9 November 2007, Meise, Belgium

This year, ECNC’s annual Board meeting took place in the National Botanic Garden in Meise, Belgium. The meeting was hosted by Prof. Dr Jan Rammeloo, ECNC Treasurer and Director of the Botanical Gardens.

The ECNC Board welcomed Prof. Dr Mustafa Kemal Yalinkiliç as a new ECNC Board member. He is Director-General of the Turkish Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and brings extremely valuable expertise and networks to ECNC and its Board.

The Board also accepted the Macedonian Ecological Society as a new ECNC Network Partner. For further information, visit their website: http://www.mes.org.mk/.

From left to right: Mr R. Loudon, Sir B. Unwin and Prof. Dr M.K. Yalinkiliç.

The Board discussed various promising opportunities for ECNC involvement in topical issues, such as biofuels, climate change and alien species. Decisions were made concerning the intensification of ECNC’s involvement in various new topics.
The annual work plan and budget for 2008 were approved and the advice of ECNC’s Scientific Council was welcomed, and integrated into ECNC’s planning and operations.

The Board visited the National Botanical Gardens and was told about how botanical gardens contribute to conservation and awareness-raising on biodiversity among the public. The Board was impressed with the extensive collections and the active international conservation activities of the National Botanic Garden of Belgium (http://www.botanicgarden.be/).