mangrove meeting in Mombasa

Thu May 11 04:45:46 EDT 2000

Dear Colleagues,

I wish to remind you that in less than one month (end of May !), those of
you who are interested in joining the MOMBASA MEETING ON MANGROVE
MACROFAUNA, should send us the abstract of their speech or poster.

The Museum of Zoology of the University of Florence will offer a special
price for the nicest poster (a full set of our most precious T-shirts !).

Hoping to see you in Mombasa, have our best wishes,

on behalf or the organizing committee,

Marco Vannini

=========================================================
MMM - Meeting on Mangrove Macrobenthos - Mombasa 7-11 September, 2000

Dear colleagues,

here is the second MMM announcement. Reaction to the first announcement was
enthusiastic and we have got more than 120 answers, dealing with most of the
indicated fields, from ecological modelling to crustacean taxonomy, from crab
reproduction to human impact on mangrove fauna.

For those of you having access to Internet, just go to the following page:

http://www.specola.unifi.it/mmm/

otherwise, read the following text and answer us through e-mail:

mmm at www.specola.unifi.it

Best regards and hope to meet you in Mombasa!

        Prof. Marco Vannini
        Director of the Museum of Zoology 
        of the University of Florence, Italy
        on behalf of the MEAM group

_________________________________________________________________________

2nd Announcement:

        MEETING ON MANGROVE MACROBENTHOS: Biology, Ecology and Exploitation
        Mombasa (Kenya), 7- 11 September, 2000

        In spite of the relatively large number of meetings on Mangroves and
Mangrove Ecology held over the past few years, we believe that insufficient
attention has been given to the macrofauna and macrobenthic species.

        For the past three years, seven institutions have been working on the
macrofauna of mangroves in Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and South Africa. This
collaboration was made possible by a E.U. funded programme - the Macrobenthos
of Eastern African Mangroves (MEAM). The MEAM group has decided to convene a
meeting specifically focusing on the benthic fauna of mangroves world-wide.

        The meeting will be held in Mombasa, Kenya, 7 -11 September 2000. The
venue will be a beach hotel outside Mombasa (Reef Hotel), combining good
conference facilities with a scenic and relaxed setting with several swimming
pools, bars and a fitness centre. Mombasa has excellent air connections with
all areas, either direct or via Nairobi. Participants could easily extend
their
stay for a beach or safari holiday in Kenya or Tanzania. Connections with
Zanzibar are also very easy. 

        The Scientific Committee includes: D. Alongi, Australia; S. Diop,
UNEP;
N.C. Duke, Australia; R. Hartnoll, UK; J.S.Y. Lee, Hong Kong; F. Micheli, USA;
N. Muthiga, Kenya; M. Nishihira, Japan; P. Ng, Singapore; L. Omodei-Zorini,
Italy; J. Paula, Portugal; A. Sasekumar, Malaysia; T.J. Smith III, USA; A.G.
Untawale, India; M. Vannucci, ISME; E. Wolanski, Australia

Registration Fees (in US$)
-------------------------------------------------
                    Before May 31st    Thereafter
-------------------------------------------------
Participants             260              410
Students (*)             120              210
Accompanying persons     100              200
-------------------------------------------------
(*) Students should provide a supervisor's signature on the registration form.

Financial Support
     Some financial support for DC scientists is available thanks to EU. Such
support will not cover registration fees but only travel and accommodation in
Kenya. Please, note that support will only cover a fraction (from 50 to 75 %)
of total expenses and never all of them ! Since we will be able to only
support
a limited number of scientists (20-30), a selection will be performed on the
basis of your request and scientific contribution. Please apply in time
because
decisions about financial support will be taken within the end of April.

Registration fees should be sent as an international cheque to:

Marco Vannini
MMM Mombasa Meeting
Museo Zoologico "La Specola"
Via Romana, 17
50125 - Firenze, Italy

or else, through your bank to:

Marco Vannini
MMM Mombasa Meeting
Banca Toscana, Ag. 15 Piazza Pitti 27, 50121 Firenze
c/c n. 353/80 Swift: TOSCIT 3 F 209
(Italian bank references: CAB 3400 ABI 02815)

Please, fax a copy of payment to:
M. Giuggioli, fax: ++39 055 225325

     Some financial support for DC scientists is available thanks to the EU.
Such support will not cover registration fees but only travel and
accommodations in Kenya. Please note that such grants will be able to cover
only a fraction (from 50 to 75%) of the total expenses, never all of them!
Since we will be able to support only a limited number of scientists (20-30),
selections will be made on the basis of the request and scientific
contribution
of each applicant. Applications must be received before the end of April.

Cancellation
     Cancellations before May 31st 2000 are entitled to an 80%
reimbursement of
the fee. No refunds will be given after that date.

Lunches and Refreshments
     Please note that registration also covers lunches, snacks and
coffee-breaks!

Hotel Reservations
     Reef Hotel prices (half board) just for MMM participants will be 2400 KSh
(for a single room) and 4000 KSh (for a double room), to be paid at the Hotel
during the meeting itself (the change rate, KSh/US$, is actually about 60-65).
For more than 5 days you will get a 10% discount.

For reservations, please apply

Ms. Irene Ghitaiga (e-mail: ioi-ea at recoscix.org )
(KMFRI - Mombasa - Kenya)

Certificate of Attendance
     Certificate will be included in the meeting folder.

Banquet
     A social event is planned, probably a banquet on an Arab Dhow, slowly
sailing at sunset, along Tudor creek, passing a 17th century Portuguese
fortress and mangroves (fee non included within the registration fees).

Excursion
     A social excursion is planned at Mida Creek, with the possibility of
visiting different mangrove sites and Gedi as well, an abandoned ancient Arab
town within baobab and fig tree forest.

Scientific Contribution

Papers
     Both oral communications and posters will be accepted. Oral papers should
not exceed 15 min (plus 5 min for the discussion). More details will be
included in the third announcement together with the official programme.
Posters should not exceed 1.5 m in height and 1 m in width. Both slide
projection and overhead projection will be available.

Abstract Volume
     You will find the abstract volume in the meeting folder. To do that we
obviously need to receive your abstracts by May 31st, 2000. Use the module at
the end of the registration form or e-mail attached files only, please avoid
sending disks. Plain e-mail text is also welcome. The abstract should not
exceed 800-1000 words including the title, name(s) of the author(s),
Institution(s) and addresses. We can deal with most word processor programs,
but Microsoft Word files would be preferable.

Publication
     Contacts are underway with "Mangrove and Salt Marshes", with the aim of
giving those who wish to publish their work the opportunity of doing so in a
formal journal which might then produce a special issue about the MMM meeting.
The contributors will probably be asked to pay a small sum the amount of which
will be communicated with the final announcement and will depend on the
financial support that we obtain for the meeting.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
REGISTRATION FORM

Please send before May 31th, 2000!

Full Name: _________________________________________
Position: __________________________________________
Address: ___________________________________________
Fax: _______________________________________________
E-mail: ____________________________________________

I will register by:
international cheque ___
directly through bank account ___

Field of interest - please check one or more subjects:
Aquaculture
Behaviour
Ecology
Ecolological Modelling
Exploitation
General Biology
Genetics
Human Impact
Reproduction
Systematics

Annelids
Bivalves
Gastropods
Cephalopods
Barnacles
Prawns
Mud Lobsters
Hermit Crabs
Crabs
Other Crustaceans
Insects
Echinoderms
Mudskippers
Other Fishes
Birds
Mammals
Reptiles
OTHERS (specify) ___________________________________

I WISH TO PRESENT:

A PAPER    ___
A POSTER   ___

TITLE ________________________________________________
      ________________________________________________
      ________________________________________________

*********************************************************
International Meeting on Mangrove Macrobenthos (MMM)

Prof. Marco Vannini
director of the Museum of Zoology "La Specola"
of the University of Florence
via Romana 17 - 50125 Firenze
Italy

tel.  :    +39 55 2288251/9
fax   :    +39 55 225325
e-mail:   mmm at www.specola.unifi.it
http://www.specola.unifi.it/MMM/
********************************************************