MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

New Zealand seat of fifth conservation conference of albatrosses and petrels

The Fifth International Conference on the Biology and Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (IAPC5) will be held in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa on the waterfront of Wellington, New Zealand over the period Monday 13 to Friday 17 August 2012.

The organization of IAPC5 will be lead by New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA). The current contact person for the conference is Dr David Thompson at d.thompson@niwa.co.nz .

It is intended to have four days of oral and poster sessions with a mid-week break for local outings. Plans are also being made for pre- and/or post-conference excursions to view procellariiform seabirds at sea.

The museum has modern facilities for conferences and catering with a well-equipped lecture theatre that can seat over 300 delegates. Te Papa also incorporates an art gallery that holds the national art collection and mounts regular exhibitions, two cafes and several souvenir shops.

The four previous International Albatross and Petrel Conferences were held in Hobart, Australia in 1995, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (2000), Montevideo, Uruguay (2004) and in Cape Town, South Africa (2008).