Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the Dodo Research Programme (DRP) organized a mini-symposium on island biodiversity in collaboration with the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED; University of Amsterdam) and the National Museum of Natural History (Naturalis). The aim of the mini-symposium, which took place 19 May, was to generate discussions on the origins of biodiversity and ecosystem resilience in island situations by bringing together scientists from paleontology, ecology, genetics, and evolutionary biology. Invited speakers provided an overview of current insights from these fields.

The DRP is an international research initiative on island biodiversity that uses the dodo (Raphus cucullatus), the icon of human-induced species extinction, to generate research and public awareness on the vulnerability of island biodiversity. The DRP was initiated by Naturalis, IBED, and the Geological survey of the Netherlands after the discovery in 2005 of a major mass grave in Mauritius comprising a nearly complete fossil ecosystem of the dodo