International Bird Rescue’s Barbara Callahan and Jay Holcomb are in Brazil, currently attending the 2° Congresso Latino-Americano De Reabilitação de Fauna Marinha (2nd Annual Latin American Conference on Marine Wildlife Rehabilitation) in Rio Grande.
Holcomb writes:
This conference is perfectly timed to be hosted in Brazil, as they have recently passed legislation mandating wildlife response readiness for the oil industry. And our South American colleagues are always interested in how oiled wildlife response has developed in North America, as well as our experiences over the past 20 years.
After a day-and-a-half journey, we’re busy preparing our presentations and helping ready the venue for more than 220 conference delegates, all eager to talk about wildlife rehabilitation for marine animals!
Barbara and I will both be giving keynote addresses this coming week as well as facilitating a half-day workshop on oiled wildlife response and leading a roundtable discussion with the federal trustee for wildlife here, known as the Coordinator General of Oil and Gas Licensing Division, or IBAMA.
Co-hosts for the conference are our long-time colleagues from the Center for Rehabilitation of Marine Animals (CRAM) in the south of Brazil, as well as Aiuká Environmental Solutions Consulting, our partners in Brazil and long-time Bird Rescue Response Team members.
Penguin photo by Christian Ostrosky (Ostrosky Photos on Flickr Creative Commons)