Hafdís Hanna Ægisdóttir mun halda yfirlitserindi á líffræðiráðstefnunni um sambúð manns og náttúru og þær áskoranir sem þessari sambúð fylgja í fimm ólíkum löndum í fjórum heimsálfum. Erindið nefnist: Sátt eða sundrung? Sambúð manns og náttúru í fjórum heimsálfum. Hafdís Hanna er forstöðumaður Landgræðsluskóla Háskóla Sameinuðu þjóðanna.
Hafdís Hanna is the Director of the United Nations University Land Restoration Training Programme. She is a biologist from the University of Iceland and was awarded a PhD in plant ecology from the University of Basel in Switzerland. She has taught at the university level, and has organised and participated in botanical and ecological field courses and expeditions in many different ecosystems, from Svalbard in the Arctic to the Galapagos Islands at the Equator.
Hafdis Hanna is on the board of numerous committees and councils, including the Icelandic Natural History Society, the UNCCD National committee for Iceland and the government-appointed expert committee on import, cultivation and dispersion of alien species. Hafdis Hanna has published on plant ecology and biogeography in peer-reviewed journals and public literature. She has also given numerous talks around the world and been a keynote speaker at the UN level on environmental education, land restoration, sustainable land managment and international development cooperation.
Hafdís Hanna will give a plenary talk entitled: Synergy or segregation? Interplay between man and nature in four corners of Earth.
Abstract: Over the millenia, mankind has exploited nature for its own good. This has increasingly led to destruction of natural habitat and, in most extreme situations, even collapsed civiliations. Now, early in the 21st century, this continues to be a challenge as our planet is faced with environmental challenges human kind has never faced before. We constantly hear news about climate change, land degradation, unsustainable land use, growing human populations, hunger, and migration due environmental challenges such as severe land degradation and drought. How are we dealing with these rapid changes? Are we facing similar challenges worldwide? What can we learn from one another? Is the interplay between man and nature in today‘s world characterized by synergy or segregation? In the presentation, I will showcase examples from my travels, research and work for the UN University Land Restoration Training Programme in order to explore the interplay between man and nature. I will give examples of environmental challenges and ways they are being dealt with in Mongolia, Niger, Uganda, the Galápagos Islands and Iceland; five different countries of contrasting environments. Through these diverse environments, I will explore how humanity can gain from common experience and work toward sustainability.