What's
New @ Ramsar What's
New @ Ramsar
1 October 2001
Headline
story. Australia names its 57th Ramsar site. The Bureau is pleased to announce that the Commonwealth
of Australia has designated its 57th Ramsar site, as of 29 August 2001: the Edithvale-Seaford Wetlands (261 hectares,
38°04’S 145°07’E) comprises two separate wetlands near Melbourne, including
both freshwater and brackish lakes (types P, Q, R), both with similar morphology and
ecological characteristics and both under an extensive rehabilitation and management
regime by Melbourne Water. They are of exceptional significance as examples of
cost-effective management of wetlands in an urban setting to provide conservation
benefits, manage storm water, and encourage environmental research and education. The site
meets Criteria 1 on uniqueness and 2 on support for vulnerable species, and surpasses the
1% threshold for Sharp-tailed Sandpipers (Calidris acuminata). Both wetlands
remained after the draining of the once extensive Carrum Carrum Swamp in the 1860s, but
additional local draining and encroachments by farming and grazing have continued into
this century. In recent decades active flooding has been pursued through management
intervention; in the 1980s ingress of saline groundwater resulted in brackish rather than
fresh water in the artificial components of the site, but pumping from nearby creeks is
returning the site to a freshwater system. A management plan and birdwatching facilities
are in place, and education programmes are run by a local NGO. [01/10/01]
Older headline story. Sanbanze landfill cancelled. Following his
visit to Sanbanze mudflats on Tokyo Bay, 2 September, Secretary General Delmar
Blasco met with the Governor of Chiba Prefecture, Ms Akiko Domoto,
and discussed the situation there. Now Maggie
Suzuki of Japan
Wetlands Action Network reports: "On
September 26th, Governor Domoto of Chiba prefecture announced in the Chiba Prefectural
Assembly that the remaining 101 hectares of landfill planned at Sanbanze tidal flat in
Tokyo Bay were cancelled. Governor Domoto had promised to 'clean
slate' landfill development at Sanbanze
when she was elected Governor in April this year, but this announcement finally
constituted the actual cancellation of two projects, one in Ichikawa and one in Funabashi,
scaled down in 1999 from over 700 ha. of landfill. The announcement comes in the wake of a
'symposium' held by the Prefecture and attended by Gov. Domoto late
last month, in which most of the twenty citizens invited to give an opinion opposed the
remaining landfill projects. Delmar Blasco, Secretary-General of the international Ramsar
Convention on Wetlands,
visited the site on Sept. 2nd, and the Japan Wetlands Action Network held its annual
International Wetland Symposium in Ichikawa on Sept. 15-16. Local citizens' groups and
non-governmental organizations are celebrating, after a battle to save this remnant
natural tidal environment for 30 years. We extend our appreciation to all of you who have
lent your cooperation and support over the years. Thank you! Most cordially, Maggie Suzuki,
Japan Wetlands Action Network, International Liaison, BYG05310@nifty.ne.jp". [27/09/01]
Who's where?
Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, Najam Khurshid, Regional Coordinator for Asia, and Najam's assitant "Tug" Sirisampan are in Bangkok, Thailand, for the Southeast Asia Ramsar subregional meeting, 1-3 October. [01/10/01]
Who was where? Cumulated record of travels throughout the year.
New
on the Site:
Terms of reference for Ramsar Mission
to Germany; Draft agenda for the 26th meeting of the Standing Committee,
December 2001: English, Français,
Español [26/09/01]
Announcement.
Ramsar Bureau
seeks Intern for the Americas.
The Ramsar Bureau is seeking applications for the position of Intern/Assistant
to the Regional Coordinator for the Americas. For this internship the applicants
must be nationals of countries from the Americas. The position requires full
ability to work in English and a mother-tongue-level of Spanish. Qualified candidates
from that region are encouraged to read the
general terms of reference for Ramsar Internships and apply
by 31 October 2001, to begin on 1 February 2002. Annette Keller, Ramsar. [27/09/01]
Ramsar
Advisory Mission to Mühlenberger Loch Ramsar site, Germany.
On 23 January 2001 the Federal Republic of Germany informed the Ramsar Bureau
of its wish to restrict the boundary of the Mühlenberger Loch Ramsar site, an
extensive area of tidal mudflats on the Elbe River near Hamburg, in accordance
with Article 2.5 of the Convention, and proposed compensatory measures as indicated
in Article 4.2. In collaboration with the Federal Ministry of the Environment,
Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety, the Ramsar Bureau is visiting the area
24-26 September in order, briefly put, to examine the manner in which the “urgent
national interest” clause in Article 2.5 was invoked and study the compensation
measures proposed. Accompanying Ramsar’s Dr Tobias Salathé on this 45th
Ramsar Advisory Mission are an international legal expert, David Pritchard of
BirdLife International, and an expert on mudflats ecology, Dr Mike Pienkowski,
in addition to Dr Fritz Dieterich from the Federal Ministry, officials of the
Hamburg Environment Authority, and representatives of the NABU/BUND NGO. The
mission's terms of reference are
available here, and the resulting report will be available in due
course. [26/09/01]
New Ramsar Intern for Europe
appointed. The Bureau is pleased to
announce that Mr Sergey Dereliev of Bulgaria
has been selected as the next Intern for Europe/Assistant to the Regional Coordinator for
Europe, to begin as soon as Swiss working papers are cleared later in the northern autumn.
He replaces Inga Raçinska (as if anyone
could) of Latvia. Sergey has an MSc in Biology, with specialization in zoology of
vertebrates and anthropology, from Sofia University, and speaks English, Russian, and
Bulgarian. He presently works with the BirdLife International partner in Bulgaria, BSPB,
and is serving as project manager for the UNDP/GEF project "Study of capacity
building needs of Bulgarian biodiversity conservation organizations in the area of
GIS" as part of the establishment of the CBD Clearing-House Mechanism in Bulgaria. He
is involved in the management of several Ramsar sites along the Black Sea coast,
cofinanced by the Swiss SDC. He is presently in The Netherlands serving as a mentor in the
RIZA/WATC International Course in Wetland Managment, which draws to a close in early
October. The Bureau welcomes Mr Dereliev and looks forward to greeting him in the
secretariat. [25/09/01]
Announcement.
Seminar set for Argentina,
November. An international
seminar on inland fisheries in Latin America, supported by the Universidad Nactional
del Litoral, the Ramsar Convention's Wetlands for the Future, IUCN - Sudamérica,
and the Coalición Ríos Vivos, will be held in Santa Fe, Argentina, 23-25 November.
Here is the Spanish and
English language announcement, with more details, from Fundación
PROTEGER. [24/09/01]
Bolivia
names three very large new Ramsar sites. At
ceremonies on 17 September 2001 presided over by the Minister of Sustainable
Development and Planning, Dr. Ramiro Cavero, and attended by
the Ramsar Secretary General Delmar Blasco
and Mr Denis Landenbergue of The
World Wide Fund for Nature’s Living Waters Campaign, Bolivia designated
three extremely large and promising wetland sites for the List of Wetlands of
International Importance. It should be mentioned that WWF-Bolivia
assisted the Government of Bolivia materially in the preparation of site designation
data, and that all three sites have also been enlisted as WWF "Gifts to
the Earth". The Bolivian Pantanal, at more than 3 million hectares (30,000
km2), becomes the fourth largest Ramsar site in the world (after Botswana’s
Okavango, Canada’s Queen Maud Gulf, and Tanzania's Malagarasi-Muyovozi),
and Bolivia becomes the fifth largest Ramsar Contracting Party in terms of pure
surface area, following Canada, Russia, Botswana, and Brazil. Bolivia now has
six Ramsar sites and the Convention has 1094. WWF's press release on these designations
is available in English, French, and Spanish at http://ramsar.org/w.n.bolivia_wwf3.htm.
The new sites are Los Bañados del Izozog y el
río Parapetí (615,882 hectares, 18°27’S 061°49’W),
El Palmar de las Islas y las Salinas de San José
(856,754 ha, 19°15’S 061°00’W), El Pantanal
Boliviano (3,189,888 ha, 18°00’S 058°30’W) -
brief descriptions are available
here (English, français,
español). [23/09/01]
Ramsar
and climate change at Kushiro meeting.
Because, owing to many previous commitments, the Ramsar Bureau was unable to
participate in the International Workshop on Climate Change and Wetland
Conservation, Kushiro, Japan, 20-21 September 2001, Dr
Taej Mundkur of Wetlands International,
one of the Convention's International Organization Partners, agreed to make
a keynote workshop presentation on behalf of the Ramsar Convention, in addition
to his own contributions to the meeting, and also to deliver this statement
from the Secretary General to the high-level segment of the meeting --
"The
Ramsar Convention, international cooperation, climate change and wetlands",
a worthy text, is available here.
In addition, at the same workshop, George Begg of ERISS (Australia's
Environmental Institute of the Supervising Scientist) is offering a presentation
of the Asian Wetland Inventory, which has been endorsed by Ramsar's Standing
Committee, as a tool for monitoring climate change effects on Asian wetlands.
[20/09/01]
The
United Kingdom names "Isles of Scilly" to Ramsar List.
The Bureau is delighted to announce that the United Kingdom has designated the
Isles of Scilly (402 hectares, 49°58’N 006°21’W)
as its 163rd Ramsar site, effective 13 August 2001, and as an SSSI
and EC Special Protection Area as well. The site is within the Isles of Scilly
archipelago 45km southwest of Land’s End, England, and mainly consists
of many small uninhabited islands and parts of some inhabited islands, with
habitats including coastal cliffs, boulder beaches, heathland, and some dune
grassland. The economy of local communities depends heavily upon tourism, which
benefits from the presence of high numbers of breeding seabirds in an attractive
environment. The site qualifies for the List by virtue of Criterion 6, for during
the breeding season some 2.9% of the population of Lesser Black-backed Gull
(Larus fuscus) is supported. The sea cliffs, rocky islets, and boulder
beaches are relatively devoid of plant communities except for a sparse crevice
vegetation with Crithmum maritimum and Armeria maritima. An environmental
trust manages most of the land within the site and controls access of visitors
to the most vulnerable areas by voluntary agreement with tour boat operators;
it also maintains a rat control programme to reduce their impact on ground-nesting
seabirds. This is the Convention's 1094th site and is listed as site no. 1095.
[19/09/01] [français et/y
español]
Secretary
General attends ceremonies for three enormous new sites in Bolivia. The
Ramsar Bureau is pleased to announce that, at ceremonies attended by the Secretary
General, Mr Delmar Blasco, in Santa Cruz on 17 September 2001,
Bolivia has designated three new Ramsar sites, also to become Gifts
to the Earth with the assistance of the World Wide Fund for
Nature’s Living Waters Campaign. Technical details will follow here soon,
and in the meantime here is WWF’s
press release in English, French, and Spanish. [18/09/01]
Mauritius
joins the Convention.
The Ramsar Bureau is extraordinarily pleased to announce that on 30 May 2001
the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Cooperation of the Republic of
Mauritius, Anil Kumarsingh Gayan, deposited with the Director-General of UNESCO
his government’s instrument of ratification to the Convention on Wetlands,
as amended by the Paris Protocol and Regina Amendments, and the treaty will
enter into force for Mauritius on 30 September 2001. Mauritius has designated
as its first Ramsar site the "Rivulet Terre
Rouge Estuary Bird Sanctuary" (26 hectares, 20°08’S
057°29’E), listed as Ramsar wetland types F) Estuarine and A) Shallow marine
waters and G) Intertidal mud, sand or salt flats, internationally important
for 14 regularly visiting migratory birds, as well as for three species of endemic
plants. Situated in close proximity to the capital, Port Louis, the site has
protected area status and a visitors’ centre is being established, following
the completion of which, access to adjacent fishing facilities and unrelated
recreational uses will be provided for elsewhere nearby. Port-related activities
present a chronic risk but oil spill contingency plans are in place; agricultural
effluents are present but plans are in place to minimize their adverse effects.
As an ex-dumping ground, leachates are detected, but a rehabilitation plan is
under study. Invasive species of flora are being removed, and a management plan
is in preparation. Preparations for this accession were assisted by the Swiss
Grant for Africa. The Indian Ocean state of Mauritius, to be considered part
of the Ramsar Africa region, is enthusiastically welcomed as the Convention’s
128th Contracting Party. [13/09/01] [français
et/y español]
Photo
Essay. High
altitude wetlands of Pakistan. Six
fine photos contributed by WWF Pakistan, all taken by Hassan
Zaki, illustrating a number of characteristic features of this
wetland type. View them
here. [14/09/01]
Photo
opportunity. The
Secretary General's visit to Japan.
Tamako Tsukiji, Ramsar
Center Japan, offers Ramsar readers this report: "Mr Delmar
Blasco visited two tidal flat areas in Chiba Prefecture, which is located next
to Tokyo, on 2nd September after his visit to another tidal flat area - Fujimae
in Central Japan. According to newspaper articles, Mr Blasco has encouraged
both the Nagoya City government and the Central Government to designate Fujimae
as a Ramsar site." View the rest of her brief report, with her and additional
photos of the Secretary General, mud flats, and Mayor Araki of Narashino City,
right here. [13/09/01]
|
Headline
story. Wetlands International's 3rd International Update Report
on Lead Poisoning in Waterbirds is available. The report reviews the large-scale environmental problem of lead shot ingestion
by waterbirds and presents an analysis of responses to a questionnaire prepared by
Wetlands International and returned by 75 countries (governments and NGOs) and 9
international organisations worldwide. The analysis addresses the current state of
legislation concerning the use of lead shot, and describes levels of lead shot awareness,
coordination, research and development. It also reviews relevant developments since 1995,
and then concludes with recommendations to governments, non-governmental organisations,
hunters' associations and ammunition manufacturers about lead shot. Research and
production of the report, which was compiled by Nienke Beintema, was
financially supported by the UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee JNCC and the African
– Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement AEWA.
The report is being distributed in hard copy form to governments, organisations and to individuals who contributed information, and is available for download from the Wetlands International Web site at http://www.wetlands.agro.nl/news/Documents/Lead_P_Report.htm. [link later removed][12/10/01]
Job
announcement. RSPB
seeks European Programmes Manager.
Apply within. [link
later removed] [13/09/01]
Hungary
designates two new Ramsar sites on the Slovak border. The
Bureau is very pleased to announce that the Government of Hungary has designated
two new Ramsar sites as of 14 August 2001, both contiguous with the borders
of the Slovak Republic and ecologically associated with recently-designated
Ramsar sites in that country. The "Baradla
Cave System and related wetlands" (2,075 ha; 48°28’N
020°30’E), a National Park, MAB Biosphere Reserve, and World Heritage site,
is the Hungarian part of the astonishing 25 km long Baradla-Domica Cave System
and harbors a number of endemic little things, including the shrimp Niphargus
aggtelekas (left). "Ipoly Valley"
is a long, flat, and narrow valley containing oxbow lakes as well as shrub and
alder bogs, associated with Slovakia's Poiplie Ramsar site. More detail, a photo
of the caves, and a bigger photo of young Niphargus aggtelekas,
are available here in English,
français, and español
(soon). [10/09/01]
Belarus
names two new Ramsar sites. The
Bureau is very pleased to report that the Government of Belarus has designated
two more wetlands for the Ramsar List, effective 10 August 2001. Mid-Pripyat
State Landscape Zakaznik (90,447 ha, 52°09’N 027°00’E),
a State Landscape reserve, comprises a 120-km stretch of the Pripyat river floodplain
dominated by alluvial, mainly oak forests, meadows, and lowland mires, used
chiefly for haymaking, pasturing, and fishing. Olmany
Mires Zakaznik (94,219 ha, 52°44’N 027°16’E), a National
Landscape reserve, is one of Europe’s largest natural complexes of bogs
and transitional mires, the site is particularly important for nesting and migrating
waterbirds and a key nesting site for the globally threatened Spotted Eagle
Aquilla clanga. Get some
more detail here. [français
et/y español] [06/09/01]
|
|
|
Trilateral Ramsar Platform set for the Morava-Dyje Floodplains. On 30 August 2001, the Ramsar authorities of Austria, the Czech and Slovak Republics met at Zidlochovice Castle in the Czech part of the Dyje floodplain to sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Europe's third trilateral Ramsar Site (in addition to the Waddensea with a common secretariat run jointly by the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark; and the Prespa Park declared by Albania, Greece and the FYR of Macedonia). Get the whole story here.[français et/y español] [06/09/01]
Announcement.
Wetland training course set
for European former-Soviet states.
Mr Karen Jenderedjian has passed
on the details for the "Training Course on Wetland Management for Wetland
Conservationists from the New Independent States of European Region", 9-23
September 2001, Sevan, Armenia. The course is intended for managers from Armenia,
Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine: staff of central and regional
state environmental bodies, nature reserves, NGOs, research institutes and universities,
international organizations, business: total 19 participants, with financial
support for the participants from the Ramsar Small Grants Fund and the
Royal Dutch Embassy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Further
information and a few photos can be found here. [06/09/01]
COP8 Support Officer joins the Bureau. "On behalf of the Ramsar Bureau it is a great
pleasure to welcome a new member of Bureau staff. Carlos
Villalba from Spain joins the Bureau as our 'COP8 Technical Support
Officer', and will be working with us until December 2002, with financial support from the
Government of Spain. Carlos comes with a strong background in biodiversity conservation,
natural resources management, and information systems, and has recently been working in
Hungary assisting the Hungarian Government with the establishment of biodiversity
information systems, in particular the Natura 2000 network (in implementation of the EC
Birds and Habitats Directives), as part of their preparations for accession to the
European Union. Before that he was developing Natura 2000 information systems in Spain.
Carlos will be spending part of his time working in the Ramsar Bureau in Gland to helping
to develop the technical programme for Ramsar's COP8 in Valencia, Spain, in November 2002,
and part of his time working with the MedWet Coordination Unit, based in Athens, in the
development of the technical programme of the MedWet Initiative." -- Nick Davidson,
Deputy Secretary General. (05/09/01)
New Ramsar
Intern for Asia. Jia MA from China has accepted the position of Ramsar
Intern for Asia/Assistant to the Regional Coordinator for Asia, to replace "Tug"
Sirisampan in mid-November. Jia obtained a Bachelor in Environmental Engineering in 1998
from Xian University of Architecture & Technology. From July 1998 to July 2000, she
worked as an Engineer in the China Northwest Building Design & Research Institute.
Since October 2000 she has been studying at the University of Edinburgh and hopes to get
her MSc in Natural Resource Management in September/October of this year. Jia's career
objective is to work in the field of water resources/environmental management in China
after her Ramsar internship. -- Annette Keller, Ramsar Administrator. (05/09/01)
Bonus Photo Treat
Ramsar in Asia. Three Ramsar Regional Coordinators for Asia -- Dr Satoshi "Satoshi-san" Kobayashi (1991-1996), Ms Rebecca "Rebecca-san" D'Cruz (1996-2000), and Mr Najam "Najam-san" Khurshid (present) -- smiling in a benign fashion at the Asian Wetland Symposium in Penang, Malaysia, 28 August 2001. (Sent to us by Tamako Tsukiji, Ramsar Center Japan)
Announcement.
US NGO Ramsar Committee
calls for grant proposals.
The U.S. National Ramsar Committee, in cooperation with the U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service, announces its Small Grants Program for 2002 to assist wetland
conservation and awareness at and adjacent to U.S. Ramsar sites. Grants will
be made on a matching funds basis to local organizations for projects to support
various needs at the Ramsar-designated sites. The deadline is 14 September,
so view the details now.
(05/09/01)
Long-awaited
report. Ramsar
Mission report on Ebro Delta now available. The
long-awaited Ramsar Mission Report no. 43 on the Delta del Ebro, Cataluña, España,
is now available. Led by the Bureau's Dr Tobias Salathé and
invited experts Dr Patrick Dugan, consultant, and Dra María
José Viñals of the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia/SEHUMED, with
the participation of a number of Spanish experts, the mission visited the site
in September 2000 and the draft report and recommendations have been under discussion
for some time. Here is the final report
in Spanish, and here is the English summary.
[4/9/01]
The United Kingdom stands by international status
of listed wetlands. On 12 July 2001
the UK Government announced decisions on the first of its Multi-Modal Studies examining
some of the most severe transport problems around the country. The study looked at
transport issues in Kent and the area around Hastings in southeast England. Although the
proposed highway bypasses would offer the opportunity for environmental improvement within
Hastings, they would themselves cut through areas of designated high environmental value. Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Transport,
Local Government and the Regions, said: "Both 'A New Deal for Trunk Roads in England'
and the Ten Year Plan provide a strong presumption against harming sensitive sites
including sites of special scientific interest, AONBs and habitats given international
protection. The requirements of the Ramsar convention would only permit damage to the Pevensey levels site in the 'urgent national
interest' and the Ramsar policy statement issued by DETR in November 2000 makes it clear
that derogation of the urgent national interest can be used only where there are no
alternatives and the benefits of the development demonstrably outweigh the acknowledged
international status of the site. In my view, the balance of the arguments presented in
favour of the bypasses is not sufficient to outweigh these very strong environmental
requirements. I believe, therefore, we must look for alternative means to prevent the
further decline of the area and to optimise its economic potential." [29/08/01]
Tajikistan
joins the Ramsar Convention. Tajikistan
has informed the Director-General of UNESCO of its accession to the Convention
on Wetlands, as amended by the Paris Protocol of 1982, on 18 July 2001, so that
the Convention will enter into force for Tajikistan on 18 November 2001. In
accordance with Article 2.1 of the Convention, which requires the name and boundary
map of at least one wetland for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International
Importance, the "National Commission of Ramsar Convention in Republic of
Tajikistan" has submitted maps for what appear to be five Ramsar sites,
for which Ramsar Information Sheets have not yet been completed. Unoffically
and based only upon information included on these maps, the five sites are:
Karakul Lake (36,400 hectares, ca. 39°05’N 073°29’E)
in the east part of the country; Kayrakum Reservoir (52,000
hectares, ca. 40°20’N 070°10’E), in the far northeast of the country;
Lower part of Pyandj (or Pjandj) River (620km
of river, shoreline, and islands, but no area given, ca. 37°10’N 068°30’E),
in the far southwest of the country; Shorkul and Rangkul lakes
(2,400 hectares, ca. 38°28’N 074°10’E), evidently very high altitude
lakes in the far east of the country; and Zorkul Lake (3,800
hectares, ca. 37°23’N 073°20’E), also apparently at high altitude,
in the southeast of the country. Tajikistan becomes the Convention’s 127th
Contracting Party and brings the total number of Ramsar sites to 1085, totaling
82,223,877 hectares. The Convention heartily welcomes Tajikistan to the Ramsar
family. [27/08/01] [français
et/y español]
News
from the SGF. Latvia
completes SGF project for Teici Reserve. The
Ramsar Small Grants Fund 1999 project "Measures to improve the management
of the Teici Nature Reserve Ramsar site and surrounding wetlands" has been
successfully completed. It was carried out by the Administration of Teici Nature
Reserve and partly financed by the European Habitat Conservation Stamp programme,
run jointly by FACE (Federation of Associations for Hunting and Conservation
of the EU) and Wetlands International. During the project implementation, The
Teici Wetland Foundation (TWF) was established as the financial instrument for
purchase/lease and management of land for nature conservation around the Teici
Reserve Ramsar site. The SGF project contributed to the purchase of two most
valuable land properties in Teici and provided seed money for future work. View
a brief report and an annex of photographs and further detail, right here.
[27/08/01]
Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia declares succession.
On 3 July 2001 the Director-General of UNESCO received from the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia a notification that the
FR of Yugoslavia accepted the Ramsar Convention as a successor State to the
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia "and undertakes faithfully to
perform and carry out the stipulations therein contained as from April 27, 1992,
the date upon which the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia assumed responsibility
for its international relations". Yugoslavia confirmed the Ramsar status
of its four existing listed sites, Ludasko Lake, Obedska Bara, Skadarsko Jezero,
and Stari Begej. [27/08/01] [français
et/y español]
Cyprus
accedes to the Convention.
The Bureau is very glad to announce that on 11 July 2001 the Republic of Cyprus
deposited its instrument of accession to the Ramsar Convention with the Director-General
of UNESCO, and thus the Convention, as amended by the Paris Protocol of 1982,
will come into force for Cyprus on 11 November 2001. In accordance with Article
2 of the Convention, Cyprus has designated "Larnaca
Salt Lake" as its obligatory first Wetland of International
Importance in the Ramsar List. Larnaca, or Larnaka, Salt Lake (1,585 hectares,
34°52’N 033°33’E) is a highly saline seasonal lake which supports
significant numbers of overwintering and stopover waterbirds. The basis of its
productivity is the unicellular alga Dunaniella salina, which supports
"fairy shrimps" Artemia salina and Branchianella spinosa
(especially in the "airport lake" southern arm of the main lake, adjacent
to Lakarna International Airport), which forms the main food for flamingos,
chiefly Phoenicopterus ruber. Water levels do not exceed one meter, and
salt flat halophytic communities fringe much of the lakeside. An important Muslim
shrine, Hala Sultan Tekke, as well as a late Bronze Age archaeological site
and an impressive 18th century aqueduct, add interest to the site.
Private land, both Greek and Turkish Cypriot, fringe part of the lake, but the
lagoons are state-owned and further acquisitions are planned, except for areas
owned by Moslem and Christian Orthodox religious organizations, which are constitutionally
protected from acquisition. The site was made a protected area in 1997 and a
management plan is in place; an information centre and hides are planned. Urban
development in the north and east of the lake and airport traffic in the south
are seen as potential problems, but a shooting club facility is being relocated
outside the reserve in order to reduce the threat from lead shot. Ramsar site
no. 1081. [24/08/01] [français
et/y español]
Argentina
ratifies the Regina Amendments. The
Government of the Argentine Republic, in the person of President Fernando de
la Rua, has deposited with UNESCO its instruments of acceptance of the amendments
to Articles 6 and 7 (1987); in accordance with the terms of Article 10bis,
the amendments will enter into force for Argentina on the first day of the fourth
month following the date of deposit of its instrument, i.e., 1 October 2001.
The Argentine Republic availed itself of the opportunity to renew its reservation
concerning the United Kingdom’s extension of its ratification of the Regina
Amendments "to the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), South Georgia and the South
Sandwich Islands and reasserts its sovereignty over those islands" (UNESCO
translation). [24/08/01] [français
et/y español]
Announcement.
Request for proposals to
the Society of Wetland Scientists' Ramsar Support grant programme.
The Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) is soliciting proposals to their Ramsar
Support Grant Program, which was established to advance Ramsar Convention objectives,
including the selection, designation, management, and networking of Ramsar sites;
and the promotion of Ramsar's Wise Use guidelines. Two to four projects are
funded each year at a level of US $5,000 on a competitive basis as reviewed
by a 4-member Evaluation Committee. Eric
Gilman's posting to the Ramsar Forum provides more detail. [24/08/01]
Tanzania
names Lake Natron for the List. The
Bureau is delighted to announce that the United Republic of Tanzania has designated
"Lake Natron Basin"
(224,781 hectares, 02°21’S 036°00’E) as its second Ramsar site, effective
4 July 2001. The site comprises a closed alkaline lake basin in the bottom of
the Gregory Rift part of the Great Rift Valley, contiguous with the Kenyan frontier,
surrounded by escarpments and volcanic mountains, one of which is active. It
is the only regular breeding area for Lesser Flamingos in east Africa, with
about 2.5 million individuals, and provides support for an estimated 100,000
individuals of other waterbird species, many of them Palearctic migrants. The
fish Oreochromis alcalicus appears to be endemic to Lake Natron and Lake
Magadi in Kenya. A number of permanent streams and rivers provide relief in
a very dry and almost inaccessible environment. The Maasai tribe practice extensive,
largely semi-nomadic pastoralism within the site. Some tourism, chiefly game
viewing, birdwatching, and mountain climbing, occurs, especially in conjunction
with Ngorongoro Crater, Olduvai Gorge, and other well-known attractions not
far from the site, though recently "the security situation has been far
from stable". A proposed hydropower plant for the Ewaso Ngiro River in
Kenya and planned soda ash exploitation in Lake Natron itself are seen as potential
threats. This is Ramsar site no. 1080 (1079 Ramsar sites presently in the List).
[23/08/01] [français et/y español]
Mission
to Czech Republic -- report available.
In June 2001, the Ramsar 
Bureau
carried out a Ramsar Advisory Mission to the Sumava (or Shumava) Peatlands Ramsar
site, at the invitation of the Czech Government, and studied recent problems
of outbreaks of bark beetle populations, as well as the potential environmental
impacts of proposed remedies, and the need for transboundary management with
Germany on related problems. The RAM report, prepared by invited expert Hans
Joosten and Tobias Salathé of the Ramsar Bureau, with
the help of government and NGO experts from the Czech Republic, is now available
on this Web site (with
some photos). [22/08/01]
More
to follow. Watch this space.
Feedback and suggestions are welcome 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.
