KATHMANDU, Dec4: The opening ceremony of the 10th Asia For Animals Conference was held on Monday at Hotel Yak & Yeti, Durbar Marg. The Asia for Animals Coalition brought together 23 of the world’s leading animal welfare organizations who shared major focus on improving conditions for animals in Asia. Hosted by The Jane Goodall Institute Nepal under the theme ‘Changing Human Behavior’, the conference assembled animal professionals, advocates, scientists and scholars from over 30 countries. The inauguration speech for the conference was delivered by French writer and Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard where he focused his talk on the importance of all creatures to maintain a peaceful balance in nature cycle and the key role of humans to work as per the betterment of all the sentient beings on earth.

The conference was a meeting of great minds from all across the world as it served as a platform for networking and sharing experiences with those leading the way in animal welfare and environmental conservation. 

Khenpo Chonyi Rangdrol, Suzanne Rogers, Mark Earls (aka HERDmeister), Anna Cabrera, Pei Feng Su, Steven M Wise, Chu Tseng-Hung, Dr Andrew N Rowan, Manoj Gautam, Grace Ge Gabriel, Alex Mayers, Faizan Jaleel, Hemantta Raj Mishra and Dr Nanditha Krishnawere the keynote speakers for the conference who presented their research works and presentations on varied issues of animal welfare, understanding human behavior and on ways to influence behavior to bring meaningful change.

Abbot of Thrangu Tara Abbey Nunnery, Khenpo Chonyi Rangdrol held an insightful talk on compassion and empathy being observed as the key contributors to lead kind behavior towards all the creatures on earth. Recollecting the teachings of Buddha, he stressed on the need for humans to practice what they preach and not inflict any harm to the innocent creatures.
Furthermore, Founder of Human Behavior Change for Animals, Suzanne Rogers, delivered a presentation on ‘Animal Protection: The Human Element’ highlighting on the four pillars of Human Behavior Change (HBC) which were considered at the level of the individual, community or on a larger scale.

Similarly, Writer and Strategist, Mark Earls delivered a presentation on ‘Copy, Copy, Copy: A Better Map for Behavior Change’ where he ran an interactive survey on audience implying to fact that human behavioral action is much influenced and driven by the actions they see around them.
International Advisor at Humane Society International, Hemanta Raj Mishra presented a Nepal Case Study on People, Parks and Wildlife Preservation in the 21st Century highlighting the historical overview and proposing solutions on preserving wildlife in Nepal. 
“It is a matter of privilege for me to attend the conference for the first time as a keynote speaker. Although I have been working in the US for past few years now, I have been updated with Nepal’s progressive attempts on wildlife conservation which makes me proud to have dedicated my works for the welfare of animals since 1967 in Nepal,” added Mishra.

The conference will be held till December 5.