Biennial Conference on Cetacean Conservation in South Mediterranean Countries, Oran (Algeria), 11 – 13 November 2017

The Fourth Biennial Conference on Cetacean Conservation in South Mediterranean Countries
(CSMC4) will be held in Oran (Algeria) on 11 – 13 November 2017.

Conference Objectives
The aim of the Biennial Conference is to assess the knowledge acquired on cetaceans in the South of the Mediterranean, identify potential gaps and stimulate the development of conservation actions in order to promote the implementation of the ACCOBAMS Agreement. Through its regular organisation, this Conference will allow cetacean specialists, active in the South of the Mediterranean, to exchange their experience and their data and to discuss the best approaches and priority actions for a better knowledge on cetacean populations in this region where data still remain sporadic and scarce. This Conference also aims at involving the student community and at rising awareness of future managers and stakeholders concerning marine issues.

The organisation of this Conference, under the auspice of ACCOBAMS, comes from a need expressed by the Scientific Community of South Mediterranean Countries.

Venue and Date
This is the First announcement for the Fourth Biennial Conference (CSMC4) that will take place in Oran (Algeria), from 11th to 13th November 2017.
The previous conference were organized as follows:
– CSMC1: 12-14 October 2009 in Tabarka, Tunisia;
– CSMC2: 12-14 October 2011 in El Jadida, Morocco;
– CSMC3: 21-23 October 2014 in Jounieh, Lebanon.

Programme of the Fourth Biennial Conference
The Fourth Biennial Conference will address the main following topics:
– interactions between cetaceans and human activities (fisheries, anthropogenic noise, whale watching, …)
– monitoring of populations and strandings,
– critical habitats for cetaceans,
– conservation plans for cetacean species,
– exchange of information,
– photo-identification of cetacean species.
Anyone interested can propose an oral presentation or a poster.
The Conference will include plenary sessions, roundtables and poster sessions.
A training workshop on Marine Mammal Observers (MMO)/ Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) Operators will be organised on the last Conference day.
The detailed program of the Fourth Biennial Conference will be prepared after reception of registration forms and approval by the organisers of the proposed oral presentations and posters.

Organisers
The Biennial Conference comes from an initiative launched by the ACCOBAMS Permanent Secretariat. This event is organised with the support and the collaboration of the Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas (RAC/SPA-MAP/UNEP), the Algerian Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, the National Research Center for the Development of Fisheries and Aquaculture, and with a financial support from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Development and from the Government of the Principality of Monaco.

Participants
Participation to the Conference is open to all scientists and to every stakeholder involved in cetacean conservation in South Mediterranean Countries. Organisers encourage the participation of students working on subjects with relevance to the conservation of cetaceans in the South Mediterranean Countries and in particular on the main topics of the Fourth Biennial Conference.
Limited funds are available to provide grants towards participation to the Conference. Participants from the following countries may apply according to the instructions given in the attached registration form: Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Syria and Tunisia.

How to contribute to the Conference
Participants may contribute to the Conference with oral communications or poster presentations. They are kindly requested to send an abstract of each oral communication or poster presentation to the ACCOBAMS Permanent Secretariat no later than 1st September 2017. The abstracts for oral communications and posters should be prepared in accordance with the “instructions for authors” presented hereinafter.
Conference working languages
The working languages of the Conference are English and French. Simultaneous translation will be available during oral communications and roundtables.

Conference Publications
Two documents will be published:
– The Book of Abstracts: it will be available from the opening day of the Conference
– The Report of the Conference: the Report will include the conclusions and recommendations issued from the sessions, as well as the oral communication papers (4 pages maximum per oral communication) and the poster presentation papers (2 pages maximum per poster). Only papers provided before the closing of the Conference will be included in the Report.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS
Abstracts for oral communications and posters
• 350 words maximum presented on A4 pages
• Margins : 3 cm (top, bottom and sides)
• Title : Calibri, size 12 bold, alignment: centred
• Author(s) : Calibri, size 12, alignment : centred
• Affiliation and author email : Calibri, size 9
• Abstract text : Calibri, size 11, alignment : justified
Oral Communications
• Each oral communication approved shall be presented by its author.
• If several authors, the speaker’s name shall be clearly indicated.
• Each speaker will have around 10 minutes for his/her presentation.
Posters
• Poster dimensions shall be as follows:
– maximum width: 80 cm
– maximum height: 120 cm
Posters that will not follow the requested format cannot be exhibited.
• Written languages allowed for the text are French and English.