About the Ramsar Convention

The Ramsar Standing Committee

Ramsar Standing Committee, 2006-2008

The 9th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties elected a new Standing Committee to oversee Convention matters during the next triennium until the next COP set for the Republic of Korea in 2008, and the inaugural meeting of the new Standing Committee (SC34) elected its Chair and Vice Chair, Mr Paul Mafabi (Uganda) [photo left] as Chair and Mr John Bowleg (Bahamas) as Vice Chair. The present composition of the Standing Committee reflects the regional proportions mandated by Resolution VII.1, outlined below. The first full meeting of the new Standing Committee took place in Gland in April 2005.

Africa: Benin, Gabon, Kenya, and Malawi
Asia: China, Islamic Republic of Iran, and Thailand
Europe: Austria, Czech Republic, Georgia, and Slovenia
Neotropics: Bahamas, Ecuador, and El Salvador
North America: United States
Oceania: Samoa
COP9 host country: Uganda
COP10 host country: Republic of Korea
Permanent observers: Netherlands, Switzerland, BirdLife International, IUCN-The World Conservation Union, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Wetlands International, WWF International. [The host countries of the Ramsar Secretariat and the Ramsar Sites Database and the five International Organization Partners are welcomed as Permanent Observers.]

Minutes, Summaries, Participants Lists, and/or Photographs are available for all 36 Standing Committee meetings since the SC's founding in 1987.

Subsidiary bodies of the Standing Committee, 2006-2008 Subgroup on Finance (established by Decision SC16-1, 1995) Subgroup on COP10 (Decision SC34-6) Subgroup on the Strategic Plan (Decision SC34-5) Management Working Group (Resolution IX.24, Decision SC34-3) CEPA Oversight Panel (Resolution IX.18, Decision SC34-12) STRP Oversight Committee (Resolution IX.11)

Ramsar Standing Committee, 2003-2005

The 8th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties elected a new Standing Committee to oversee Convention matters during the next triennium until the next COP set for Uganda in 2005. Later the same day, the inaugural meeting of the new Standing Committee (SC28) elected its Chair and Vice Chair and expressed its gratitude for the work of the previous SC, 1999-2002. The present composition of the Standing Committee reflects the regional proportions mandated by Resolution VII.1 and includes one Party that will take its seats as soon as its regional quota has been achieved. The new SC elected Dr Gordana Beltram (Slovenia) [photo left: ENB] as its Chair and Mr Javad Amin Mansour (Islamic Republic of Iran) as its Vice-Chair for the next triennium. The first full meeting of the new Standing Committee took place in Gland in late February 2003, and the next one will be 6-10 June 2005.

There are presently 14 regional and two ex officio members of the Standing Committee, chosen on a proportional basis from the Ramsar regions (Resolution VII.1):

a) one representative for regional groups with 1 to 12 Contracting Parties,
b) two representatives for regional groups with 13 to 24 Contracting Parties,
c) three representatives for regional groups with 25 to 36 Contracting Parties,
d) four representatives for regional groups with 37 to 48 Contracting Parties,
e) five representatives for regional groups with 49 to 60 Contracting Parties.

The present composition:

Africa: Botswana, Ghana, Morocco
Asia: Indonesia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Japan
Europe: Armenia, Austria, Romania, Slovenia
Neotropics: Argentina, Nicaragua. (Bahamas will join as soon as the Convention comes into force for the 25th Party from this region.)
North America: Canada
Oceania: Papua New Guinea
COP8 host country: Spain
COP9 host country: Uganda
Permanent observers: Netherlands, Switzerland, BirdLife International, IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Wetlands International, WWF International.

At the 7th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, held in San José, Costa Rica, 10-18 May 1999, the Parties elected a new Standing Committee to guide the Convention's progress and oversee the work of the Ramsar Bureau until the 8th Meeting, slated for Spain in 2002. At SC23, the new SC’s first meeting, Mr Stephen Hunter (Head of Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia, photo left) was elected as Chair of the Standing Committee, and Mr Paul Mafabi (Manager of the National Wetlands Programme, Ministry of Water, Land and Environment, Uganda) was elected Vice Chair. Following the new proportional representation system adopted in Resolution VII.1, there are now 15 members of the Committee, rather than nine as heretofore.

The Regional Representatives for each region are:
Africa: Algeria, Togo, Uganda
Asia: India, Japan
Europe: Armenia, France, Norway, the Slovak Republic
Neotropics: Argentina, Trinidad and Tobago
North America: Mexico
Oceania: Australia

Other members of the new Standing Committee are:
Costa Rica, as host to the most recent COP, and
Spain, as host to the next one.

Permanent Observers on the Standing Committee are:
Switzerland, as host to the secretariat;
Wetlands International, which maintains the Ramsar Database, among other services;
The Netherlands, host to Wetlands International, and
IUCN - The World Conservation Union, which provides administrative services for the Bureau.

The two other formal International Organization Partners are Invited Observers:
WWF International and
BirdLife International.

The new Subgroup on Finance was determined to be Algeria, Argentina, Armenia, Japan, and Mexico, with Armenia as the Chair. The next SC meeting has been set for 29 November-3 December 1999.

Standing Committee, 1996-1999

At the 6th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, held in Brisbane, Australia, 19-27 March 1996, the Parties elected a new Standing Committee to guide the Convention's progress and oversee the work of the Ramsar Bureau until the 7th Meeting, slated for Costa Rica in 1999. At the 18th Meeting of the Standing Committee, 27 March 1996, the first meeting for the new group, the members re-elected Hungary, represented by Ms Louise Lakos (photo left), as chairperson of the Committee for the next triennium. They also selected the important Subgroup on Finance and chose the United States to chair it.

The Regional Representatives for each region are:

• Africa: Senegal
• Asia: Malaysia
• Eastern Europe: Hungary
• Neotropics: Uruguay
• North America: USA
• Oceania: Papua New Guinea
• Western Europe: Germany
  

The Alternate Members for each region are:
• Africa: Uganda
• Asia: Islamic Republic of Iran
• Eastern Europe: Russian Federation
• Neotropics: Panama
• North America: Canada
• Oceania: New Zealand
• Western Europe: France

Other members of the new Standing Committee are:

• Australia, as host to the most recent COP, and
• Costa Rica as host to the next one.

Permanent Observers on the Standing Committee are:

• Switzerland, as host to the secretariat;
• Wetlands International, which maintains the Ramsar Database, among other services;
• The Netherlands, host to Wetlands International, and
• IUCN - The World Conservation Union, which provides administrative services for the Bureau.

The two other formal partner Organizations are Invited Observers:

• WWF International and
• BirdLife International.

Since the inception of the Ramsar Standing Committee, its Chairs and Vice Chairs have been

For further information about the Standing Committee or the Convention itself, please contact: The Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ). First posted 21 May 1996, 16 January 2008, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.