The Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) Asia Region, in collaboration with SCB Nepal and the Burhan Community Regeneration and Conservation Foundation (BCRCF), proudly hosted the 6th Conservation Asia Congress in the historic city of Kathmandu in the first week of June, 2026.
Under the theme “Harmonising Biodiversity and Human Well-being in Asia, ” the Congress united global experts, early-career researchers, and community leaders to address the critical intersection of nature conservation, community stewardship, and evidence-based policy. The scientific programme can be accessed here.
The Congress was attended by more than 500 participants across 42 countries. More than 70% attendants were early-to-mid career scholars and practitioners. The congress also managed to provide financial support towards travel and/or registration for 160 participants, all from Global South. The congress also resulted in adoption of The Kathmandu Resolution 2026, which provides a strategic vision for pan-Asian conservation futures.
Conservation Social Science (CSS) was well represented in the congress, albeit being skewed towards the disciplines of psychology and economics. Dedicated sessions on social science/ human dimension aspects of conservation had presenters discussing traditional knowledge and community stewardship-driven conservation action, conservation communication and outreach programs, impact evaluation of conservation programmes, art and conservation, policy and planning for conservation. Similar conservation social science talks were present in thematic sessions on human- wildlife conflict & coexistence, community forestry, species-specific conservation programmes, wildlife trade, conservation technologies etc. The Congress could have been benefited with more diverse CSS talks on critical social science, political ecology of conservation, participatory methodologies, anthropology, right-based approaches.
Conservation Social Scientists also had a gathering on the evening of 4th June at the Golden Thali restaurant, where they chatted about their work over dinner.
Overall, Conservation Asia Congress 2026 was a major success with positive feedback all around and a hope to regroup in 2028.
