Dear Colleague:

We invite you to the first meeting calling for the Gulf of Mannar to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The meeting will be held at the historic Linnean Society of London, UK, from 25 - 26 November 2008. The theme for the meeting is "The Gulf of Mannar as a World Heritage Site and its Spiritual and Scientific Relevance to the Earth's Changing Climate".

Our goals for this two-day meeting are simple but bold - to raise awareness of the diverse global importance of the Gulf of Mannar, and call for the Gulf of Mannar to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage mixed Natural and Cultural site - an aim vital in the global campaign to preserve biodiversity. We also hope to promote an unprecedented international campaign calling for cancellation of the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project (SSCP). As you may know, this project threatens one of the world's most pristine marine regions, the many marine species living there that already face extinction and the culturally and spiritually significant Adam's Bridge, also known as Ram Sethu.

World-leading conservationists, ecologists and religious scholars will present the case for designating the Gulf of Mannar as a World Heritage Site and explain why the SSCP should be abandoned. The area's spiritual and scientific relevance to the Earth's changing climate will also be explored.

We also believe the London meeting will provide an effective and ongoing forum for the growing number of scientific and cultural organizations from across the globe that share a vision of sustainable development. It is our hope that this forum will send a powerful message to the world's leaders challenging them to engage with and support scientific and cultural debate in any developmental project that impacts upon the Earth's changing climate or our sacred sites.

A distinguished International Advisory Board headed by Dr. Peter Bunyard is supporting organization of the meeting. Renowned scientists and religious scholars such as Dr. Anantanand Rambachan will make presentations in the areas, which will be affected by the SSCP, including: -

· Environmental/Ecological/Marine Life/Migratory Birds
· Ram Sethu/Adam's Bridge as a breakwater
· Threat to human livelihood
· Affects on agriculture
· Project economics
· Damage due to marine accidents/cyclones/general pollution
· Environmental disasters
· Cultural and religious perspectives
· Defiance of global conventions/local laws
· Security concerns

Among the participants will be Dr. Wangari Maathai, who received a Nobel Peace Prize for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace. She will send a message by video link from Kenya.

To help us plan better, we would request you and members of your organization to confirm your attendance by November 2oth. Please call Anna Karlsson at 0207 229 2093 or send her an e-mail at info@rainforestconcern.org to confirm your attendance.

Peter Bunyard, UK
Ranil Senanayake, Sri Lanka
Maaike Hendriks, Netherlands
Co-Chairpersons of the Meeting