PROCEEDINGS of the XVI INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON BIOLOGICAL CONTROL OF WEED

CABRERA WALSH, G.J.; ANDERSON F.E.; MC KAY, F.; SOSA, A; HERNÁNDEZ, M.C.

FuEDEI

Año: 2023 p. 216

978-631-90256-0-6

The XVI International Symposium on Biological Control of Weeds was held in Puerto Iguazú, Misiones, Argentina in May 2023. This was the first time the meeting took place in South America. The closeness of the venue to the Iguazú falls and the largest remnants of the Atlantic forest, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, added an extra perk to the meeting. We visited the falls during the mid-symposium tour on a wonderful cool sunny day, which allowed everyone to enjoy the scenery at its very best. Again, at the symposium’s banquet, the view of the rainbow over the falls from the privileged vantage point of the gardens of the Gran Meliá Iguazú Hotel, is a memory we will keep forever close to our hearts.The XVI ISBCW was organised in 11 scientific sessions, with 75 oral presentations and 100 posters by 156 participants from 19 countries and 64 institutions from all over the world. Given the post pandemic global economy and sanitary travel restrictions, these numbers are quite satisfactory. We had the highest percentage of female attendees ever (45%) while the percentage of first timers remained quite similar to previous meetings. The countries with the highest representation were, in order, Argentina, the United States of America and South Africa. The meeting took place amidst a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere that stimulated the free exchange of ideas and fruitful discussions during both oral and poster sessions. Keynote speakers did a wonderful job at laying the foundations of each session, most speakers kept to their allotted time, making the job of moderators very easy. All in all, the scientific programme was completed as planned. Social gatherings were animated and good-spirited, with members of different delegations getting to know each other or meeting again in person after a long time. It was obvious that everyone was happy to be together again after the isolation imposed by the pandemic. We are very proud of having hosted this edition of the ISBCW in Argentina and sincerely hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did. We would like to thank all attendees for coming, and for their contributions, as well as our sponsors, who helped us keep the very high-quality standards set by previous meetings. We will keep our shared time in Iguazú as one of our most cherished memories.