XTBG acts as a key institution in charge of overseeing national level policy emerged from science-based research to implementing these policies and other actions of the “belt and road initiative (BRI)” in the region when it comes to biodiversity inventory and conservation. Its geographical location, which is often referred to as the Southeast gate to tropical Asia – XTBG is located < 200 km from Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam --, confers to XTBG an ideal venue to discuss regional biodiversity related issues and planning. Moreover, with its known influence in the region when it comes to talents training, biodiversity conservation, and being at the core of the Mekong River region, can be leveraged to gather the global community of students, policy-makers, scientists to discuss and tackle issues related to tropical biodiversity and conservation. In addition, XTBG aims to serve as a platform where for insistence public could witness the power of showing case tangible actions and benefits of biodiversity conservation to enable public engagement with achieving biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. XTBG has led previously important project target “zero extinction” for example, it has a rich experience in hosting diverse national and international conferences, symposia, roundtable dialogue. We also see this conference as an opportunity to think more about how an ATBC conference can have on-line elements that enlarge its capacity and inclusivity. Since we have learned so much about on-line conferencing during the pandemic, and because the venue has excellent technological hardware, we can increase the impact of the conference through live-streaming (and thereafter videos that can increase outreach on Youtube or similar platforms), as well as making it inclusive to people who cannot attend, whether they be unable to travel (such as disabled persons or caregivers), or unable to afford the expenses. These initiatives will also lower the conference’s carbon footprint.
