Conference Agenda

This is a DRAFT version of the conference agenda for conference participants only. All events and times are subject to change. Updated 1/12/2009.

2009 Conservation Leadership Dialogue on
Conservation Capital in the Americas
Exemplary Conservation Finance Initiatives
in the Western Hemisphere

Valdivia, Los Rios, Chile
January 17-19, 2009
Agenda

Saturday, January 17, 2009

5:00 pm: Arrival at Universidad Austral de Chile (UACh)
Auditorium 3 Edificio Nahmías, Campus Isla Teja

5:00 to 5:30 pm: Welcome and Review of Conference Objectives
Welcoming Remarks from Victor Cubillos, Rector of the Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile
Review of Conference Objectives by Jim Levitt, Harvard Forest, Harvard University, and Armando Carbonell, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, USA

5:30 to 6:00 pm: The Importance of Finance to Conservation in North America
David Foster, Director of the Harvard Forest, Harvard University, USA

6:00 to 6:30 pm: The Growing Significance of Conservation – the Chilean experience
Antonio Lara, Dean of the Faculty of Forest Sciences, Universidad Austral de Chile, Chile

6:30 to 7:00 pm: Karukinka
Guillermo Donoso, Professor Facultad de Agronomía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and Director of the Karukinka Advisory Board, Chile

7:00 pm: Reception, with cocktails and food, at UACh Botanical Garden

Sunday, January 18, 2009

8:15 am: Arrival at Hotel Naguilán, Conference Room
General Lagos 1927, Valdivia, Chile; Telephone: 56-63-212851

Limited Development and Sustainable Land Use

8:30 to 9:00: Rocky Mountain Ranchland
Jeff Milder, Cornell University and Ecoagriculture Partners, USA

9:00 to 9:30: Caral archeological site and Supe Valley restoration
José Gonzales and Hermilio Rosas, Universidad del Pacífico, Peru

9:30 to 10:Limited Development and Sustainable Land Use Discussion
Luther Propst, Sonoran Institute: Discussant/Moderator, USA

10:00 to 10:30: Coffee Break

Microfinance and Microenterprise

10:30 to 11:10 am: Smart Voyager
Brian Milder, Root Capital, USA
Laurel Neylon, Harvard, Pat O’Connell, Evergreen Capital, Discussant/Moderator, USA

11:10 am to 12:20 pm: Panel Discussion on Sustainable Enterprises
Jim Levitt, Program on Conservation Innovation at the Harvard Forest (EcoPalms), USA
Jaime Rodriguez, Sustainable management of native forests and plantations (Masisa), Chile
Rene Reyes, Certification of Firewood in Chile (AIFBN), Chile

Student Presentations

12:20 pm to 12:40 pm: Student Presentation I
Jude Wu, author of outstanding North American student essay

12:40 am to 1:00 pm: Student Presentation II
Bernardo Peredo, author of outstanding Central/South American student essay

1:00 to 2:15 pm: Lunch at Hotel Naguilán

2:30 pm to 8:30 pm: Boat Ride on the Valdivia River and Dinner.
Our party will board the boat from the dock at the Hotel Naguilán

Monday, January 19, 2009: Morning and Afternoon Sessions

8:15 am: Arrival at UACh, Auditorio 3 Edificio Nahmías, Campus Isla Teja

Conservation Investment Banking

8:30 to 9:00 am: Valdivian Coastal Reserve
Greg Fishbein, The Nature Conservancy, USA and Chile

9:00 to 9:30 am: Open Space Institute – Lessons from a Conservation Lender
Peter Howell and Kim Elliman, Open Space Institute, USA

9:30 to 9:55 am: Conservation Investment Banking Discussion
Pat Coady and Story Clark: Discussants/Moderators, USA

9:55 to 10:15 am: Coffee Break

Tax Levies and Tax Benefits

10:15 to 11:00 am: Community Preservation Act
Matt Zieper and Ernest Cook, Trust for Public Land, USA
Pat O’Connell, Evergreen Capital (Discussant/Moderator), USA

11:00 to 11:30: Legislative Efforts to Allow for Conservation Easements in Chile
Henry Tepper, National Audubon and Victoria Alonso, The Nature Conservancy, USA and Chile

11:30 to Noon: Panel Discussion on Easements and Tax Levies for Conservation
Group of Chilean Legislators, Government Administrators, Businesspeople and NGO representatives working to establish conservation easements in Chile

Noon to 1:15 pm: Lunch at Restaurant from Edificio Nahmías

Ecosystem Service and Forest Carbon Projects

1:15 to 1:45 pm: Chocó-Manabí
Luis Suarez and Ben Vitale, Conservation International, Ecuador and USA

1:45 to 2:45 pm: Van Eck Forest Project
Laurie Wayburn, Pacific Forestlands Trust, USA

2:15 to 2:45 pm: Payment for Ecosystem Services in the US and Costa Rica
Shannon Meyer, (Meyer Conservation Services) USA

2:45 to 3:10 pm: Ecosystem Service and Forest Carbon Projects Discussion
Brian Shillinglaw, New Forests and Story Clark, Conservation Consultant, USA

3:10 to 4:00 pm: Coffee and Breakout Sessions
Small group discussions of what actions can we take coming out of this conference.
Adam Davis, Peter Stein, Victoria Alonso, Antonio Lara and David Foster, USA and Chile

4:00 to 4:30 pm: Group Reports and Conference Dialogue – “What’s Next?”
Armando Carbonell, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, USA

Monday, January 19, 2009: Evening Session (Open to the Public)

Aula Magna, Universidad Austral de Chile
5:00 to 6:15 pm: Panel Discussion -- Sustainable Development in the Valdivian Coastal Region, moderated by Antonio Lara, Dean of Forest Science, UACh, with panelists Rafael Asenjo (UNDP, Conama and GEF), Francisco Solis (The Nature Conservancy), a representative of local government and a representative of the local community.
6:15 to 7:30 pm: Concluding Comments by Distinguished Guests

United States Ambassador to Chile, Paul Simons
Member of the Chilean Senate, Andres Allamand
Member of the Chilean House of Deputies, Jorge Burgos

8 pm: Closing Dinner, Puerta del Sur Restaurant, Los Lingues 950, Isla Teja, Valdivia.
Transportation will be available from UACh.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Optional Field Trip to The Nature Conservancy’s Valdivian Coastal Reserve
Conference speakers, panelist and participants who can stay over for an extra day will have the opportunity to visit The Nature Conservancy’s spectacular Valdivian Coastal Reserve, where we will enjoy hiking in ancient forests and roaming on an expansive beach along the Pacific Ocean. The reserve is about 40 kilometers by road and boat from Validivia, so the field trip will take the better part of an entire day. A brief description of the reserve, provided by TNC, follows below.
The Valdivian Coastal Reserve is part of an ancient temperate rainforest rising from Chile’s southern coastline. This vast stretch of coastal forest is a remnant of millennia past - when it was connected to the forests of New Zealand and Australia. In fact, some species are more closely related to species from those distant places rather than the Americas. During the last Ice Age, this coastal range served as a freeze-free refuge for a multitude of species found nowhere else on Earth.

Among these unique species are two of the planet’s longest living tree species. Olivillo trees, which can live up to 400 years, survive in large stands only on the western slopes of this range, and alerce trees, which resemble North American giant sequoias, have life spans of up to 4,000 years.

These forests also harbor an incredible wealth of wildlife including one of the world’s largest woodpeckers; the world’s smallest deer; a small tree dwelling marsupial (‘mountain monkey’) considered by scientists to be a "living fossil;" at least 58 bird species; and several rare carnivores, such as the southern river otter.
For more information on the Valdivian Coastal Reserve, see

Valdivian Coastal Reserve Guide

http://www.nature.org/wherewework/southamerica/chile/features/ .

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