ICCON PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS - 24 JUNE 2025

By: GIZ Team

Morning slot (09:30 AM to 12:30 PM)

Workshop Registration Fees: Free

Workshop Objectives / Expected Learnings

Understand the concept of ecosystem services and their role in sustaining biodiversity and livelihoods

Explore the interlinkages between climate change impacts and ecosystem service delivery

Learn policy and practical interventions for enhancing ecosystem resilience

Gain exposure to case studies on nature-based solutions for climate adaptation

Workshop Outline 

15 min – Introduction to ecosystem services: provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting
20 min – Impacts of climate change on ecosystems: global and Indian context
20 min – Valuation of ecosystem services and tools for assessment
25 min – Nature-based solutions: strategies and implementation pathways
20 min – GIZ-supported case studies in India and beyond
10 min – Policy dialogue and integration into planning frameworks
10 min – Q&A and wrap-up

By: WWF Team

Morning slot (09:30 AM to 12:30 PM)

Workshop Registration Fees: Free

Workshop Objectives / Expected Learnings

Understand drivers and dynamics of human-wildlife conflict across landscapes

Familiarize with mitigation strategies including community-based approaches and technology

Learn how to design conflict-sensitive conservation interventions

Discuss case studies from WWF’s fieldwork in India

Workshop Outline 

10 min – Overview of human-wildlife conflict: scope and significance
20 min – Understanding species-specific conflict patterns (elephants, big cats, etc.)
25 min – Conflict mitigation strategies: physical barriers, early warning systems, and compensation
20 min – Participatory approaches: engaging communities in conflict-prone areas
15 min – Case studies from WWF-India programs
10 min – Interactive group activity: Designing a mitigation plan
10 min – Discussion and key takeaways

By: Dr. Ashraf, NVK, Chief Veterinarian and Senior Advisor, Wildlife Trust of India

Morning slot (09:30 AM to 12:30 PM)

Workshop Registration Fees: Free

Workshop Objectives / Expected Learnings

The workshop is expected to provide attendees with the tools to ensure that their rescue and rehabilitation efforts are aligned with the new IUCN guidelines on the responsible translocation of displaced organisms. The goal is to ensure that all wildlife that is rehabilitated back to the wild contributes to the overall goal of wildlife conservation keeping in mind animal welfare and individual species’ ecological requirements. 

Attendees will learn what the new guidelines, which animals can be translocated back to wild and which cannot, how to translocate animals back to the wild including site selection and release and post-release monitoring; what to do with animals that cannot be translocated back to the wild and decisions trees that can be used to assist with the same.
The workshop will especially benefit wildlife managers, wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organizations/ centres/ individuals, wildlife veterinarians, and others dealing with wildlife that have been displaced due to injury, human-wildlife conflict, disaster, linear infrastructure, etc.

Workshop Outline 

The workshop will be of total 2 hours duration and will comprise following sections:
• What is wildlife rescue
• Wildlife rehabilitation and translocation
• Placement of temporarily displaced wild animals
• Relevance of existing IUCN guidelines to conflict animal translocations
• Conservation translocation Vs Responsible translocation
• New upcoming IUCN guidelines on responsible translocation of displaced organisms, addressing wildlife managers' concerns  .

By: Dr. Shivam Shrotriya, Asst. Managing Editor, JWLS, Wildlife Institute of India 

Morning slot (09:30 AM to 12:30 PM)

Workshop Registration Fees: ₹1000
Workshop Objectives / Expected Learnings

How to structure the research papers, present methods and results and write with clarity. Format and structure papers as per the targeted journal and Do's and Don'ts for increasing acceptability. Responsible use of AI in scientific writing.
Early career researchers shall be preferred to participate.

Workshop Outline 

Structuring- from research plan to manuscript- 1 hr.
Writing process- Do and Don't - 30 min.
Modern tools for research assistance. 1 hr.
Bonus session on turning short term research to publishable manuscript- 30 min.

By: Dr. Vineet Dubey, Project Scientist, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun

Morning slot (09:30 AM to 12:30 PM)

Workshop Registration Fees: ₹1000

Workshop Objectives / Expected Learnings

Understand the Challenges in Modelling Species Distribution
Hands-on Training in R for Hydrological and Ecological Data Processing
Build networks and collaborative research across freshwater biodiversity and spatial ecology

Workshop Outline 

15 min – Introduction to freshwater biodiversity modeling & data challenges
20 min – Overview of Hydrography90m & HydroSHEDS v2 datasets
20 min – Tools & setup (R packages, WSL, hydrographr) & data pre-processing
25 min – Building ecological niche models with hydrological predictors (demo)
15 min – Prediction on current and future scenarios
20 min – Case studies from India & open discussion
5 min – Wrap-up, key takeaways, and resources

By: Wetland International Team

Afternoon slot (02:30 PM to 05:30 PM)

Workshop Registration Fees: Free
Workshop Objectives / Expected Learnings

Appreciate the ecological and socio-economic importance of wetlands

Learn about wetland typology, threats, and global conservation frameworks

Explore approaches for wetland inventory, assessment, and management

Understand the role of community participation and policy in wetland conservation

Workshop Outline 

15 min – Introduction to wetlands: functions and values
20 min – Classification of wetlands and Ramsar designation criteria
20 min – Major threats to wetlands and monitoring indicators
25 min – Tools and techniques for wetland mapping and condition assessment
15 min – Case examples from Wetlands International projects
10 min – Policy landscape and role of Wetlands (Conservation and Management)
5 min – Final discussion and wrap-up

By: Dr. Jose Louies, Chief Executive Officer, Wildlife Trust of India

Afternoon slot (02:30 PM to 05:30 PM)

Workshop Registration Fees: Free

Workshop Objectives / Expected Learnings

The workshop will introduce participants to project design approaches for reducing wildlife crime through community stewardship and pro-conservation decision-making, as co-developed by the Wildlife Trust of India, indigenous communities and state governance body in Manipur, India. The workshop will feature a case study of Pangolin Conservation Project in Manipur, which leverages the strong traditional governance systems of Tangkhul Naga tribes. The workshop will provide participants with practical insights into engaging indigenous communities, building local ownership of conservation, and integrating socio-cultural systems into wildlife protection by the representative of the Tangkhul Naga community, conservation community members, and a representative of the state Forest Department. It will offer tools, and strategies to replicate this model in other similar vulnerable regions like Manipur. The participants will understand how to integrate community governance into conservation strategy. Learn to design participatory dialogues with tribal leadership and faith-based groups and examine a step-by-step case study from Manipur on combating pangolin trafficking.

Workshop Outline 

00-30 Min - Introduction & Context Setting: Wildlife crime and illegal wildlife trade as a conservation challenge in Northeast India.
30-60 Min - Understanding the Landscape: Community structures and traditional practices affecting wildlife conservation.
60-120 Min – A Case of Tangkhul Naga Tribe Culture and Pride: Governance system, hierarchy and role of leaders in community.
120-140 Min - Tools & Techniques: Identifying the motivators and role of religious institutions in such cases.
140-165 Min - Interactive Group Exercise: Designing a community conservation strategy for a hypothetical region.
165-180 Min - Open Discussion & Q&A: Clearing doubts, excepting new ideas.

By: Dr. Pankaj Koparde, Assistant Professor, Dr. Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University

Afternoon slot (02:30 PM to 05:30 PM)

Workshop Registration Fees: ₹1000

Workshop Objectives / Expected Learnings

Objectives:
1. Creating awareness regarding the conservation career landscape and trajectories to achieve certain goals
2. Making participants decide on their own career path and set up expectations
Expected Learnings:
1. Participants will develop a systematic way of their career planning
2. Participants attitude towards the conservation careers will become positive
3. Participants will explore the future opportunities and can plan conservation and allied careers in which they can fuel their passion

Workshop Outline 

Session 1. Understanding Conservation Careers (academic trajectories, job sectors, sector & profile wise packages, career trajectories)
Theory: 40 mins
Story-telling: 10 mins
Session 2. Building vision in the participants regarding their career paths
SWOC Analysis followed by open discussion: 20 mins
Theory: 10 mins (career, health, financial, and emotional trajectories, tips and tricks)
Session 3. Group Activity (learning about opportunities in various sectors such as Government, Academia, Research, Corporate, and NGO)
Time: 30 mins
Discussion: 20 mins
Session 4. Goal Planning followed by open discussion: 20 mins
Session 5. Case studies
Time: 30 mins
Session 6. Open feedback & Conclusion: 10 mins

By: Dr. Manvi Sharma, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Studies, Ashoka University 

Afternoon slot (02:30 PM to 05:30 PM)

Workshop Registration Fees: ₹1000

Workshop Objectives / Expected Learnings

The workshop is aimed to introduce participants to fitting simple and multiple linear regression models using the R platform. The participants will learn about steps in the modelling process – from thinking about ecological questions to estimating parameters and making inferences; theoretical concepts – sums of squares methods; fitting and interpreting interaction terms; model checking and model selection strategies.
The participants will work with example datasets from animal behaviour and ecology topics. Participant will gain the experience of fitting and interpreting models to appreciate the steps in the modelling process

Workshop Outline 

This is a 3-hour workshop. The first one hour will be a theory session where the participants will be introduced to concepts, such as why linear models are useful, how parameter estimation using sums of square methods is implemented, how hypothesis testing in regressions are conducted, and how uncertainty on parameters can be estimated.
We will then use 20 minutes to refresh basics of coding in R.
10 minute break
In the next one and a half hour, we will use two example datasets to fit simple linear models, models with multiple explanatory variables, and models with interaction terms.  

By: Dr. Sandeep Gupta, Scientist F, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun

Afternoon slot (02:30 PM to 05:30 PM)

Workshop Registration Fees: ₹1000

Workshop Objectives / Expected Learnings

 • To introduce the principles and applications of Tricho-Taxonomy in wildlife and forensic science.
• To understand and differentiate cuticular and medullary hair structures across species
• To enhance species identification accuracy for wildlife monitoring, poaching cases, and forensic investigation.
• To provide a basic understanding of SEM and its role in Biological, Environmental and material sciences. 

Workshop Outline 

 Duration                Activity
0-30 minutes        Introduction and slide presentation
30-60 minutes        Hands on Activity for Cuticular patterns
60-90 minutes        Hands on Activity for Medullary patterns
90-150 minutes Overview of SEM and Sample preparation
150-180 minutes Conclusion and Q&A