What's
New @ Ramsar What's
New @ Ramsar
4 September 2000
Headline
story. Lake Chad Basin Commission update. The
Presidents of Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, and high-level representatives of the
Presidents of Cameroon and the Central Africa Republic met 28 July 2000 in N'Djamena
for the 10th summit meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Commission,
with the President of Sudan participating as an observer, and took a long step
forward in ensuring a sustainable future for Lake Chad and its large catchment.
SFR 40,000 grants have recently been awarded or are planned for each of the
Commission Member States by the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) Living Waters
Campaign to assist in the designation of related Ramsar sites in each of them,
and a Global Environment Facility (GEF) project has been approved specifically
for Ramsar designation and an appropriate management plan for Lake Chad and
its basin. The LCBC Heads of State agreed a Final Communique welcoming the Ramsar,
WWF, and GEF initiatives and calling for further donor support, and issued a
memorandum declaring all of Lake Chad as a transboundary Ramsar site as soon
as the relevant studies can be completed. Here
is our reprint of the Final Communique in English and French.
[4/9/00]
Headline
story. Tracts
acquired for USA Ramsar site.
Ducks Unlimited is taking a lead role in the acquisition and restoration of
two tracts of land, including Raft Creek, 4,165 acres, which is part of the
White River ecosystem, and the Hatchiecoon tract, consisting of 900 acres, both
included within the Cache-Lower White Rivers Ramsar site (81,376 hectares, designated
November 1989) in the midwestern state of Arkansas, USA. The two tracts support
one of the largest concentrations of wintering waterfowl in Arkansas. Other
partners in this public-private cooperative initiative include the Arkansas
Game and Fish Commission, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS),
the National Wild Turkey Federation, and numerous private donors. More
detail is available in this announcement to the Ramsar Forum. [31/8/00]
Headline
story. New Ramsar
Intern appointed for Asia. The
Ramsar Bureau is pleased to announce that Satiraporn Sirisampan from
Thailand has been appointed to the position of Ramsar Intern and Assistant to the Regional
Coordinator for Asia, replacing Taeko Takahashi of Japan, who completes
her one-year tenure in the post on 28 November. Ms Sirisampan is 25 years old and has a
B.Sc. in Forestry (Major: Watershed Management) from Kasetsart University, Thailand, and a
M.Sc. (Major: Hydrological Processes) from Nagoya University, Japan (with a scholarship
from the UNESCO International Hydrological Program). She is currently working as an
Environmental Assistant at the Asia-Europe Environmental Technology Centre in Bangkok. Ms
Sirisampan, who prefers to be known by her nickname "Tug", will take up her
duties in mid-November 2000. [29/8/00]
Who's where?
Marco Flores (Puerto Rico, USA) has joined the Bureau as the new Intern for the Americas and Assistant to the Regional Coordinator. He is presently working with Flor de María Salvador Pérez (Peru) on a handover of ongoing tasks, and Flor will be winding up her year's tenure in the Bureau in the coming days. [22/8/00]
From Japan the SG will fly to New York to speak at the State of the World Forum, on 6 September, at a session on "The World’s Fresh Water and Wetlands in the 21st Century". The Forum is being held at the New York Hilton and Towers, co-chaired by such individuals as Mikhail Gorbachev, Ruud Lubbers, Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall, H.E. Oscar Arias, Ted Turner, Elie Wiesel and others, bringing together some of the world’s top leadership, including many current and former heads of state, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, political and business leaders, scientists and academicians, administrators of non-governmental organizations, and so forth. While in New York, the SG will meet with UN officials to discuss Ramsar insertion in the Rio+10 process and Ramsar's contribution to the implementation of the Barbados Plan of Action for Small Island Developing States.[24/8/00]
New
on the Site: Final
Communique of the Lake Chad Basin
Commission's heads of state summit meeting; Announcement
of Okinawa Workshop for Asia-Pacific Strategy; The
Deputy Secretary General's address on MedWet and AEWA, delivered
to the Quebec 2000 INTECOL symposium on migratory bird programs. [4/9/00]
Asia-Pacific
waterbird workshop set for Okinawa, October 2000. In
the "Brisbane Initiative" (Recommendation 6.4, Ramsar COP6, 1996),
the Contracting Parties urged member States in the region to implement the Asia-Pacific
Migratory Waterbird Conservation Strategy 1996-2000 and launched the Shorebird
Network. Recommendation 7.3 (Ramsar COP7, 1999) called for greater multilateral
cooperation on the conservation of migratory waterbirds in the Asia-Pacific
region and encouraged the Parties to develop a multilateral agreement or other
arrangement to provide for the long-term conservation framework for migratory
waterbirds and their habitats. Major achievements of the1996-2000 Strategy have
been the launch of the Crane Network in 1997 at Beidaihe, China, and the Anatidae
Network in 1999 at San Jose, Costa Rica, during COP7. Now, as Taej Mundkur,
Interim Executive Director of Wetlands International-Asia Pacific, reports to
the Ramsar Forum, a workshop sponsored by Environment Agency of Japan, Environment
Australia, and Wetlands International is planned for Okinawa, Japan, in October
2000 in order to assess the progress of the existing Strategy and endorse the
final draft of the 2001-2005 Strategy and new Action Plans for three waterbird
species groups. Here is
the text of the announcement. [28/8/00]
The United Kingdom designates
four new Ramsar sites. The UK has
named four new Wetlands of International Importance, bringing the UK's total number of
Ramsar sites to 155: Black Bog (183 hectares), Northern Ireland, one of
the two largest intact active bogs in Northern Ireland with hummock and hollow pool
complexes; it represents one of the best examples of this habitat type in the UK. Fairy
Water Bogs (224 ha), Northern Ireland, an area of particular interest because it
is considered to comprise the most important concentration of lowland raised bogs in
Northern Ireland. As other bog complexes in Northern Ireland have suffered much more
severe exploitation, the overall extent of intact bog make this complex unique. Slieve
Beagh (1885 ha), Northern Ireland, a large and relatively intact example of a
blanket bog and one of the best examples of this habitat in the UK. It also contains
nationally important examples of transitional and alkaline fen and
oligotrophic/mesotrophic lakes. Firth of Tay and Eden Estuary (6923 ha),
Scotland, a complex of estuarine and coastal habitats in eastern Scotland. The site
includes extensive invertebrate-rich intertidal mudflats and sandflats created by the
massive sediment load deposited by the River Tay. Also present are large areas of reedbed
and sand-dune and a small amount of saltmarsh. The site supports an internationally
important populations of several species of wintering waterfowl. [25/8/00]
US
National Ramsar Committee announces small grants programme. The
US National Ramsar Committee, composed of leading non-governmental organizations
concerned with wetland conservation and wise use, has announced a new Small
Grants Program to assist wetlands conservation and awareness at and adjacent
to U.S. Ramsar sites. The
announcement can be read on this Web site. [23/8/00]
Assistance
sought for Lake Chad. The
following item appeared in the Environmental News Service on
3 August: "AFRICAN NATIONS SEEK GLOBAL HELP FOR LAKE CHAD. NDJAMENA,
Chad, August 3, 2000 (ENS) - Five African nations have signed an agreement to
conserve Lake Chad, the continent's most endangered wetland. They are seeking
global conservation status for the shrinking lake under the Ramsar Convention,
an international agreement that protects the wetlands of the world. For full
text and graphics visit: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/aug2000/2000L-08-03-11.html
." [22/8/00] Cf.
the text of the agreement.
Ramsar's first Intern baby. Raquel Siguenza de Micheo (Guatemala), Ramsar Intern for the Neotropics in 1997-1998, and her
husband Hugo have become "the extremely happy parents of a little baby
boy" -- Diego Alejandro MICHEO SIGUENZA. Congratulations to rdemicheo@guate.net . In her work with the
Government of Guatemala, Raquel has continued her close and informed involvement in Ramsar
issues, particularly in preparing the designation of further Wetlands of International
Importance. [22/8/00]
Adviser
for Environment and Development Cooperation joins Bureau. Since
the Conference of the Parties in 1996, the Ramsar Bureau has recognized the
importance of having an officer to work full time with the community of bilateral
and multilateral institutions providing support for environment and development
issues in developing countries and countries in transition. The proposal to
create such a position received strong support at the last Conference of the
Parties in May 1999 and was approved by the Standing Committee at its meeting
in November 1999. Now the Secretary General is pleased to announce that Mr Alain
Lambert has joined the Bureau, as of 1 August, in the new post of Senior
Policy Adviser on Environment and Development Cooperation. Here
is his announcement, with further details on the nature of the
new position. [18/8/00]
Study of cultural issues at Ramsar sites. Dave Pritchard (BirdLife
International) is visiting the Ramsar Bureau in Gland, Switzerland, 15-18
August, to collect material for a preliminary study of the role of cultural values of
wetlands in implementing the Convention. He will be delving through the Bureau's
archives seeking the cultural information provided by Contracting Parties in the Ramsar
Information Sheets for designated wetlands of international importance. [17/8/00]
Further
news from the SWS Ramsar Support Framework.
Eric Gilman, Pacific Representative
of the National Audubon Society’s Living Oceans Program and Chair of the
Society of Wetland Scientists International Chapter, writes to SWS members:
"Just a quick note to notify you that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service Office of International Affairs has agreed to award a $10,000
grant towards the Society of Wetland Scientists Ramsar Support grant program
for this year’s round of grant-making, to fund 2 proposals from the Latin
America and Caribbean region. The SWS Board agreed to create a budget line item
for the SWS Ramsar Support grant program at a level of $10,000 meaning that
this year we have a total of $20,000 to award 4 grants. Check out http://www.ramsar.org/w.n.html
for Ramsar’s kind coverage of the SWS issuance of a grant to Dr. da Silva
at last week’s Millennium Wetlands Event." egilman@lava.net
(Application guidelines for the next award cycle, for which the deadline is
1 November 2000, are available on the SWS Web site, http://www.sws.org
.) [18/8/00]
New Web site for BirdLife Vietnam. News recently received: "Greetings! My name is Quoc
and I am the Communications Officer from the BirdLife International Vietnam Programme. I
am proud to announce BirdLife Vietnam Programme’s new website. This website is
designed to improve the dissemination of information on conservation news in Vietnam,
including BirdLife Vietnam Programme’s conservation activities, and improve access to
key publications. This site also provides links to global conservation organisations and
conventions. One of the website’s objectives is to encourage further understanding of
global (and national), collaborative efforts in conserving the world’s biodiversity.
At BirdLife, we are very excited about this new development. To reach a wider audience, we would like to ask you to post our new website address on your site. Our address is: www.birdlifevietnam.com Thank you for your support and if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at my e-mail address: quoc@birdlife.netnam.vn Best wishes, Quoc" (Nguyen Phu Quoc, Communications Officer, BirdLife International Vietnam Programme, tel/fax: +84 4 851- 7217 E-mail: quoc@birdlife.netnam.vn ). [16/8/00]
Millennium Wetland
Event: SWS Ramsar Support Framework grant awarded to Eduardo da Silva. At the Quebec 2000 SWS/INTECOL Awards Banquet, 10 August, Society of Wetland Scientists
President Dr Janet Keough bestowed one of this year's US$ 5,000 awards
upon Dr Eduardo da Silva of Brazil. Dr Eric Gilman,
Chair of the SWS International Affairs Committee and administrator of the Support
Framework, introduced the presentation with these words: "In the context of the SWS
Memorandum of Cooperation with the Ramsar Convention Bureau, signed in June 1999, the
Society of Wetland Scientists approved the formation of a Ramsar Support Framework which
includes a grant program to support SWS members with Ramsar-related activities. Grants at
a level of US$ 5,000 are awarded each year on a competitive basis. This past year, we have
awarded our first grant to the Wetlands International Cambodia and Mekong Programme to
develop in-country expertise to monitor coastal habitats and to nominate a site to the
Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance. Also in this past year, we received
matching funds for the Ramsar Support Programme from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
Office of International Affairs. We used this federal grant to support a proposal from Dr
Eduardo da Silva of the Institute of Biology, Federal University of Bahia, Brazil, to
assist his efforts to collect baseline data on the wetlands of the floodplain of the Santo
Antonio Creek and wetlands from the Praia do Forte area, and to nominate a wetland from
the State of Bahia for the Ramsar List." Application guidelines for the next award
cycle, for which the deadline is 1 November 2000, are available on the SWS Web site, http://www.sws.org . [10/8/00]
Millennium
Event draws to a close in Quebec, Canada.
The Millennium Wetland Event, centering upon the annual meetings of the Society
of Wetland Scientists, INTECOL, the International Peat Society, and the International
Mire Conservation Group, featured a dizzying daily round of scientific symposia,
administrative annual meetings, poster displays, rain-soaked excursions out
on the river, and fairly loud rock-and-roll from the 6th to the 11th of August.
Some 2068 wetland enthusiasts from 77 nations were in attendance, and the Ramsar
Bureau's representatives were extremely encouraged by the interest shown in
international wetland issues, and the Ramsar Convention in particular, by so
many of the participants. Ramsar's
Nick Davidson's keynote address to the Quebec 2000's first plenary session,
7 August, is available on this Web site. [11/8/00]
BirdLife seeks Project Co-Director for Pakistan. BirdLife International is seeking a Project Co-Director
for its Palas Conservation and Development Project, Pakistan. The remote Palas valley in
Northwest Frontier Province contains the largest single tract of Western Himalayan
Temperate Forest in Pakistan and is of international importance for its biodiversity. It
is also one of the least developed and poorest parts of Pakistan, and its inhabitants
depend almost entirely upon the resources of the valley. This is an EU-funded project that
seeks to ensure that the biodiversity, extent, and ecological character of the Palas
valley are maintained and that the forest is used sustainably by local people. The post of
Project Co-Director will be based in Abbottabad, Northwest Frontier Province. The purpose
of the job is to provide technical support to the Government of Pakistan for all areas of
project implementation and management and to develop the capacity of local, regional, and
national level institutions with a view to ultimate hand-over of responsibilities for
management. The job requires a graduate with at least 5-yrs’ experience in
conservation and rural development through participatory approaches and social
organization, including at least 5-yrs’ experience of project management at a senior
level. In accordance with EC financing regulations, the Co-Director should be a national
of an EU member state. Starting salary 28,000-34,000 pounds sterling tax free, including
12% pension allowance. Please apply with a CV to Personnel Officer, BirdLife
International, Wellbrook Court, Girton Road, Cambridge CB3 0NA UK, rosina.abudulai@birdlife.org.uk. Closing
date, 25 August 2000.
Ramsar-sponsored participations. Sustainable management of urban wetlands. The 
Ramsar Convention assisted in supporting the
within-Australia travel costs of Dr Madhu Verma in her presentation of a paper on
sustainable management of wetlands, especially in India. The paper was entitled "Need
for Holistic Planning for Sustainable Management of Urban Wetland Ecosystems: A Case from
India" and was authored by Dr. Verma, Associate Professor, Indian Institute
of Forest Management, Bhopal, India, Ms. Nishita Bakshi, Senior Research Fellow,
Environmental Economics, & Ramesh P.K. Nair, Senior Research Fellow, Limnology, and it
was presented at the International Symposium on Ecosystem
Health at the Carlton Crest, Brisbane, Australia, on 14 July 2000. The
conference was organized by the International Society for Ecosystem Health and its main
theme was Transdisciplinary Approaches. The subsession under which this paper was
presented was the Economic Analysis of Ecosystem Health. The paper attempted to study the
changing needs of a growing city and how unsustainable use of an urban wetland would lead
to problems in the future. Health of the ecosystem was related to the health of the city's
population and cost and expenditures in preventive and curative measures were also
discussed in the paper. More information is available from Dr Verma, madhuver@hotmail.com . [8/8/00]
Bangladesh
designates its 2nd Ramsar site.
Bangladesh has designated its 2nd Wetland of International Importance, effective 10 July,
to join the famous Sundarbans coastal mangrove forest on the Ramsar List. Here is a brief
description of the new site, drawn from the RIS and the covering letter by Syed Marghub
Murshed, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forest.
Tanguar Haor is Bangladesh's most important freshwater wetland, extending over 9,500 ha in Sunamganj District in the northeastern part of the country; it lies in the floodplain of the Surma River, one of the main tributaries of the Brahmaputra at the base of the Meghalaya Hills in adjacent India. The area harbours some of the last vestiges of natural swamp forest and is totally flooded in the monsoon season, apart from artificial hillocks upon which homesteads are constructed. Tanguar Haor provides habitat for at least 135 fish and 208 bird species, including 92 waterbird species and 98 migratory bird species, and including 10 IUCN Red Book and 22 CITES listed species. About 30-40,000 migratory waterfowl converge on the area in the northern winter months, and rare species such as Pallas's Fish-eagle Haliaeetus leucorhyphus are relatively common and breed in the area. Tanguar Haor also supports a rich fishery and is regarded as one of the country's richest breeding grounds for freshwater fish. Threats include over-exploited fishery stocks and uncontrolled taking of waterfowl, and the local community has been denied access to the resources by leaseholders of the fishery, which has led to conflicts. Under the National Conservation Strategy Implementation Project-1, a first management plan was produced in 1997 and a new one is going into implementation in 2000, which is intended to restore access and use rights. Hunting of turtles, tortoises, and waterfowl is widespread and part of everyday life, and the way of life - living in homesteads built on mounds -- is said to be unique in this part of Bangladesh. The Ministry of Environment and Forest, at the time of designation, has requested that the site be placed on the Montreux Record as soon as that procedure can be completed. This is Ramsar's 1031st Wetland of International Importance. [27/7/00]
Bolivia
designates 3rd Ramsar site.
The Ramsar Bureau is pleased to announce that Bolivia has designated Cuenca
de Tajzara (5,500 hectares), effective 13 June 2000. Situated in the
endorrheic Tajzara basin, 45 kilometres west of the city of Tarija, at 3,700m
above sea level, the site consists of a group of seasonal, semi-permanent and
permanent lakes, high-altitude streams, marshes and high-Andean pastures. The
two permanent lakes (areas between 350 and 800 ha) serve as a refuge for 40
species of birds indigenous to the high-Andean aquatic systems, where about
90% of the high-Andean waterfowl in Bolivia is found. The area is important
for migratory shore birds, with year-round concentrations of the vulnerable
high-Andean waterfowl species Andean flamingo (Phoenicopterus andinus),
James's flamingo (P. jamesi), and Fulica cornuta. More than 30
archaeological sites have been identified near the lakes, ranging from vestiges
of primitive hunter-gatherers, pre-Incan hydraulic constructions, cave paintings
illustrating aquatic birds, and three Incan roads that lead from the basin to
the valley. The main economic activity is the raising of sheep, llamas and cattle;
agriculture is limited by the climate, though the families in the area have
an average of ½ to 1 hectare for subsistence crops. There is a visitors' centre,
a bird-observation site, information material, and facilities for school visits.
There are plans to draw up a management plan with the participation of the local
communities. The site forms part of the Reserva Biológica de la Cordillera de
Sama, which is managed by the Servicio Nacional de Areas Protegidas through
the NGO Protección del Medio Ambiente Tarija (PROMETA). [25/7/00]
Announcement.
Ramsar Bureau seeks Intern
for Africa. The Ramsar
Bureau is seeking applications for the position of Intern/Assistant to the Regional
Coordinator for Africa. For this internship the applicants must be nationals
of countries on the African continent. The position requires a very high level
of English or French and an ability to work in the other language. Qualified
candidates from that region are encouraged to read the general
terms of reference for Ramsar Internships and apply by 15 September
2000, to begin on 15 January 2001. [24/7/00]
Le Bureau Ramsar recherche des candidats au poste de stagiaire / assistant(e) au Coordonnateur Régional pour l'Afrique. Les candidats seront ressortissant(e)s d'un pays africain. Le poste exige une maîtrise parfaite de l'anglais ou du français, ainsi que la capacité à travailler dans l'autre langue. Les candidats ressortissants de la région et dont le profil correspond à ces exigences sont invités à prendre connaissance du cahier des charges pour les stages Ramsar et à poser leur candidature d'ici au 15 septembre 2000 au plus tard, le stage débutant le 15 janvier 2001. La durée normale d'un stage est d'une année. Ayez l'obligeance de faire circuler cette annonce parmi vos connaissances.
More
to follow. Watch this space.
Feedback and suggestions to: the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney
28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail
). Updated
regularly by Dwight Peck, Ramsar Bureau.
Back
Issues of the Bulletin Board. Early in every month, the current edition
of the Bulletin Board is copied to the Ramsar
Archives page, and you can dig through the back issues there --
their contents are still indexed on the Global
Index page in perpetuity.
visitors
to this site since........ Wait . . . . . . . ? . . . . . . ?? Oooh, I
must have dropped it.