'Neill is on the Board of Directors of the following organizations: Association for the Central California Biosphere Reserve; Bay Area Ridge Trail Council; Bay Area Open Space Council; Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council; Headlands Institute; Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's California Advisory Council; and San Francisco Planning and Urban Research.

 

Robert Hass is a poet, translator and essayist. His poems include Sun Under Wood (Ecco/HarperCollins) and Human Wishes (Ecco/HarperCollins). His volume of translations of the classic Japanese haiku poets is called The Essential Haiku: Versions of Basho, Buson, and Issa (Ecco/HarperCollins). A MacArthur fellow, and twice winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, Mr. Hass served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995 to 1997. With Pamela Michael, he is co-founder of River of Words, a children's environmental education program, which is highlighted in the book In Praise Of Water: Images And Poetry. Mr. Hass is on the Board of Directors of the International Rivers Network and teaches English at the University of California at Berkeley.

 

Rebecca Shaw is the Director of Conservation Science and Planning for The Nature Conservancy of California. She is a member of the IUCN Task Force on Cities and Protected Areas, under which the theme on Mediterranean-type ecosystems has been being developed. She is leading a global assessment of Mediterranean systems with a focus on the critical links between cities and the environment on which they depend. She received her M.A. in environmental policy and her PhD in ecology from the University of California at Berkeley.

 

Elizabeth McCance, Ph.D. has worked for Chicago Wilderness for six years. She served as the Science and Land Management Team Coordinator. Now she is the Director of Conservation Programs. Prior to Chicago Wilderness, Dr. McCance worked in international conservation with The World Conservation Union for four years. She received a bachelor's degree in Biology from Yale University, a Master's in Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland, and a PhD in Ecosystem Management from the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources and Environment.

 

Peter Berg is an environmental writer and Director of Planet Drum Foundation, an international ecological education and action NGO. Mr. Berg is the author of A Green City Program for the San Francisco Bay Area and Beyond, Discovering Your Life-Place, and numerous articles on bioregional approaches to urban sustainability.

 

Dr. Carlos Mendoza was born and raised in Bahía de Caraquez, Ecuador. Dr. Mendoza has been a practicing physician at the Hospital of Bahia throughout his political career, which started in high school when he was President of the Student Council. He was elected to City Council in 1979, and in 1993, became the Mayor of Bahia de Caraquez, a self-declared Ecological City. Dr. Mendoza is now President of The Mayors Association of Ecuador representing the 22 counties of the province of Manabi.