Welcome to the Rufford Small Grants forums

I feel that this RSG forum will be cornerstone in maintaining an excellent network of conservationists for dialogue, information exchange and awareness throughout the world.

Nice initiative!

Gandhiv from Nepal

Thank you Gandhiv. As you appreciate, the forum is a new addition to our website. We are seeing a good number of RSG recipients signing up and we hope to shortly instigate some interesting discussions.

We look forward to hearing from you and other RSG recipients about conservation issues you are facing and discoveries you are making. Please feel free to suggest any conservation-related topics for discussion.

Thank you very much.

In my opinion, the discussion topics can be indicated as categories for example: wetland conservation, birds, fishery management, conservation education etc. Such categorization will be useful for the conservationists to focus on the discussion topics of their working field, rather than looking for appropriate topics in long message archives.

I would be grateful if this forum will have a discussion topic entitled 'Wetland Conservation'.

We see you have started a topic entitled 'Wetland Conservation'. This is the correct way to start categorise a topic for discussion. More welcome!

We're seeing RSG recipients sign-up every day so I'm sure it won't be long before we can really start to discuss and share information on a wide range of subjects.

almaz orozumbekov

I am very pleased to join RSG forum and share of information from huge number of recipients over the world, specifically scientists and conservation workers indeed. I do hope such kind of great opportunity giving a good chance to talk and discuss more conservation issues in nearest future.
I would like to discuss and share of information about Insect-Plant Interactions and hope it should be works.

Almaz Orozumbekov, Kyrgyzstan/Central Asia

Dear Almaz, which insects do you look at? I am doing Lepidoptera in the Himalaya, mainly taxonomy and zoo-geography, but also breeding, etc.

almaz orozumbekov

Dear Peter, thanks for letter. Indeed, I am so interested to work on gypsy moth ecology and control in forests. Also interested looking at pest-pollination interactions.
It is interesting that you are doing very good deal with Lepidoptera in Himalaya region. Did you work in Tien Shan mountains?
Cheers,
Almaz

I want to appreciate the efforts of RSG in the conservation and protection of our mother earth. The trend is positive - Introduction of Innovative award, increasing the budget ceiling for small and booster grants and now the website forum. I think I will learn share much through this forum.

almaz orozumbekov

I would like to discuss more concerning of Insect-Plant Interactions. It should be great deal with pollination ecology, specially pest-pollination interactions. I am to keen to find somebody else who is might be interested in this topics are welcome.- Almaz

I would like to express my thanks to RSG for all. This is the great thing to communicate and networking for nature conservation. I will join you in any field of conservation work.

Batsukh.N,Mongolia

almaz orozumbekov

Dear Batsukh, it great to get news from Mongolia. Can you explain what is subject are you looking for nature conservation? What kind of forests do you have? As I heard there are problem with pests? It would be great share of information if you want. Thanks a lot.

Almaz

Dear Almaz,
Sorry about the long delay in replying. We do not have the Gipsy Moth here, what we do have is the "Indian Gipsy Moth" Lymantria obfuscata. Paul Schaefer of the US Dept. of Agriculture has done some work on Asian Lymantria. Michael Pogue & Paul Schaefer recently published "A review of selected species of Lymantria including three new species (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Lymantriinae." Do you know this work?
What do you mean by pest-pollination interactions? No, I have only heard of the Tien Shan mountains!
Peter Smetacek

Dear Peter,

it is great to hear from you again. Are you still in India? How long you will be there? Indeed I know the book "A review of selected species of Lymantria including three new species Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Lymantriinae." by Michael Pogue & Paul Schaefer (2007). Because Paul Schaefer is one of my good colleague. Now he is in Nepal. I have met with Paul and Mike at Annapolis meeting in January in 2008. What are you doing with L.obfuskata? Are you doing mostly taxonomic work or?

Pest-pollinators interactions one of specific research study area in pollination ecology. If you are interested you can look at web site of my colleague Dr. Simon Potts in Reading University. http://www.reading.ac.uk/caer/staff_simon_potts.html

Good luck!
Almaz

Dear Almaz,
I had a look at Simon Potts' website. I see that his work is minly concerning bees. But I still could not understand what pest-pollinators interaction is. Do you mean plant pest and insect pollinator interaction?
I am looking at the whole spectrum of Lepidoptera here, obfuscata is just one which I pay little attention to because many people are working/have worked on it. The thing that is of interest to me is the structure of the insect community, particularly Lepidoptera. By understanding the structure, what factors restrict distribution, why some are common and some are rare, etc, etc, I think it will be possible to understand ecosystems much better.
By the way, I live in the Himalaya, was born here.
Do you have a butterfly called Pontia daplidice there?
Warm regards,
Peter Smetacek

Hi Peter,
It is great to talk to you quite often. Indeed, you were right that plant pest and insect pollinator interactions. Because mostly pollination ecologists working on mainly focus Insect-Plant Interactions or Plant biology-insect interactions or Plant Pest -insect pollinators interactions. I do think that you were understand now. Anyway it is one of my favor topic for research. I am also interested to look at of insect community, specially bees. The same time the gypsy moth one of important and interesting insect in ecology studies generally.
Peter, it is really nice to live and working in Himalaya isn't? Sorry, we do not have Pontia daplidice? But I should to check out.

My best regards to you,
Almaz

p.s. what the project was involved in Rufford?

Dear Almaz,
Perhaps we should shift our discussion to the corner set aside for us instead of cluttering up this general forum! So I shall reply to your above questions in the insect-plant interaction corner, okay?
Peter Smetacek