IPS Board Meeting in Tenerife, Canary Islands

[www.dadluvsu.com]

I am only a member of the IPS (and only knew it existed) directly due to Palmtalk and it's participants.

[Carlo Morici]

Hello from Tenerife. We are ready to receive the directors this week. Most people will land tomorrow and the meeting will start on Friday.

There is a really hot weather in this days but cooler air will come in tomorrow. All is ready and the huge works at the Palmetum in Santa Cruz finished about 2 months ago but it is not yet open to the public. The directors will have a privilege to see a preview of the fully restored park.

Carlo

[BS Man about Palms]

Hello from Tenerife. We are ready to receive the directors this week. Most people will land tomorrow and the meeting will start on Friday.

There is a really hot weather in this days but cooler air will come in tomorrow. All is ready and the huge works at the Palmetum in Santa Cruz finished about 2 months ago but it is not yet open to the public. The directors will have a privilege to see a preview of the fully restored park.

Carlo

Great news carlo! I hope some pictures will be taken!!

[bgl]

Still at Hotel Botanico in Tenerife, so photos will have to wait until later, but lots of photos have been taken over the last few days. We had a very productive BOD meeting and after that it was time to visit a number of gardens, private as well as public. Tenerife is a very beautiful island. Lots of similarity with Hawaii in general and the Big Island specifically. The Biennial in 2014 has been voted on and decided and it will be in south Florida and probably the last week of May 2014, with an excursion to Key West.

More if and when I have the opportunity!

[Jason in Orlando]

Woohoo!!!

[Jeff Searle]

So, the little birdie that shared the possible news was correct. The excitment starts today!!!

[Mandrew968]

I'm happy to hear I won't have to buy a plane ticket! How does it work on the fees if you wanna participate, but don't need any food, room and board?

[Carlo Morici]

This is from todays newspaper about the visit of the board of directors to the private garden of Jesús Fernández.

It is in Spanish. There were lots of pictures but only one was kept in the website.

http://www.laopinion.es/tenerife/2011/10/17/crece-reina-plantas/374645.html

Today we visited the island of La Gomera to see the Phoenix canariensis habitats and understand sap extraction. We have also being interviewed by a local TV and also by another press agency.

We are famous!

[DoomsDave]

Still at Hotel Botanico in Tenerife, so photos will have to wait until later, but lots of photos have been taken over the last few days. We had a very productive BOD meeting and after that it was time to visit a number of gardens, private as well as public. Tenerife is a very beautiful island. Lots of similarity with Hawaii in general and the Big Island specifically. The Biennial in 2014 has been voted on and decided and it will be in south Florida and probably the last week of May 2014, with an excursion to Key West.

More if and when I have the opportunity!

GOOD TO GO!

[Jeff Searle]

I'm happy to hear I won't have to buy a plane ticket! How does it work on the fees if you wanna participate, but don't need any food, room and board?

Andrew,

Don't hold your breath on that scenario. It's all or nothing....

[buccaneers37]

Now it's your turn to BBQ Ken!!

[Gileno Machado]

Great news for 2014...South Florida is heaven for palms...and hopefully we'll have the chance to check again both Fairchild and Montgomery's, among other incredible places...lots of possibilities for other nice post tour destinations closeby too...

[PalmatierMeg]

Hooray! I'll finally get to attend a Biennial. I'd dearly love to go overseas but I can't afford it. I'll mark my calendar.

[SW_FL_Palms]

I'm happy to hear I won't have to buy a plane ticket! How does it work on the fees if you wanna participate, but don't need any food, room and board?

Andrew,

Don't hold your breath on that scenario. It's all or nothing....

Since the majority of attendees are from FL, with CA in 2nd place, don't you think it will be handled a little different than when we travel to a foreign locale ?

I think that IPS should consider a la carte for a venue where there are a lot of "locals". They did out in Orange County back in 1996.

People that live nearby aren't going to want to stay at a hotel ...

[Kim]

There is precedent for two separate prices for locals and travelers, one was Hawaii 2004.

[bgl]

I'm not quite back in Hawaii so will add more detail when I'm back home, but just wanted to add to what Kim said above. In 2004 when the Biennial was in Hawaii, we did have one price for the full Biennial for all those who were visiting from elsewhere and another much lower price for Hawaii residents. It's much too early to get into this kind of detail for the 2014 Biennial, but it's certainly something we need to have in mind. In 2004 those who lived in Hawaii could visit the gardens that were on the program, provided they had their own transportation. A few meals, like the Welcome and Farewell dinners were included.

[bgl]

Here's a brief summary of the Board of Directors' meeting in Puerto de la Cruz on the island of Tenerife on Friday, October 14th, 2011.

The meeting was held at Hotel Botanico and we began at 8:30 am. 19 Directors (out of a total of 31) were present. A quorum is 15. The morning was spent on Old business, which primarily involved discussing financial results and membership trends for 2010 and 2011, as well as listening to, and approving, a number of reports by the various committees.

An Endowment meeting was held early afternoon, and it was agreed to give out a total of $19,432 from our Endowment Fund to a number of different individuals and organizations. It would be inappropriate for me to give out more detail at this time since these individuals have not yet been informed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent on New Business, and there were a couple of discussions that will be of interest to most here on PalmTalk:

1 - The Biennial. After a spirited discussion, the rate structure was decided on. See my addition in post #1 in the Thailand Biennial thread in the Biennial sub-forum for full details.

2 - Continued, and increased, funding of PalmTalk. This was voted on, and passed without any serious discussion. The IPS is fully committed to the future of PalmTalk. One aspect that has already been brought up here on PalmTalk in the past is to add a Donate function through PayPal, and a motion was actually made for this at the BOD Meeting and voted on unanimously. We will attempt to implement this as soon as possible.

3 - The Interim BOD meeting in 2013 will take place at Inkaterra in Peru. Accessible through Puerto Maldonado Airport in the Amazonian rainforest. This will probably be in the fall of 2013. Director Fernando Roca is responsible for arrangements. Anyone who is interested in being actively involved with the IPS and experiencing interesting Interim Board meetings in beautiful and exotic places should get their nomination to the Nomating Committee within the next couple of months. I'll be happy to assist anyone who has questions.

4 - Biennial in 2014 will be in Miami, and tentative schedule is for the last week of May, with a three day excursion to Key West.

After the BOD meeting on Friday October 14th, the entire group, which included 11 IPS members from Mainland Spain, toured the island of Tenerife, and thoroughly enjoyed the scenery and the hospitality we were greeted with. For more details, as well as photos, see Kim's Tenerife thread in Discussing Palm Trees.

If there are any questions, fire away!

[Jeff Searle]

Bo, no questions, I just want to thank you and the entire BOD's that took the time away from their daily schedules and commit to keeping the Palm Society a strong, structurally sound organization that it is. I appreciate it.

Jeff

[CharlieM]

Thanks for the update.

I would like to learn more about the endowments can you direct me to some area of Palmtalk or is this in a report somewhere?

Charlie M

[bgl]

Jeff and Charlie, you're welcome!

Here are the nine endowment requests we had received:

Endowment Requests

Received for October 2011 IPS Endowment Fund Grants

The nine (9) complete (and compliant) IPS Endowment Fund proposals received are listed below in an alphabetical order with the order having no bearing on consideration of any of these funding applications.

(1). Belize Botanic Gardens, Belize, submitted by Heather duPlooy and Sinead McCormick (submitted in August 2010.) Grant Application requested funds “to educate Belizean schoolchildren on the importance and pleasures of botanic diversity and preservation via a holistic field experience that focuses on indigenous Belizean palms, their uses and sustainability” with a target group of “at least 660 school children.” A secondary objective is: “To improve our existing infrastructure so that we can accommodate more school children and adults for educational purposes in the future, with conservation-related educational displays, hands-on educational activities, conferences and meetings on-site.” Funding request to IPS is for US$5,000 (with another $3,310 being provided toward the project by the BBG itself).

(2). Ángela Cano, Graduate Student in MS Biology program, University of Geneva, Switzerland, under direction of Dr. Fred Stauffer (Curator, Researcher in Neotropical Palmae. Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la Ville de Genève), Dr. Mathieu Perret (Curator, Researcher in Gesneriaceae. Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques de la Ville de Genève) and Dr. Daniel Jeanmonod (Senior Professor at the University of Geneva, Switzerland). Monographic Revision and Phylogenetic Position of the Genus Trithrinax Mart. In the Neotropical Tribe Crysophilaea (Arecaceae: Coryphoideae). [Financial needs of this research project are divided in two categories: fieldwork and molecular analysis. The amount requested from The IPS will be used to cover most of the costs of molecular analysis [DNA Extraction, PCR, Purification of PCR products, DNA sequencing (3 loci/100 samples)], (with the field work $6,800 being separately funded by Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences (SCNAT) and Bourse Augustin Lombard)]. The request to IPS is for US$3,000 (with an additional $1,150 being provided by Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques (CJB)).

(3). Dr. Thomas L.P. Couvreur, Researcher at the Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Montpellier, France.; Phylogeny and biogeography of the African rattan subtribe Ancistrophyllinae (Calamoideae). Funding request to IPS is for US$4,880.00 to “undertake a one-month field trip to South Cameroon, in the Campo Ma’an National Park and surroundings in order to collect rattan and other palm species.” The data collected will help generate a species level phylogeny of the subtribe Ancistrophyllinae in order to clarify the relationships between species and the biogeography of the clade in relation to the evolution of African tropical rain forests. A complete proposal with budget and supporting CVs was received in December 2009. Partial funding would be acceptable.

(4). Dr. Henry Ford, Great Pulteney St, Bath BA2 4DL UK , together with Dr B.S. Kholia, Botanical Survey of India, Sikkim Himalayan Circle, P. O. Raj-Bhawan, Baluwakhani, Gangtok, Sikkim - 737 103, INDIA and Dr. John Beeching, School of Biological Sciences, Bath University, Bath, UK. Execute proposed plan for the conservation of Trachycarpus takil. A complete proposal with budget and supporting CVs was received in December 2010. Request to IPS is for £875 (US$1,442 at May 2011 rate of exchange). Partial funding would be acceptable as long as it covers air fare and transport (£650.00 or ~US$1,070).

(5) Dr. Andrew Henderson (The New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx, NY, USA) and Christine Bacon, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Biology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. A Revision of Rhapis, based on Morphological and Molecular Data. . A complete proposal with budget and supporting CVs was received in December 2010. Request to IPS is for US$5,876. Partial funding would be acceptable.

(6). Alejandro Hernandez Yañez, Biologist working with The Nature Conservancy in Chiapas, Mexico, with project advice from Miguel Angel Perez Farrera, Ph.D. in natural resources, working at Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas. Conservation and sustainable production of palms and cycads in mountain of Chiapas, Mexico. A complete proposal with budget and supporting CVs was received in December 2010. Funding request to IPS is for US$8,500. Partial funding would be acceptable if not under the threshold amount of US$3,600.

(7). Miguel Angel Perez Farrera, Ph.D. in natural resources, working at Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas with additional project work by Eduardo Estanislao Espinoza Medinilla (Facultad de Topografía, Ciudad Universitaria Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas) and Sergio Lopez Mendoza and Alejandro Nettel Hernanz (both with Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas). Ecology and Genetic Variation of Endangered Palms of Southern Mexico. A complete proposal with budget and supporting CVs was received in December 2010 – with some remaining questions adequately answered in Miguel’s follow-up email of 18 January 2011. Funding request to IPS is for US$18,500. Partial funding would be acceptable if not under the threshold amount of US$13,000 needed “to pay a scholarship or to pay a laboratory tecnical”.

(8). Dr. Deborah Woodcock, Ph.D. in PaleoBotany, Marsh Institute, Clark School of Geography, Worcester MA 01610, The Piedra Chamana palm fossils: diversity and paleoenvironmental significance. Full proposal with budget and supporting CV was received in December 2010. Funding request to IPS is for US$3,980. Partial funding would be acceptable.

(9). Yusuf Abdusaheed Olabisi (A. O. Yusuf) research officer in Plant Breeding at the Nigerian Institute For Oil Palm Research (NIFOR), Benin City, Nigeria, with Co-Principal Investigator Dr. E. C. Okolo, (Director of Research (Cytogenetic & Plant Breeding), NIFOR, plus other collaborating NIFOR investigators as listed in full proposal. Conservation, rehabilitation, flora studies and reproduction of palms species in NIFOR palmetum. Full proposal with budget and supporting CVs (embedded within main proposal document) was received in December 2010. Funding request to IPS is for US$5,133.33. Partial funding would be acceptable. Primary need is “for proper rehabilitation of the palmetum in order to save the remaining palms from extinction and also enable more palms to be introduced and for proper studies to be commenced.”