What's
New @ Ramsar What's
New @ Ramsar
11
March 2005
Headline
story. Hope for the Mesopotamian
Marshlands. "It was a
strange sight - after eight years of bloody war in the 1980s - to have the Iraq
and Iran delegations sitting amicably side by side and agreeing on working together
to designate the shared Hawr Al Hawizah wetland, one of the major remaining
parts of the Mesopotamian Marshlands, as a transboundary Ramsar Site of International
Importance. This hopeful event occurred during the 'High-level
Conference on the Restoration of the Mesopotamian Marshlands', held
in Manama (Bahrain) on 28 February and 1 March 2005, co-organised by UNEP and
ROPME (Regional Organisation for the Protection of the Marine Environment)."
Thymio Papayannis, the Convention's MedWet
Senior Advisor, reports on the meeting. [11/03/05]
Headline
story. Standing
Committee Subgroups wrapping up their work. The Ramsar Standing Committee
Subgroups on COP9 and on Finance have been meeting throughout this week and
will compare notes in a joint plenary session today, 10 March. Reports of the
meetings will be available soon. [10/03/05]
Announcement.
Asian regional meeting dates confirmed. The dates
and venue have been confirmed for the Ramsar Regional Meeting for Asia in preparation
for the 9th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties next November.
It will take place 13-16 May 2005 in Beijing, China. Inquiries can be directed
to asia@ramsar.org. [02/03/05]
Announcement.
African regional meeting dates confirmed. The Ramsar
Secretariat would like to confirm that the dates for the Africa Regional Meeting
for the preparation of COP9, to be held in Arusha, Tanzania, will be 4-8
April 2005. The 9th of April will be dedicated to a special session
which addresses mangrove management for Ramsar coastal CPs. Please disregard
any other dates indicated in previous messages.
Le Secrétariat Ramsar souhaiterait confirmer que les dates exactes de la tenue de la Réunion Préparatoire régionale pour l'Afrique pour la COP9 qui se tiendra en Arusha, Tanzanie sont du 4 au 8 avril 2005. Le 9 avril il y aura une session sur la gestion des mangroves pour les pays côtiers partis à Ramsar. Prière ignorer toutes les autres dates indiquées dans des messages précédents. [28/02/05]
Yesterday's News!
Reprint.
IISD Linkages report on Ramsar Tsunami Reference Group.
Here is a reprint of the Linkages
report on the World Wetlands Day tsunami forum held at the Ramsar Secretariat
on 2 February, with background on the Ramsar Tsunami Reference Group. [28/02/05]
Announcement.
La Fundación para la Gestión Ambiental Participativa (FUNGAP-Grupo
Antigua), con el apoyo del Programa de Pequeñas
Donaciones para los Humedales del Comité Holandés de la UICN,
desarrolla el proyecto "Experiencias Exitosas de Gestión Participativa
(GAP) en humedales de las Américas". El objetivo es mediante el
análisis y difusión de casos exitosos, fortalecer la aplicación
de la GAP como herramienta para el cumplimiento de la Convención Ramsar,
particularmente la Resolución VIII.36. Uno de los resultados será
el Borrador Marco de Actuación sobre GAP como aporte regional en la elaboración
de los lineamientos solicitados en esta misma resolución. Los resultados
serán presentados en la COP9 de Ramsar (Uganda, 2005) donde además
serán invitados a participar los dos casos más representativos
de la región. Se
invita a todas las ONG, Partes Contratantes de Ramsar, Comunidades, Pueblos
Indígenas, Entidades Donantes y otros, a enviar sus casos antes del 24
de febrero según los criterios que se adjuntan. Aquí.
[24/02/05] 
Now
available.
Index of Ramsar COP9 preparations. Preparations
are continuing for Ramsar's 9th Meeting of the Conference
of the Contracting Parties, to be held at the gracious invitation
of the Government of Uganda in Kampala, 8-15 November 2005. Two COP-preparatory
regional meetings have already been held and their results can be seen here,
with at least two regional meetings still to come, and the Standing Committee's
Subgroup on COP9 will be making some substantial decisions about the
arrangements and issues to be discussed when its members meet at the Ramsar
Secretariat, 7-10 March 2005. An index to the
COP preparations is available now and will be updated frequently over
the next eight months. [23/02/05]
Headline
story. Ramsar address to UNEP's Governing Council.
The Governing Council of the United Nations Environment
Program is meeting 21-25 February in Nairobi for its 23rd Session
and Global Ministerial Environment Forum, and on 22 February the Secretary General
of the Convention on Wetlands, Peter Bridgewater,
addressed the meeting on the present relationship and future cooperation between
Ramsar and UNEP. The text is already
available right here. [22/02/05]
Now
available. STRP12 report ready.
The Convention's subsidiary body for scientific advice, the Scientific
and Technical Review Panel (STRP), held its last meeting of this
triennium on 1-4 February 2005, the purpose of which was to progress the technical
guidance that the members and consultants have been drafting for presentation
to the Standing Committee and eventually for consideration by the Conference
of the Parties in November; to suggest priorities for the Panel's work in the
next triennium, 2006-2008; and to consider suggested changes to the Panel's
future modus operandi for consideration by the COP. The
report of the meeting is now ready, with a brief list of the participants.
[21/02/05]
Now
available. Subgroup on
COP9 agenda and some docs. The Ramsar Standing Committee's Subgroups
on COP9 and Finance will be meeting 7-10 March to discuss lots of important
things. The agendas of both
of those meetings are now available here. The agenda papers of the Finance
Subgroup will not be available to the public, but all of those to be presented
to the Subgroup on COP9 will be appearing in the coming days, and a few have
already bobbed to the surface. The menu of agenda documentation, which is available
in Web, Word, and PDF, is part of the COP9 agenda. [12/02/05]
Madagascar
names fourth Ramsar site. The Ramsar Secretariat is very pleased
to announce that Madagascar has designated its fourth Wetland of International
Importance on the occasion of World Wetlands Day 2005. The "Marais
de Torotorofotsy avec leurs bassins versants" (9,993 hectares,
18°52'S 048°22'E) in Toamasina Province is a near-natural permanent
marsh and temporary marshes with their catchments of primary rainforest fragmented
by agricultural zones and secondary forest. A number of gravely threatened species
are present, including the Golden Frog Mantella aurantiaca and the Yellow
or Eastern Mantella Mantella crocea, along with at least 40 additional
endemic amphibians, and it is one of only two known sites that support the Slender-Billed
Flufftail, Sarothrura watersi. The threatened Meller's Duck Anas melleri
nests in the site, and both the Serpent Eagle Eutriorchis astur and the
Madagascar Grass Owl Tyto soumagnei, both very rare, have been recorded;
four endangered species of lemurs are also supported. The site plays an important
hydrological role in flood control in the Andasibe region. Artisanal fishing
employs customs that protect against overexploitation. A mining project in the
vicinity and siltation of the marsh caused by deforestation in the region are
seen as the chief threats to the site. The Wildlife Conservation Society - Madagascar
and Association MITSINJO, with support from WWF-Madagascar and WWF International's
Global Freshwater Programme, have been helpful to the authorities in preparing
for this site designation. [16/02/05]
Progressively
available at a variable pace. Reports of your World
Wetlands Day activities. Many thanks to all of you who are forwarding
reports of your World Wetlands Day activities, and we're just getting seriously
down to posting them here. It's not
OUR fault that Somebody scheduled
the Scientific and Technical Review Panel's meeting (early February) and the
Standing Committee's Subgroup meetings (early March) precisely at the worst
time for reporting on WWD, but we're still going to carry on regardless, and
at the end of the day we will win through. Please do send your reports, if you
have not done so: text and captions, with JPG photos, is the best way for us,
but you do what you have to do. Don't be bashful about sending reminders if
we're slow, it might put you at the top of the To-Do list. Huge PDFs over half
a megabyte, though, well, think twice about that -- we can take them apart and
post them again as Web pages, at considerable cost in time, but it's unlikely
that we can afford to post them directly unless they're really really cool.
[14/02/05]
Also
now available. Ramsar regional advice on the World
Bank's Mangrove Code of Conduct. Mangrove fans who have been following
the progress of the draft Code of Conduct should soon consult Tom Nielsen's
project Web site at http://www.biology.au.dk/cenTER/MCB_2004.htm [link
later removed],
where they will find, amongst many other wonders, the following: "Mainstreaming
Conservation of Coastal Biodiversity through Formulation of a generic Code of
Conduct for Sustainable Management of Mangrove Forest Ecosystems (MCB). Funded
by the World Bank In Collaboration with ISME & GLOMIS Regional Centres.
Latest News: UPDATED English Language Version of the “Principles for a
Code of Conduct for the Management and Sustainable Use of Mangrove Ecosystems”
has been updated (posted 02 February by T. Nielsen); and Comments
for the “Principles for a Code of Conduct for the Management and Sustainable
Use of Mangrove Ecosystems” from the III Pan-American Regional Meeting,
Ramsar Convention meeting in Merida, Mexico, November 2004 (posted 18 January
2005 by T. Nielsen)." The report of the Merida Ramsar meeting,
but without the extremely necessary context, can also be found here in English
and Spanish. [12/02/05]
Now
available. Report of the Ramsar regional meeting
in Mexico. The "III
Panamerican Regional Meeting of the Convention on Wetlands, 7-12 November 2004,
Mérida, Mexico" was an extraordinarily fruitful affair
that brought together representatives of Contracting Parties and non-Parties,
Ramsar Partner Organizations and other NGOs, and intergovernmental organizations
concerned about the region. After thorough consideration of the issues already
planned for the Convention's 9th meeting of the Conference of the Parties set
for November 2005, the meeting agreed a common platform of further issues called
"Guidelines for the Americas: Towards COP9",
embodied in the "Merida Message"
as the key output of the sessions. Now the Report of the meeting is available
in both English
and Spanish,
as well as the Merida Message again in both English
and Spanish,
and the List of
Participants in PDF format into the bargain. [10/02/05]
"Collaboration
between CBD and the Ramsar Convention on wetlands". The Convention
on Biological Diversity's Subsidiary Body for Scientific, Technical and Technological
Advice (SBSTTA) is holding its 10th meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, this week,
and the Ramsar Convention's MedWet Coordinator, Spyros
Kouvelis, addressed the meeting with an update on the current work
of the Convention, particularly the work of our own Scientific and Technical
Review Panel (STRP), on the joint objectives of both bodies. "Collaboration
between CBD and the Ramsar Convention on wetlands: progress in the development
of ecological assessments and indicators" provides a succinct
review of the Convention's advances in addressing the joint development of targets
and indicators for assessing the global 2010 biodiversity target, as well as
of the preparation of a range of inventory, assessment and monitoring guidance
in support of that. Spyros's address
can be seen here. [08/02/05]
Now
available. Results of the Forum on "Natural mitigation
of natural disasters". The Forum, held at the Ramsar Secretariat
on the occasion of World Wetlands Day, 2 February 2005, included participants
from the following organizations: The Ramsar Convention, Swiss Federal Office
for the Environment, Forests and Landscape, United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Health
Organization (WHO), World Meteorological Organization/Global Water Partnership
(WMO/GWP) Associated Programme on Flood Management, Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO), Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), Convention on International Trade
of Endangered Species (CITES), International Association of Hydrologists, IUCN
- The World Conservation Union, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), BirdLife International,
Wetlands International, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), and
European Space Agency. Following the debate the participants agreed a "declaration
of principles" entitled "Beyond
the tsunamis: a way forward" which is now available in PDF format
only. Press releases on the event in both English
and French are
also available, also in PDF format. [05/02/05]
World
Wetlands Day. The second of February is World Wetlands Day, and around
the world activities of all sorts are being sponsored by governments and civil
groups at all levels, both today and on nearby dates at their convenience. At
the Ramsar Secretariat, where the STRP meetings are going on all this week,
a "debate" is being held this afternoon on the ability of ecosystems
like mangroves and coral reefs to mitigate the effects of natural disasters
such as the recent devastating tsunami in South Asia. In addition to the STRP
members themselves, participants include experts for a number of relevant organizations,
including the WMO, FAO, UNEP, IUCN, WWF and others, and it is co-chaired by
Philippe Roch, environment minister of Switzerland,
and Kemi Awoyinka of Wetlands International,
with introductory presentations by Douglas Taylor
of Wetlands International, Rebecca Tharme
of the Integrated Water Management Institute, and Mette
Wilkie of FAO. It is expected that by the end of the afternoon the
participants will have agreed a recommendation that can be taken forward as
a contribution to the lessons learnt from the recent disaster.
To those of you who are involved in WWD activities, please do send us something about them, from a brief description to a longer report, with photographs as well if you wish, and we will try, as in past years, to create of record of as many of your efforts as we can. [02/02/05]
Who's where? STRP meeting now under way. The Convention's Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) has begun its 12th meeting at the Secretariat's facilities in Switzerland, and will be debating upcoming technical issues in preparation for Ramsar COP9 throughout this week. [01/02/05]
Mexico
designates 4 Ramsar sites for World Wetlands Day. Following the high
profile events of World Wetlands Day last year with 34 designations, this year
Mexico continues to increase its number of Ramsar sites by adding four more
to the List of Wetlands of International Importance. The new designations are
a dune slack complex in the city of Veracruz, a national park in the island
of Cozumel in the Caribbean, and a coastal lagoon and a mountain lakeshore in
Michoacán state, where the WWD celebrations will be focused this year.
Mexico now has 55 Ramsar sites with a surface are of 5,115,393 hectares. Summaries
of the sites have been prepared by Iván Darío Valencia. [01/02/05]
México designa 4 sitios Ramsar para el Día Mundial de los Humedales. Tras haber designado un número récord de 34 nuevos sitios para la misma fecha en 2004, en esta ocasión México ha añadido 4 nuevos sitios a la Lista de Humedales De Importancia Internacional. Los nuevos sitios son un complejo de lagunas interdunarias en la ciudad de Veracruz, un parque nacional en la isla de Cozumel en el Caribe; así como una laguna costera y un sector de un lago de montaña en el estado de Michoacán, en donde las celebraciones se enfocarán este año. Las descripciones resumidas de los sitios han sido preparadas por Iván Darío Valencia.
The
United States designates two Wetlands of International Importance in California.
To
commemorate World Wetlands Day 2005, two sites designated by the United States
of America have been added to the List of Wetlands of International Importance,
the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve
(TRNERR) and Grassland Ecological Area,
both in the state of California. TRNERR is one of the few unfragmented estuaries
in southern part of the state and is located at the very southwestern corner
of the country on the border with Mexico. Grassland is the largest remaining
freshwater wetland complex in the state and is renowned for its very large congregations
of wintering waterfowl and shorebirds. Brief site descriptions have been prepared
by Ramsar's Iván Darío Valencia based on the information
supplied in the Ramsar Information Sheets accompanying the designations, and
they can be seen here. The United
States now has 21 Wetlands of International Importance, with a surface area
totaling 1,258,751 hectares. [01/02/05].
Switzerland
names mountain wetlands for World Wetlands Day. The
Government of the Secretariat's host country, Switzerland, has designated three
valuable as well as very scenic Wetlands of International Importance as part
of its celebration of World Wetlands Day, 2 February. Switzerland now has eleven
Ramsar sites totaling 8,676 hectares. Laubersmad-Salwidili
(1,376 ha) is a subalpine area of transitional and raised bogs on the northern
slopes of the Alps, in the north-central canton of Lucerne, and is part of the
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve "Entlebuch". The Rhonegletschervorfeld
consists of the alpine region around the tongue of the Rhône glacier,
the source of the mighty Rhône River, and Vadret
da Roseg includes the alpine alluvial zone at the outflow of two
glaciers in the far east of the country. The
French version of the press release prepared by BUWAL, Switzerland's Bundesamt
für Umwelt, Wald und Landschaft (or in French OFEFP, Office fédéral
de l'environnement, des forêts et du paysage), can
be seen here in PDF or on BUWAL's Web site at http://www.environnement-suisse.ch/buwal/fr/medien/presse/artikel/20050128/01150/index.html.
Brief descriptions of the sites have been prepared by Ramsar's Assistant Advisor
for Europe, Estelle Gironnet, and are linked
to wonderful photographs of each of the new designations, for your delight.
[29/01/05]
Tanzania
designates fascinating coastal complex. The Secretariat is extremely
pleased to announce that the United Republic of Tanzania has named its fourth
Wetland of International Importance, entitled Rufiji-Mafia-Kilwa
Marine Ramsar site (08°08'S 039°38'E), a complex of coastal
and marine habitats covering 596,908 hectares, comprising the delta of the Rufiji
River; the Mafia Island about 25km offshore and surrounding smaller islands,
sandbars, and coral reefs; the Songo-Songo Archipelago to the south; and adjacent
waters, i.e. the Mafia Channel and waters between Mafia and Songo-Songo. A large
part is composed of mangrove forests (an estimated 55,000 ha) as well as extensive
intertidal flats, seagrass beds, and sandbars, all thought to be ecologically
interlinked with the flow of the river. Songo-Songo 
has
a highly diverse and extensive coral assemblage with records of 49 genera of
hard and 12 genera of soft corals. Five species of globally threatened marine
turtles have been recorded, including Green Turtle and Hawksbill, as well as
a small population of Dugong dugong. A count in the delta alone in 2001
recorded 40,160 waterbirds of 62 species at a minimum. The delta's artisanal
fishery of about 7,000 fishermen produces about 4,500 tonnes of finfish per
annum, as well as prawns, and thousands of families in Songo-Songo and on Mafia
similarly make their livings from fishing. Fishing and extraction of other coastal
and mangrove resources, as well as cultivation (especially rice), seaweed farming,
and tourism are the major activities within the site. [28/01/05] 
Swiss
Grant for Africa: approval for projects in six African countries.
The Secretary General has signed grant agreements with the Convention's Administrative
Authorities in Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, and Liberia
for the implementation of several COP8 Resolutions in those countries. The grants
to Liberia and Côte d'Ivoire will serve for the: i) designation of new
Ramsar sites, ii) preparation of National Wetlands Policy outlines, iii) draft
report of their civil wars' impacts on their wetlands and, iv) strengthening
of the Ramsar focal points' operational capacities. Liberia, which does not
yet have a National Wetlands Committee, will establish one; in Burkina Faso,
where a Ramsar National Committee has just been created, the government intends
to do designate nine new Ramsar sites, update the three Ramsar sites' RISs,
and strengthen the Ramsar focal point's capacities. In addition, Cameroon
and Cape Verde have also been granted Ramsar/Swiss assistance to help
them prepare for accession to the Convention, and Gabon has a grant to
help upgrade the data on their Ramsar sites and provide a training session for
selected members of parliament. Gabon have also been granted Ramsar/Swiss Funds
assistance for similar activities. The total amount disbursed is 110,500 Swiss
francs for one year's duration, and the results will be presented during Ramsar
COP9 in Kampala. -- Abou Bamba, Ramsar.
[More info on the Swiss Grant for
Africa.] [27/01/05]
China
names nine new Ramsar sites for World Wetlands Day. The
Secretariat is delighted to announce that the Government of the People's Republic
of China has designated nine new Wetlands of International Importance, with
a surface area of nearly 400,000 hectares. One of them, Shuangtai Estuary on
the Liao River in northeastern China, makes up part of what has been called
"the world's largest reed bed". The other eight new Ramsar sites are
all in Qinghai and Yunnan Provinces and the Tibet Autonomous Region and are
all high-altitude marshes and lakes, one as high as 6,500 meters asl, among
the headwaters of the Yangtze, Yellow, and Yalu Tsangpo / Brahmaputra Rivers.
All of these have very important hydrological functions, both locally and downstream,
and all are extremely valuable sites for migratory birds, including the endangered
Black-necked Crane Grus nigricollis. Because of the relative isolation
of the sites, some of them have high levels of endemism, particularly with fish
species, and they are vital sources of livelihood for the populations nearby.
These new mountain designations have been made as part of China's efforts in
the "Wetland Conservation and Wise Use in the Himalayan High Mountains"
initiative and have been assisted by support from WWF China and WWF's Global
Freshwater Programme.
Brief descriptions of the nine new sites, drawn from the Ramsar Information Sheets submitted with the designations, have been put together with assistance from Ramsar's Ms Shahzia M. Khan.
[26/01/05]
Ramsar
Tsunami Reference Group. As
part of the global response to the disaster, the Ramsar Convention Secretariat
has asked Wetlands International to work with Ramsar International Organisation
Partners (IOPs) to coordinate efforts to bring together scientifically sound
advice on wetlands in the region in order to assist governments in choosing
the most effective response measures. The Ramsar Tsunami Reference Group has
been established involving Wetlands International, WWF, IUCN, BirdLife International
and the International Water Management Institute to combine resources, share
information and produce timely advice as and when it is needed. The highest
and immediate priority of this group is to coordinate rapid assessment of the
affected areas with involvement and assistance of all remote sensing specialists,
interested agencies and organisations. To provide an opportunity of interaction,
debate and cooperation, eight internet-based discussion groups the related subjects
are available on http://www.wetlands.org/tsunami/.
[20/01/05]
New
Intern for Africa chosen for Ramsar Secretariat. The
Secretariat is pleased to announce that Lucia Scodanibbio
from South Africa has been selected as the next Intern/Assistant Advisor for
the African region, replacing Ahmed El-Sabban
from Egypt. Lucia graduated with a First class BSc (Honours) in Plant and Freshwater
Ecology from the University of Cape Town. She also holds a BSc degree in Biology,
Earth and Environmental Sciences from the same university. She has recently
finished working on an 18-month project in Mozambique, promoting integrated
water resources management for the Zambezi River, and she also has field experience
in the Kosi Bay system in Kwazulu/Natal Province of South Africa and in Makerere
University Biological Field Station, Kibale National Forest Park, Uganda. After
the experience she gains in the Ramsar Secretariat, Lucia aims to work in integrated
basin management issues in the Zambezi and elsewhere in Africa. The Ramsar Secretariat
looks forward to welcoming Lucia in February 2005. [17/01/05]
European
Regional Meeting report and photos ready. The "5th European
Regional Meeting
on the implementation and effectiveness of the Ramsar Convention" was held
in Yerevan, Armenia, 4-8 December 2004, and was attended by 109 participants,
representing 35 Contracting Parties in the European Region, four intergovernmental
organisations, three of Ramsar's international organisation partners, several
non-governmental organisations plus a number of invited experts. The aims of
the Meeting, its detailed programme and annotated agenda, the participants list
and texts of most of the presentations delivered during the plenary sessions
and workshops are available on the Ramsar Convention Web site here.
And now, the Report of the meeting can be
seen in all its glory, here,
and a number of poignant photographs as
well, here. [12/01/04]
Small
Grants Fund -- call for project proposals. The Ramsar
Small Grants Fund was established by Ramsar COP4 in 1990 as a mechanism
to assist developing countries and those with economies in transition in implementing
the Convention and to enable the conservation and wise use of wetland resources
- since that time, it has provided funding and co-funding, up to 40,000 Swiss
francs (about US$ 34,000) per project, for something like 175 projects totaling
about 7 million francs. Projects for the 2004 cycle will be selected by the
Standing Committee's Subgroup on Finance in March 2005. The
call for proposals is now being made for the 2005 cycle, with a deadline of
30 June 2005 for application and with a decision to be made by the
Standing Committee around the end of the year. Here
is the text of the call for proposals, and the "operational guidelines"
for the SGF can be found here
in Word and PDF format. [11/01/04]
Feedback and suggestions
are welcome to the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196
Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail 
).
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.