Conservation Asia Congress 2026 in Kathmandu, Nepal
- Xin Rui Ong
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
From 3-5 June 2026, our research fellow, Dr Ong Xin Rui, participated in the 6th Conservation Asia Congress (CAC Nepal 2026) that was held in the bustling city of Kathmandau, Nepal. As part of the Asian chapter of the Society of Conservation Biology (SCB), this year's congress is considered a homecoming, where the first SCB Asia regional conference was held in the same venue more than two decades ago.
Under the theme “Harmonising Biodiversity and Human Well-being in Asia,” the congress saw an impressive gathering of more than 400 delegates and over 40 parallel sessions. It had 19 thematic areas, including key topics such as human-wildlife coexistence, emerging technologies in conservation monitoring, and social science approaches in conservation.
Xin Rui had the privilege of presenting our study "Towards red listing understudied tropical insects: A case study of the dung beetles of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo", where she stressed the importance of including more insect species on the IUCN Red List to increase their representation in conservation policies and agendas.
The second night of the conference saw a special movie screening of Snow Leopard Sisters, an incredible and honest film of women empowerment and community involvement in tackling human-wildlife issues. This was aptly followed by an amazing plenary on conservation resilience the next morning, which featured thought-provoking discussions on conflict, gender equality, and how to stay resilient amidst these obstacles.
Outside the conference, Xin Rui also took in the sights and sounds of Kathmandu and visited two UNESCO World Heritage sites: Swayambhu Mahachaitya (also known as the Monkey Temple) and the Kathmandu Durbar Square.
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