The 21st Kyoto University International Symposium: Diversity and Conservation of Asian Primates held in Bogor, Indonesia (18-21 August 2014)

The 21st Kyoto University International Symposium: Diversity and Conservation of Asian Primates was held at the IPB International Convention Center of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), Bogor, Indonesia on August 18–21. Over 150 people from eleven countries including Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, the U.S., and the U.K. attended the symposium. The Kyoto University delegation comprised approximately thirty members including Dr. Michiaki Mishima, executive vice-president for international affairs and hospital administration, Prof. Hirohisa Hirai, director of the Primate Research Institute, and faculty and staff members from the Primate Research Institute, the Institute for Virus Research, the Wildlife Research Center, and the Research and International Affairs Department.

Since 2000, Kyoto University has been hosting international symposia in different fields and at different venues around the world to actively promote international cooperation on creative and advanced academic research. The latest symposium is the 21st in the series. The symposium aimed to promote a new comprehensive understanding of primate evolution and protection, and develop improved measures for environmental preservation and primate protection through applying the knowledge gained from research and clarifying the correlations between such conservation measures and political and economic factors.

The first day of the symposium opened with a welcome speech by Dr. Sri Nurdiati, dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of Bogor Agricultural University and an opening speech by Executive Vice-President Mishima. After expressing his gratitude to Bogor Agricultural University, Executive Vice-President Mishima discussed the background and theme of the symposium, touching on the history and significance of research and education collaboration between Kyoto University and Bogor Agricultural University, including the academic exchange agreement concluded between the two universities in 2013. He also described his anticipation of the leadership roles to be played by young researchers in the future.

The symposium's four-day program featured a broad range of presentations and poster sessions, covering topics such as genomes, infectious diseases, ecology, conservation, human culture, morphology, and phylogeography. The various sessions provided an opportunity for primatologists, field scientists, and various parties involved in environmental and primate conservation in Japan and other countries to share the latest research developments in primatology and plant and environmental ecology.

This symposium provided a significant opportunity for the participants to deepen their understanding of the evolution and current situation of primates in Asia, and to explore new possibilities for protection and preservation measures. Excerpts from the symposium's presentations are publicly available on the Science and Development Network website (SciDev.Net, link below).