The
Ramsar Archives The Ramsar Bulletin Board
2
April 1997
Headline
Story: South Korea becomes the 101st Contracting Party.
UNESCO has today confirmed that the Republic of Korea deposited its instrument
of accession on 28 March and designated "The High Moor, Yongneup
of Mt. Daeam" as its first Ramsar site. This 106-hectare site
consists of two peat bogs at about 1200 meters above sea level, with 150cm peat
layers over 4,000 years old. The moor and its surroundings are under the control
of the Ministry of National Defense since the area is adjacent to the Demilitarized
Zone; access requires permission from the Defense Ministry and thus the use
of the moor is prohibited strictly by law for any purpose. Though some parts
of the moor have been affected by military traffic, the area enjoys several
forms of legal conservation protection and studies of the feasibility of ecotourism
are in progress. Information on the site is available from the Ecosystem Conservation
Division, National Conservation Bureau, Ministry of Environment, Government
Complex II, Kwacheon 427-760, Republic of Korea (fax +822 504 9207). [2/4/97]
Another
Headline Story: Wetlands International signs Memo of Agreement.
On 1 April 1997, a memorandum of agreement came into force between the Ramsar
Bureau and Wetlands International, representing its three regional licensees
(Africa, Europe, Middle East; Asia Pacific; and the Americas). Though one of
Wetlands International's founding partners, IWRB, played an instrumental role
in the creation of the Convention, and though IWRB and the Asian Wetlands Bureau
have long worked in very close cooperation with the Convention in a vast array
of joint ventures and mutually supportive programmes, this agreement lays out
a clear framework for synergistic activity that both codifies present practice
and renews the joint commitment between the two entitites. Here's the text of
the Memo of Agreement. [2/4/97]
New
on the Site:
Memorandum of Agreement between the Bureau
and Wetlands International; Annotated agenda for the upcoming STRP meeting;
"The Crane - Bird of Peace"
- background paper on the International Children's Art Contest; the Daft
Resolutions [that's right, "daft" not "draft"] [2/4/97]
Coming soon: Unsure.
Small Grants Fund deadline past. The 31 March deadline for submitting project proposals
for the Small Grants Fund for 1997 has past. In a mad flurry of fax and e-mail activity,
something like 60 to 70 proposals have been conveyed to the Bureau, and now the work of
assessment, carried out be experts from the Bureau, IUCN, and Wetlands International,
begins in earnest.
For future reference, the Operational Guidelines for administration of the fund and submission of proposals, as well as replicas of the Request for Funding forms, are available on this Web site. Assistance in the preparation of project proposals can be provided or organized by the Bureau's Regional Coordinators for the appropriate geographical regions, so don't hesitate to inquire [2/4/97]
MedWet
GEF proposal makes headway.
Jamie Skinner of the Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat
reports that on 19 March the Global Environment Facility operations committee
accepted the MedWet / Conservatoire du Littoral project brief entitled "Conservation
of coastal and wetland ecosystems in the Mediterranean region," which addresses
biodiversity conservation at 16 sites in Albania, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, the
Palestine Autonomous Region, and Tunisia and includes changes to legislation
and the development of national wetland policies. The total project cost, if
approved, would be US$ 15.5 million over five years, with co-funding of US$
2.3 million from the Caisse Française de Développement. The final decision on
the brief is expected to be made at the GEF Council meeting on 1 May, and if
it is approved, work will begin on development of a project description detailing
all of the activities to be undertaken. [26/3/97]
Ghanaian
workshop on a national wetland policy.
On 22-23 March, the Ramsar Administrative Authority in Ghana, the Ministry of
Lands and Forests, held a brainstorming workshop, funded by the GEF project
on Ghanaian coastal wetlands, to establish the basis for a national wetland
policy. Organized by Dr Yaa Ntiamoa-Baidu of the University
of Ghana and the Ghana Wildlife Society, the meetings were well-attended and
provided the opportunity for Dr Ntiamoa-Baidu, Dr Mike Moser of Wetlands International,
and Mike Smart from the Ramsar Bureau to explain Ramsar's emphasis on the need
for national wetland policies; once the momentum had been established, the participants
scheduled follow-up working meetings beginning as early as 2 April. Mr Smart
also had the chance to talk with the Hon. Kwabena Adjei, Minister of Lands of
Forests and a participant at Ramsar's Brisbane COP, about Ghana's draft National
Land Policy which incorporates considerable emphasis on wetland issues; shortly
thereafter, Mr Adjei was appointed Minister of Food and Agriculture. [26/3/97]
Doñana
Committee meeting. In
mid-March, the Bureau's Mike Smart attended the 2nd meeting
of the committee established by the Junta de Andalucia to monitor use of the
63 thousand million peseta (62 million Swiss franc) fund granted by the European
Union for the "Plan for the Sustainable Development of the Area around
Doñana". It was decided that special efforts should be made to cultivate
the local population's awareness that these special grants have been made to
develop their feeling of belonging to Doñana. Mr Smart reports that the situation
of the Park is quite encouraging because of a second consecutive winter with
excellent rain; the marshes are covered with shallow water and it looks to be
another fine breeding season. The Park authorities are preparing enthusiastically
for the proposed Ramsar Management Guidance Procedure and have drawn up lists
of Spanish specialists for the MGP mission to contact. [26/3/97]
Decision
on Point Lillias. The
Australian Federal Government has reached a decision on the controversial proposal
to construct a chemical storage facility at Point Lillias, part of the Port
Phillip Bay and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar site in Victoria state. The Bureau
has not yet received formal notification of the present situation from the Australian
authorities, but reproduces here the Federal Minister for the Environment's
media release on the decision, dated
14 March. [21/3/97]
Vacancies
at Wetlands International - Asia Pacific.
See the announcement of vacancies [link
later removed] at one of our partner organizations, just in
from Wetlands International - Asia Pacific. [21/3/97] [The position has
since been filled.]
North
East Asian Wetland and Waterbird Workshop.
An important step forward for coordination of wetland conservation efforts in
that region -- Bureau staff member Rebecca D'Cruz is still
working on her detailed trip report, and in the meantime here is a summary
of the meeting's achievements by Taej Mundkur of Wetlands International
- Asia Pacific. [20/3/97]
Ramsar
Manual in Spanish just published.
The Manual de la Convención de Ramsar: une guía a la Convención
sobre los humedales de importancia internacional [Edición español
del Manual de la Convención de Ramsar], (Ramsar, 1997), updated as of the end
of 1996 and including the results of the Brisbane COP, has just been published
with the help of the Spanish Government. It is available from the IUCN Publication
Services Unit for £ 21.50 or US$ 32.25. See our current list of publications
for more details. [link
later removed] [17/3/97]
Ukraine set to list 22 new
sites. Yaroslav Movchan,
Deputy Minister for Environmental Protection and Nuclear Safety of Ukraine, has informed
the Bureau that his country, which recently formalized its status in the Convention as a
successor state to the former Soviet Union, is designating 22 sites for the Ramsar List,
four of which had already been listed but the remainder of which will be new sites.
Details will follow as soon as the paperwork has been received from the Central Board of
Natural National Parks and Reserve Affairs. [12/3/97]
Symposium on Migratory Animals. IUCN will host a Symposium on Migratory Animals at the
headquarters building in Gland, Switzerland, on Sunday, 13 April. Sponsored by the
UNEP/CMS secretariat and coordinated with the 5th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties
of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) slated
for Geneva, 10-16 April, the symposium will feature presentations on a number of
interesting species by well-known experts. [10/3/97]
Germany
earmarks funds for the SGF.
Dr Angela Merkel, Germany's Minister for Environment, Nature
Protection, and Reactor Safety, informed the Bureau on 28 February of her ministry's
grant of DM 60,000 for use by the Ramsar Small Grants Fund (SGF). She noted
that this was prompted particularly by the Australian Environment Minister Sen
Robert Hill's 1996 request that governments respond to his country's challenge
to pledge financial support to the implementation of the Strategic Plan 1997-2002.
This donation, coming so soon after the generous contributions of Denmark, Sweden,
and Switzerland, places the SGF in an excellent position as we near the 31 March
deadline for the submission of project proposals. [2/3/97] (Click here for a
brief list of other recent voluntary contributions
from other Contracting Parties [4/3/97])
Australian
Policy now on the web.
The Australian Commonwealth Wetlands Policy, officially launched on World Wetlands
Day, 2 February 1997, has now been posted on the web and you can link to it
right here. [link
later removed][4/3/97]
Czech
Republic puts Litovelské Pomoraví on the Montreux Record.
The Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic has placed Litovelské
Pomoraví, a 5,122 hectare site that was designated for the Ramsar List in November
1993, on the Montreux Record of Ramsar sites where changes in ecological character
have occurred, are occurring, or are likely to occur as a result of technological
development, pollution, or other human interference. Sites on the Montreux Record
require positive national and international conservation attention and receive
priority in applications of the Management Guidance Procedure, if requested,
and assistance from other bodies. Here is the Ministry's
notification and Montreux Record Questionnaire outlining the situation at
the site. [28/2/97]
Position vacancy at Wetlands International. Dream posting for the right candidate! International
Director, based at the headquarters of Wetlands International - Africa, Europe, Middle
East in Wageningen, the Netherlands. Applications accepted until 31 March. The vacancy announcement is reproduced on this site. [25/2/97] [The
position has since been filled.]
The Convention reaches the 100
milestone. UNESCO has
informed the Bureau that, effective 7 February, the Bahamas and Georgia have
joined the Ramsar Convention and the treaty will go into effect for both of them on 7 June
1997. Which of them is actually the may be a point of some debate, but by the Laws of Alphabetism,
Georgia gets the nod. According to our telephone conversation with John Donaldson of
UNESCO, Bahamas ratified the Convention, the Paris Protocol, and the Regina Amendments and
named Inagua National Park on Great Inagua Island as its first Ramsar site. Georgia
designated two sites, Wetlands of Central Kolkheti (several wetlands in the area) and
Ispani II Marshes. [14/2/97]
Ramsar
signs MOU with the CMS.
Arnulf Müller-Helmbrecht, Coordinator of UNEP's Convention on the Conservation
of Migratory Species (CMS, or the Bonn Convention), today joined our Secretary
General, Delmar Blasco, in signing a Memorandum of Understanding between his
secretariat and the Bureau of the Ramsar Convention. The MOU outlines a number
of "areas of cooperation", including joint promotion; institutional
cooperation; joint conservation action; data collection, storage and analysis;
and new agreements on migratory species. Here's the text
of the MOU. [18/2/97]
Meeting
on CBD Implementation Targets. A
meeting of the Global Biodiversity Forum, entitled "Dialogue on Biodiversity
Indicators and Implementation Targets," will be held 3-4 April in the UN headquarters
in New York. Organized by IUCN, UNEP, World Resources Institute, the Government of Sweden,
BIONET the Biodiversity Action Network, the Center for International Environmental Law,
WWF International, and the Worldwatch Institute, the gathering will examine a wide range
of options for biodiversity indicators and Convention on Biological Diversity
implementation targets and explore possible contributions for national reports of progress
on CBD implementation required of all CBD Parties. Information from Sheldon Cohen, BIONET
(bionet@igc.apc.org) or John Waugh, IUCN-USA (jwaugh@iucnus.org). [13/2/97]
Position Vacancy in the Ramsar Bureau. At the Standing Committee meeting on 1 November, the
Bureau's Senior Policy Advisor, Michael Smart, announced his resignation from his salaried
post in the Bureau effective 30 September 1997, as he wishes to return to more field-based
work in wetland conservation. It is understood that Mike will remain closely associated
with the work of the Convention in an advisory capacity into the indefinite future. The
vacancy announcement for his replacement was released earlier today and can be seen by
clicking here or on the What's New index to the left. The position will have the new title
of Senior Coordinator, Policy and Technical Affairs, and will be the second most
senior position in the Bureau, after the Secretary General. [20/1/97] [The position
has since been filled.]
More to follow. Watch this space.
Feedback and suggestions to: the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney
28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, 
).
Updated regularly by Dwight Peck, Ramsar.
Back Issues of the Bulletin Board. Early in every month the current
edition of the Bulletin Board is copied to the Ramsar
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