What's
New @ Ramsar What's
New @ Ramsar
6
October 2003
Headline
story.
Sustainable management seminar concluded in Argentina.
The International Seminar on Wetland Sustainable Management
in Latin America took place in Paraná, 25-27 September 2003,
organized by Fundación Proteger-Amigos de la Tierra, Argentina, with
the support of Wetlands International and the Ramsar Convention. More than 700
participants from several parts of the world discussed and shared experiences
regarding wetland sustainable management alternatives, and a number of important
recommendations were concluded, including political commitments for a major
Ramsar site designation along the 'Paraná Floodplain Fluvial Wetlands
Corridor'. The press release from the Fundación Proteger can be seen
here in English and Español,
with photos, as well as a reprint of an article in English from the Buenos
Aires Herald. [06/10/03]
Headline
story. Les zones humides et la ressource en
eau - Guide technique. Les Agences de l'eau
(France) proposent un guide à l'usage des gestionnaires sur " Les
zones humides et la ressource en eau". Ce guide présente
une synthèse des connaissances sur les zones humides et propose un ensemble
de techniques à mettre en œuvre pour contribuer à une meilleure
gestion de leur rôle fonctionnel et patrimonial. ICI.
[29/09/03]
The Water Agencies (France) present a French-language guide book addressed to managers dealing with "Wetlands and water resource". This guide proposes a synthesis of the knowledge on wetlands and reports a set of techniques to be implemented in order to improve the management of their functional and patrimonial roles. It answers the most frequent questions through a hundred convenient cards about typology, functions, threats, actions, monitoring. HERE.
| Ramsar Trivia: Who can join the Ramsar Convention? Answer. |
Who's where?
Guangchun
Lei, Regional Coordinator for Asia, is in Brunei
to participate the International Symposium on Conservation
and Wise use of Mangroves in Southeast Asia (6-8 October), and then
meet with Brunei Government Officers, with travel support from the Ramsar Center
Japan. (03/10/03)
Alain
Lambert, Senior Adviser for Environment and Development Cooperation, is
in Cuba for the 4th International
Seminar on Wetlands, 5-11 October 2003, where he will make a number
of presentations on conservation finance and on economic valuation techniques.
(03/10/03)
Margarita
Astrálaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, is in Parana
City, Argentina, for the International Seminar
on Sustainable Development of Wetlands in Latin America - International Symposium
on Ecotourism and Wetlands, 25-27 September, her participation supported
by Fundación Proteger and WWF Living Waters Programme. After a week working
with the Administrative Authority in Buenos Aires, she will participate in the
Western Hemisphere Migratory Birds Conference
in Termas de Puyehe, Chile, 6-8 October,
at the invitation of the US State Department and Fish and Wildlife Service,
where a hemispheric strategy for the conservation of migratory wildlife from
North America, Latin America, and the Caribbean will be under development.
(23/09/03)
Iván
Dario Valencia, Assistant to the Regional Coordinator for the Americas,
is joining Margarita Astrálaga at the Western
Hemisphere Migratory Birds Conference in Termas
de Puyehe, Chile, 6-8 October 2003. (03/10/03)
Who was where? Cumulated record of travels throughout the year.
New
on the Site: Himalayan
wetland conservation action plan framework; Photos
of Ghodaghodi Lake in Nepal; New
Memo of Cooperation, IUCN and Ramsar. [25/09/03]
Workshop
on Waterbird Conservation, Dafeng City, China, 4-6 November 2003. Zhang
Xiaohong (wetgef@public.bta.net.cn) announces that a workshop on
waterbird conservation, organized by Wetlands International-China
Office and Dafeng
National Nature Reserve will be held in Dafeng City in Jiangsu
Province on the eastern coast of China from 4-6 November 2003. It follows an
initial workshop held at Panjin, Liaoning Province in August 2002, in which
the participants developed a list of recommendations for improving waterbird
conservation in China. This second workshop at Dafeng will review and advance
the implementation of these recommendations, and it will also help to progress
the development of a National Implementation Plan for Shorebird Conservation
in China. The workshop will be followed by a one-day visit to the Dafeng NNR
coastal wetlands, one of the most important wintering and stop-over sites in
the East Asian-Australasian Shorebird Flyway, a Ramsar site and a critical site
for migratory waterbird and habitat management. The workshop and technical visit
will provide a unique opportunity for participants to see examples of how wetlands
conservation for waterbirds and can proceed. Here
is the full announcement and programme and contact details. [28/09/03]
 |
 |
Czech Biosphere Reserve expanded to include Ramsar sites. Ramsar's Tobias Salathé reports that the Biosphere Reserve Palava (covering essentially limestone hills with an important biodiversity and many sub-mediterranean species), in the south of the Czech Republic, has recently been expanded to include the Dyje-Morava floodplains with its extensive oak forests (again with a specific assembly of important species supported). This brings the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve more in line with (and largely overlapping) the Ramsar sites "Lednice fishponds" and "Floodplain of the lower Dyje River" and can partly also be seen as a result of the international workshop organized in October 2003 by the Czech Man and Biosphere National Committee (with the participation of the Ramsar Bureau and others, reported here). Josef Chytil, until recently secretary of the Czech Ramsar Committee, working in the management authority of the now extended Biosphere Reserve and Ramsar site, has provided further detail and some excellent photographs, and a map as well. [26/09/03]
 |
 |
 |
Now available. Framework for Himalayan Action Plan. In August 2002, the WWF International, the Ramsar Bureau, and the Government of the People's Republic of China organized a regional workshop in Urumqi, China, on 'Conservation of High Altitude Wetlands in the Himalayas'. This workshop marked the initiation of a regional cooperation on wetland conservation in the high mountain areas with a wide range of participation from countries in the Himalayan-Tianshan continuum. The workshop resulted in the 'Urumqi Call' for specific collaborative actions. In order to implement the Urumqi Call and the Ramsar Resolution VIII.12 on Himalayan wetlands, WWF International, the Ramsar Bureau, and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) jointly organized a follow-up workshop on 'Wetland Conservation and Wise Use in the Himalayan High Mountains' from August 30 to September 1, 2003, in Kathmandu (reported here). Now one of the outputs of that workshop, the Framework for an Action Plan on "Wetland Conservation and Wise Use in the Himalayan High Mountains", is available here and on the Web sites of the other workshop organizers. [25/09/03]
Photos
available. Nepal's Ghodaghodi Lake.
"Ghodaghodi Lake Area" is a new 2,563-hectare Ramsar site in
Kailali District, a large and shallow oxbow lake with associated marshes and
meadows surrounded by tropical deciduous forest on the lower slopes of Siwalik,
the youngest mountain range of the Himalaya in Western Nepal. Its designation,
with two other sites in Nepal, was reported
here, and now K. C. Sandip has sent
us some of his very good photographs of the site.
Here they are. [25/09/03]
Luxembourg
joins AEWA. On 12 September 2003 Luxembourg deposited its instruments
of ratification of the Agreement
on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA).
Luxembourg will become as of 1 of December 2003 the 42nd Contracting Party to
the Agreement. 
Luxembourg
is one of the Europe's smallest sovereign states, with a total area of 2,586 km2,
lying between Belgium, France and Germany, a Party to the Ramsar Convention since
1998. It holds one breeding species of global conservation concern, the Corn Crake
(Crex crex), and 83 bird species of European conservation concern also
occur or breed throughout the country, e.g., Little Bittern (Ixobrychus minutes),
White Stork (Ciconia ciconia), Black Stork (Ciconia nigra), etc.
There are only a few wetland sites in Luxembourg but the site Weiler-la-tour
is an important roosting place for Common Crane with up to 1,200 specimens observed
here during the autumn migration. The UNEP/ AEWA Secretariat welcomes Luxembourg
to the 'AEWA Family' and looks forward to a fruitful cooperation. -- reported
by Bert Lenten, AEWA. [24/09/03]
Announcement.
The 7th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference
in Utrecht, The Netherlands, 25-30 July 2004. In the week of 25 -
30 July 2004, Utrecht University will organize the 7th INTECOL International
Wetlands Conference in the city of Utrecht, The Netherlands. This Conference
will be organized under the auspices of the International Association of Ecology
(INTECOL) under the title "Wetland Science and
Water Resources Management". Here
is the announcement and link to the Web site, from Prof. Jos T.A.
Verhoeven. [23/09/03]
Training
course on environmental education for the North East Asian Crane Site Network,
Mongolia.
Since its launch
in 1997, the North East Asian Crane Site Network has organized activities such
as workshops, symposia, children art exhibitions, and training courses to promote
conservation of cranes and their habitats in North East Asia. Recently, with
financial support from the Société des Eaux Minerales d'Evian
of the Danone Corporate Group (France), through the Ramsar Convention Bureau,
and the Nippon Keidanren Committee on Nature Conservation (Japan), a
training course in environmental education was held at the Daguur
Strictly Protected Area, Dornod Province, Mongolia, from 25 August to 1 September
2003. The Siberian Crane GEF Program, China Wetland GEF Program,
the UNDP Eastern Steppe Biodiversity Conservation Program in Mongolia, and the
International Crane Foundation all contributed in sponsoring participants and
assisting the training course. For one week all participants stayed on the Mongolian
steppe by Duruu Lake at the Daguur Strictly Protected Area, living in Mongolian
gers and tents. Simba Chan has provided
this brief report with photos and list of Crane Network sites. [20/09/03]
Vacancy
announcement.
Fundraising Manager. Wetlands International
is seeking to fill the new position of Fundraising Manager. "This is
a demanding, challenging and exciting role, requiring a creative individual
with highly developed communication skills. The post holder must have the ability
to convince and influence others to support our work, by working with the Global
Management Team to build and maintain relationships with new and current funders."
More details here. [link
later removed] [19/09/03]
Annonce.
Politiques de préservation des zones humides: exemples
et progrès réalisés sur la scène mondiale
/ Políticas de Conservación
de Humedales: Ejemplos y Progreso en el Escenario Mundial. Last
month we posted a notice from Clayton Rubec of Canada about the Wetland
Conservation Policy: Examples and Progress on the World Scene session
planned for the INTECOL VII International Wetlands
Conference in Utrecht in July 2004. Estelle Gironnet and Iván Dario Valencia
have provided French and Spanish translations of that announcement, available
right here -- please bring them to the attention of your francophile
and hispanophile friends and relations. [19/09/03]
From
the Ramsar Forum. Wetlands 2003: Landscape
Scale Wetland Assessment and Management. "Greetings- State agencies,
tribal agencies, federal agencies, local governments, wetland consultants, non-profits,
landowners, developers, and others may be interested in the three-day national
symposium (and optional one day of field trips) on Landscape Scale Wetland Assessment
and Management to be held in Nashua, New Hampshire, USA, October 20-23, 2003.
The three day agenda will include plenary and concurrent sessions, a Monday
evening reception, exhibits and poster sessions and field trips. For more information
visit the website of the Association of State Wetlands Managers at: http://www.aswm.org/calendar/2003am/cover9.htm.
Best regards, Sandy Crystall, Wetlands Bureau, New Hampshire Department
of Environmental Services, PO Box 95, Concord, NH 03301, USA (web site: www.des.state.nh.us/wetlands,
email: scrystall@des.state.nh.us)". [19/09/03]
From
the Ramsar Forum. International Seminar on
Wetlands Sustainable Management. Jorge Cappato,
Coordinador General of Fundación PROTEGER-Amigos
de la Tierra, Argentina, sends information about the International
Seminar on Wetlands Sustainable Management in Latin America and the International
Symposium on Ecotourism and Wetlands, to take place in Paraná, Argentina,
25-27 September 2003. Sponsored and supported by Wetlands International, the
Ramsar Convention, WWF, IUCN, Ríos Vivos, Argentina Federation Amigos
de la Tierra, Avina Fundation, the National Secretary of Environment and Sustainable
Development, National Park Administration, Cofema-Regional NEA, the Institute
of Touristic Development of Entre Ríos, the Secretary of State of Production
of Entre Ríos and the Universidad Nacional del Litoral, whew!, the event
should prove to be a stimulating exchange. Here
is Jorge's message to the Forum. [18/09/03]
Announcement.
Consultant sought for Jordan project. The Royal
Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), an active and innovative
Jordanian non-government organization, is looking to recruit an experienced
consultant for the PDF-Block B Grant for the development and preparation of
the Integrated Ecosystem Management in the Rift Valley Project. The main objective
of this project is to secure the ecological integrity of the Jordan Rift valley,
as a globally important ecological corridor and migratory flyway, through a
combination of site protection and management, nature -based socio-economic
development and land use planning. Here are the details. [link
later removed] [18/09/03]
Nepal
designates three new Ramsar sites. The Ramsar Bureau is very pleased
to announce that the Kingdom of Nepal, which acceded to the Convention in 1987
with its famous Koshi Tappu wetlands, has now added three more sites to its
network of Wetlands of International Importance. Dr T M Maskey, Director
General of the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, informs
the Bureau that as of 13 August 2003 two forested oxbow lake systems, Beeshazar
and Associated Lakes (3,200 hectares, 27°37'N 084°26'E),
a legal buffer zone of the Royal Chitawan National Park and World Heritage site,
and Ghodaghodi Lake Area (2,563 ha, 28°41'N
080°57'E) in Kailali district, as well as a small irrigation reservoir,
Jagadishpur Reservoir (225 ha, 27°35'N
083°05'E) in Kapilvastu, can be added to the Ramsar List, chiefly because
of their support for threatened and endangered species of birds and mammals,
bringing
Nepal's total to four Ramsar sites covering 23,488 hectares. IUCN-Nepal
has been very helpful to the government in preparing the data sheets for these
significant new designations. Ramsar's
Liazzat Rabbiosi has provided these brief descriptions
of these new sites, which bring the present global Ramsar total to 1313
sites covering 110,971,197 hectares, or 1.1 million square kilometres. [17/09/03]
[français et/y español]
Integrated
Water Resource Management course in Switzerland. For the second time
in 2003, the Swiss Centre of Hydrogeology (CHYN) at
Neuchâtel University has organized a one-week course from 30
August to 6 September 2003 on "Applied Integrated Water Resource Management",
in cooperation with the World Bank Institute and the International Water Management
Institute (IWMI), and with active input from the Ramsar Bureau, IUCN-ELC, WBCSD,
FAO, WSSCC and others (cf. course programme below). In addition, an excursion
brought the course participants to a visit of the water station Moyat in the
Gorges de l'Areuse close to Neuchâtel. Here, the town of La Chaux-de-Fonds
(35,000 inhabitants) is capturing underground water from the Jura limestone
karst aquifer next to the Areuse river for drinking water supply some 30 kms
away. The Areuse river provides the force to generate electricity (with turbines
installed on-the-spot) to pump the drinking water 500m up to the high valley
of La Chaux-de-Fonds. Tobias
Salathé reports on the course, and Ramsar's contribution to it, and includes
photos of the Moyat water station as well. [16/09/03]
Updated
information. China Peat Workshop, July 2004.
New information about the International Workshop on
Peatland Conservation and Sustainable Use has
been sent by David Lee of the Global Environment Centre. Here
is the second announcement as updated. [16/09/03]
MOC
between IUCN and the Ramsar Bureau signed at World Parks Congress. Collaboration
between the Ramsar Bureau and three of the four "International Organization
Partners" (BirdLife International, Wetlands International, and WWF International),
as well as with many other organizations and convention secretariats, is shaped
by formal agreements signed over the past few years (more
info here), but Ramsar relations with IUCN-The
World Conservation Union, which has been hosting the Bureau since
the permanent secretariat was established in 1988 (and performing secretariat
duties for many years before that), have until now been governed by a woefully
inadequate administrative agreement dating all the way back to 1991 (here),
when many of our readers were still in short trousers. That's
all been changed now. In ceremonies held during the World Parks Conference
in Durban, Secretary General Peter Bridgewater
and IUCN Director General Achim Steiner
are signing a new Memorandum of Cooperation which enunciates in detail all the
ways in which the two organizations have been, are, and will continue to fulfill
the 21 operational objectives of the Ramsar Strategic Plan 2003-2008. Here is
a reprint of IUCN's press release on the
signing and the text of the
new MOC and its technical annex. [13/09/03]
Wetlands
International signs MOU with China for wetland conservation and wise use.
Zhang Xiaohong, Senior Project Officer,
Wetlands International-China, and Yuan Jun,
Central Project Management Unit,
UNDP/GEF China Wetland Project, State Forestry Administration, write: "Mr.Marcel
Silvius, Senior Programme Manager, on behalf of Wetlands International,
has signed the agreement document with Mr Li Yucai,Vice
Minister of the State Forestry Administration of China, on Conservation and
Sustainable Development on 8th of September 2003. Both sides exchanged ideas
on the common issues concerned in a friendly atmosphere. Both parties expressed
confidence that a close cooperation on wetlands conservation and wise use would
be strengthened in the coming years. Please make the announcement on the Ramsar
Forum." An unofficial reprint of the
new MOU is available on this Web site. [12/09/03]
From
the World Parks Congress, 10 September. "Peter Bridgewater,
Ramsar Convention Secretary General, introduced the stream on linkages in the
landscape and seascape. He stressed the importance of management beyond PA boundaries,
and noted the interlinkages between terrestrial and marine PAs. He suggested
considering the negative consequences of building corridors, and highlighted
that biodiversity conservation should address the genetic, species, community
and landscape and seascape levels." (Text & photo from Earth
Negotiations Bulletin.) In addition, on 10 September, the side event
"Freshwater: WWF, Ramsar sites and International
Basin Management" was to be held in the VIP Lounge, a joint
initiative between the Bureau of the Ramsar Convention and WWF International.
It was intended to be a high profile occasion with an Opening speech by Chief
Emeka Anyaoku, WWF President, and a statement from Dr. Peter Bridgewater, Secretary
General of the Ramsar Convention. It was meant to assess progress in Ramsar
site designations undertaken with the support of WWF/Living Waters & Ramsar
Convention Bureau globally. A special recognition of the significant achievements
made by the Ramsar Contracting Parties was to be made. One looks for a report
on this event in due course. [12/09/03]
Madagascar
designates its third Ramsar site. The Ramsar Bureau is very pleased
to announce that Madagascar, which joined the Convention in 1998, has named
its third Wetland of International Importance, as of 9 September 2003. Nassima
Aghanim reports, based on the Ramsar Information Sheet, that "Le
Lac Alaotra: les zones humides et bassins versants" (722,500
hectares, 17°28'S 048°31'E) in Ambatondrazaka prefecture comprises a
large lake of some 20,000 hectares, surrounded by 23,500 ha. of marsh and 117,000
ha. of rice plantations, and including over 500,000 ha. of the surrounding catchment
and water courses, between 750 and 1250m altitude. The site is an excellent
representative example of the natural wetlands of the eastern Madagascar biogeographical
region and includes nine of twenty inland wetland types identified in the Ramsar
system of classification, as well as seven of the 10 human-made wetland types.
The site provides habitat for three endemic species, all of which are seriously
threatened - the grey lemur Hapalemur griseus alaotrensis, the Alaotra
grebe Tachybaptus rufolavatus, and the Madagascar pochard Aythya innotata
- as well as for five very rare, indigenous species of fish and some 30 species
of waterbirds. The wetlands surrounding the lake have religious significance.
The rice plantations, the premier rice-producing area in the country, are under
a cooperative water-management association of rice-producers and other users.
The introduction of alien fish species, and to some extent alien plant species
as well, are seen to be a potential threat for the future.
The Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, in collaboration with the Government and with funding from the UK, has maintained since 1996 an education and public awareness programme in the villages and schools around the lake, focusing on the values and functions of the lake ecosystem and especially of the marshes. Both Durrell Wildlife and WWF's Living Water Programme have been instrumental in assisting the Ministry of Environment, Water, and Forests in preparing the designation of this site for the Ramsar List.
Now
available. Brief report of Kushiro's lagoons workshop. Reiko
Nakamura writes:
"I
am very pleased to inform you that the International
Workshop on the Wise Use of Lagoon Wetlands was held successfully,
to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Ramsar COP 5, at the Kushiro Conference
Room of Kushiro Tourism and International Relations Center, Kushiro, Japan,
on 23 - 25 July, 2003.Many participants attended this workshop, 90 participants
from Japan and 20 participants from overseas, and numerous study cases were
introduced through oral presentations and a poster session. We all concurred
on extremely important functions of lagoon wetlands, especially for maintaining
biodiversity and for biological production including many marine fish species.
Moreover, we agreed to regard the government and the local communities as the
most important stakeholders for the wise use of lagoon wetlands, and to use
sound scientific and factual information such as economic valuations of lagoons
in order to influence decision makers on sustainable lagoon management."
A brief report and a few photos can
be seen here. [10/09/03]
Earthwatch
invites project proposals. Earthwatch is a science and education
charity that provides financial and volunteer support for scientific field research,
in order to generate objective research data, promote public understanding,
and take the action necessary for a sustainable environment. In the past 32
years, Earthwatch has enabled scientists to conduct research in marine, life,
earth and social sciences on over 2,800 projects in 118 countries. Here
is some more detail and a call for project proposals. [10/09/03]
World
Parks Congress gets under way. The Vth IUCN World Congress on Protected
Areas, or World Parks Congress, has begun
in Durban, South Africa, 8-17 September 2003. IUCN-the World Conservation Union
organizes the Congress every ten years to take stock of protected areas, evaulate
progress and lack of it, and chart the course for protected areas over the next
decade. The 2003 Congress' theme is "Benefits Beyond Boundaries."
Central issues that participants will address will be the role of protected
areas in alleviating poverty, how protected areas adapt and anticipate global
change, the place of protected areas as a part of a sustainable future, and
the contribution of protected areas to security. A number of events in which
Ramsar will be taking a prominent part will be reported here over the coming
week. [09/09/03]
Two
new projects for MedWet. The MedWet Coordination Unit announces the
start of two new projects in the Mediterranean region, very different in scale
of funding, but both potentially very significant for the future work and implementation
of the Ramsar Convention: 1. 'Agriculture, Water and Wetlands' will be
funded by Inwent-Capacity Building International to the sum of 100,000 EUR for
a rapid project to initiate and launch a local dialogue leading to tangible
solutions for reducing the conflicts of interest at the field level between
water uses and other economic uses of wetlands (especially as related to agriculture
practices) and environmental protection, and conduct a regional workshop; and
2. 'North African Wetlands Network (NAWN)', "Maghreb wetlands - Reinforcing
capacities for the management of wetlands in North Africa", funded
by the EU's LIFE project and the participating countries (Algeria, Morocco,
and Tunisia), with a total budget of just over 1,280,000 EUR for 3 years. The
general objective of the project is assist and consolidate the implementation
of policies for the management of wetlands in those countries, with special
emphasis on the Ramsar site Merja Zerga (Morocco), Sebkhat El Kelbia (Tunisia),
and the Ramsar site Reghaia (Algeria).
Further detail has been provided by the MedWet Coordinator, Spyros Kouvelis.
[09/09/03]
From
the Ramsar Forum. Aquatic Bird
Habitat Map of the Southern Altiplano or Puna. Terry
Boyle writes:
"This
is to announce the first edition of the Aquatic
Bird Habitat Map of the Southern Altiplano or Puna. The map is
based on a research project conducted by investigators from the USGS Fort Collins
Science Center and the National University of Salta Argentina supported by a
grant from the Committee for Research and Exploration National Geographical
Society. The website was created by the USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center.
The area encompassed by the map is 245,000 square kilometers and includes a
number of Argentine and Chilean National Parks, UNESCO Man and the Biosphere
Reserves, and six Ramsar International Wetland Sites. Here
are the details, in English and in Español.
[09/09/03]
Now
available.
Ramsar Interns, class of 2003. A few photos of
the present group of Assistants to the Ramsar Regional Coordinators -- Nassima
Aghanim, Estelle Gironnet, Liazzat Rabbiosi, and Iván Dario Valencia
-- can be seen here.
In fact, group photos of previous generations of Ramsar interns are also easily
to be found. [08/09/03]
CD-ROM
on water resources for children in Latin America.
The General
Water Directorate in Chile has produced, with support from the Ramsar
Convention's Wetlands for the Future Fund, a CD-ROM which compiles school teaching
material on water resources and their sustainable management
for children between 10 and 13 years old and their teachers. This
material consists of 4 fully-coloured textbooks on the following topics: 1.
Water as a Source of Life, 2. Water and our Environment, 3. The Water Law in
Chile, 4. Integrated Water Basin Management. More
details are available in the CEPA section of this Web site (English, Español).
[08/09/03]
Workshop
on Himalayan wetlands, Kathmandu, Nepal. Following the successful
workshop on conservation of high Himalayan mountain wetlands held in Urumqi,
China, in August 2002, WWF International, the Ramsar Bureau, and the International
Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) jointly organized a follow-up
workshop on "Wetland Conservation and Wise Use
in Himalayan High Mountains" from August 30 to September 1,
2003, in Kathmandu, Nepal. The participants came from eleven countries including
the representatives of Administrative Authorities of Bangladesh, Bhutan, China,
India, and Kyrgyz
Republic as well as national and international agencies and institutions. The
overall goal of the workshop was to strengthen regional cooperation to promote
and implement the conservation and sustainable use of high mountain wetlands
in the Himalayan region. Financial support was provided by WWF International.
The outcomes of the workshop will be available soon, but in the meantime here
are some further details and a few photos by Liazzat Rabbiosi. [06/09/03]
[Now available: the workshop's Framework
for an Action Plan on "Wetland Conservation and Wise Use in the Himalayan
High Mountains".]
Now
available.
Sexto Período de Sesiones de la Conferencia de las
Partes de la Convención de Lucha contra la Desertificación,
La Habana, Cuba, 25 de agosto a 5 de septiembre de 2003 -- Declaración
de la Convención Ramsar sobre Humedales (Ramsar, Irán
1971), Margarita Astrálaga. [05/09/03]
From
the Ramsar Forum. Protecting marine landscapes
in the Irish Sea. David Stroud,
Ramsar STRP member from the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee, writes
to the Ramsar Forum on 3 September: "The UK Review of Marine Nature Conservation
recommended setting up a pilot project to test the potential for an ecosystem
approach to managing the marine environment at a regional sea scale. To this
end, the Irish Sea is one of the most ecologically-distinct and recognisable
regional seas around the UK, having a semi-enclosed geography and identifiable
range of stakeholders and activities. The Pilot project aims to examine the
potential for regional sea management over the whole Irish Sea. . . . Note
that while much of this project involves truly marine areas, much (including
most of content the consultation reports [now available]) relates to coastal
and estuarine areas of the Irish Sea that fall within the scope of the Ramsar
Convention. This project may thus be of interest not only in the context of
some of STRP's current work programme, but also to the wider Ramsar community."
His description of the interesting
project is available right here. [04/09/03]
Three
sites in Ukraine removed from the Montreux Record. The Ramsar Bureau
is happy to announce that the Ukrainian Ramsar Sites Karkinitska
and Dzharylgatska Bays, Tendrivska Bay
and Yagorlytska Bay, at the request of the
Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and in consultation with the Scientific
and Technical Review Panel (STRP), have now been removed from the Montreux Record
of Ramsar sites where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring
or are likely to occur, established through Resolution IV.8 during COP4 (1990).
In 1996, COP6 adopted Resolution VI.1 which provides in its Annex "Working
definitions, guidelines for describing and maintaining the ecological character
of listed sites, and guidelines for operation of the Montreux Record".
The latter asks Contracting Parties to submit information, according to a specific
"Montreux Record-Questionnaire", for assessing possible inclusion
or removal of a listed site from the Montreux Record. This procedure has now
been completed by Ukrainian authorities and the three sites have been removed
as of 29 August 2003. More details
about the sites and the steps that have been taken are available here.
[01/09/03] [français]
[español]
Improved
Web site for LakeNet. Lisa Borre writes: "On behalf
of the LakeNet Secretariat, I invite you to preview recent improvements to our
website at http://www.worldlakes.org.
The new and improved website is the culmination of five years of information
collection about lakes and their management which is now part of a searchable,
online database. We hope it provides more and better information in an easier
to use format and serves as a catalyst for effective work to protect and restore
the health of lakes throughout the world. . . . Improvements to the website
and information management system were made possible with grants from the United
States Agency for International Development and the Global Environment
Facility and with the cooperation of the International Lake Environment
Committee (ILEC) in Japan and Saint Michael's College in Vermont. The website
is still a work in progress and other features will be added in the coming weeks,
including a universal search, program updates and online forms to send us information.
As always, we welcome your feedback and encourage you to send us information
for inclusion on the website or to participate in LakeNet's e-Forum by sending
a message to mailto:info@worldlakes.org
or by posting a message to the group at: mailto:lakenet@yahoogroups.com."
More details here. [01/09/03]
From
the Ramsar Forum. Query on habitat zoning
in Ramsar sites. Russell Seaman
writes: "Dear Forum members, During 2002 and 2003 the Department for Environment
and Heritage in South Australia, Australia, has undertaken a project to classify
and map location of habitats within the Lower Lakes
and Coorong Ramsar area. A habitat mapping report will be available
via the Web in the future. The next stage of this project is to develop a habitat-zoning
plan. In developing the zoning plan the information collected during the first
project stage will be consolidated and analysed. By using GIS analysis, a series
of habitat zones will be developed and then compared against existing State
and local government planning zones, structures, regulations and policies. Through
this process, identification of planning compatibilities and conflicts can be
analysed against the Ramsar habitat zones and recommendations provided for improvements
in planning at a State and local government level. I am currently undertaking
background research into the South Australian planning system, and land use
planning in general. I would be interested if any Forum members have undertaken
similar projects, any references or comments would be most appreciated. Regards,
Russell Seaman, Ramsar Habitat Investigation Officer, Conservation Strategies,
Regional Services, South East Department for Environment and Heritage PO Box
314, Goolwa SA , e-mail: seaman.russell@saugov.gov.sa.au.
[29/08/03]
Ramsar
Coordinator for Africa exits in a decorous manner. Mr Anada
Tiéga, the Ramsar Bureau's high-performance Coordinator for
Africa, is leaving the secretariat after more than six years in the saddle,
bound for new horizons (well, familiar horizons) as project manager for a GEF
project for the Lake Chad Basin (details
here). What
could be more fitting than that, in the venerable tradition of Ramsar Bureau
regional dinners, an "Africa night" should occur just as Mr Tiéga
is flitting out the door with a dignified, gentlemanly wave. On 22 August
2003, Ramsar Bureau staff and friends gathered in Signy, many wearing African
or faux-African garb, to devour African cuisine and bid farewell to Anada Tiéga
and his family. Join in.
[29/08/03]
Abou Bamba selected to succeed Anada Tiéga. The
Ramsar Bureau is delighted to announce that, from a short-listed field of exceptional
candidates, Mr Abou Bamba from Côte
d'Ivoire has been offered and has accepted the position of Regional Coordinator
for Africa, succeeding Mr Anada Tiéga. Mr Bamba has been working
most recently with the Network for Environment and Sustainable Development in
Africa (NESDA) since 1998; first as Program Officer and Acting Coordinator,
since 2001 as Coordinator. It is planned that he will enter the Convention's
employment two weeks before the Ramsar Meeting of African
Parliamentarians, to be held in Benin at the end of November 2003,
working from Abidjan and then at the meeting before joining the Bureau in Gland,
Switzerland, at the beginning of December. Here
is a brief biographical summary of Mr Bamba's educational background and areas
of work experience, prepared by Annette Keller, the Bureau's Administration
Coordinator. [26/08/03] [français]
[español]
Philip
Weller named head of ICPDR. The Ramsar Bureau is particularly happy
to welcome Philip Weller as the new Executive Secretary of the International
Commission for the Protection of the Danube River. As the former director of
WWF's Danube-Carpathian Programme, Philip was instrumental in forging close
links among the 13 Danub
e
catchment basin states and the European Commission that are parties to the Danube
River Protection Convention, of which ICPDR is the operative arm. Philip was
the driving force behind the Lower Danube Green Corridor
Agreement (of which the Ramsar Bureau is a depository), signed in
2000 by Bulgaria, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine, establishing
the largest transboundary wetland protection and restoration initiative in Europe.
Philip, together with his former colleagues of WWF and three national NGOs in
Austria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, received a Ramsar
Award in 2002 for the preparation of the transboundary
Morava-Diye floodplain Ramsar platform and conservation initiative.
Here are brief press releases from
Ramsar's Tobias Salathé and from the UN Information Service,
with a photo of Philip Weller in at the UN offices in Vienna with his predecessor,
Joachim Bendow. [25/08/03]
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 . . . . . . Take a number and a plastic
chair -- we'll call you when there's room at the head of the queue.