Wakatobi to host second International Conference on Alfred Wallace

The second International Conference on Alfred Russel Wallace and the Wallacea (the region around the Wallace Line) will be held in Wangi-wangi, Wakatobi, Southeast Sulawesi, on Nov. 10 to 13.

The conference is part of worldwide activities called “Wallace100” to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Wallace’s death, Jalaluddin, a representative of the Wakatobi regency administration, said in Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, on Wednesday on behalf of Wakatobi Regent Hugua.

Key speakers at the conference will include George C Wallace, a grandchild of Alfred Wallace; former Indonesian environment minister Emil Salim and National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) head Armida S. Alisjahbana.

The conference’s participants will include representatives of 20 funding institutions from various countries and 40 regents/mayors from across Indonesia. “Around 200 environmental experts from a number of universities, such as Oxford University, Cambridge University, the University of Indonesia, Hasanuddin University [in Makassar, South Sulawesi], and Haluoleo University in Kendari, will also participate in the conference,” Jalaluddin said as quoted by Antara news agency.

The conference will highlight the legacy of Wallace in Indonesia, the Wallace Line and the Wallacea region, and examine specific themes important for the future of Wallacea as a world heritage site, the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) as the Indonesian organizer of the conference, said on its website.

Wallace died on Nov. 7, 1913 at his home in Dorset, aged 90. On the 100th anniversary of his death this year, various events have been organized around the world to commemorate his exceptional life and work. On Nov. 3, 1859, Wallace’s paper On the Zoological Geography of the Malay Archipelago, written in Ternate, was read in London.

The region between the Wallace Line and Papua, Wallacea, is one of the world’s biodiversity hot spots. (Jakarta Post)