The Convention of Biological Diversity has declared “Invasive Alien Species” as theme for the 2009 International Day for Biological Diversity, which will be celebrated on May 22nd. Since the 2006 “SOS Invasions” Conference, significant progress has been achieved and the Belgian Biodiversity Platform has therefore decided to organize a second one-day conference on the theme. The present meeting, entitled “Science Facing Aliens” is intended to take stock of the progress achieved through basic and applied research being conducted in Belgium and offers an
opportunity to showcase this research to colleagues, and to persons involved in science and environmental
policy. The meeting covers a broad range of topics related to invasive alien species:

* Mechanisms and evolution of species invasiveness
* The impacts of invasions on biodiversity, health and economy
* Detection, risk assessment and management

Deadlines:
March 31st: registration

For more information on the conference, please contact Etienne Branquart (ebranquart@gmail.com) or Hendrik Segers (hendrik.segers@naturalsciences.be).