The
Ramsar Archives 
3
January 1998
Headline Story: Spanish
and French editions of the Economic Valuation book. The famous Economic Valuation of Wetlands: a guide for policy
makers and planners (Ramsar, 1997), by Edward Barbier, Mike Acreman, and
Duncan Knowler, was published in book form in May 1997 and also made available on this Web
site in November 1997. The Spanish
translation by Juan Carlos Valdovinos has
now been published in book form, with financial assistance from the bank Caixa Catalunya, Espaņa, in Barcelona, and will be available in the first days
of January 1998, and it has also been published in HTML on this Web site as of today --
click on the Ramsar Library button on our home page and proceed directly to it. The French translation by Daničle Devitre has also
been published in book form and will also be available in the first days of 1998, and the
HTML version has now also been posted on this Web site. [3/1/98]
Headline
Announcement: Posters for free. The
Bureau has produced a colorful poster, 80cm by 60cm, to promote World
Wetlands Day -- it says "2 February, World Wetlands Day" in
a gazillion languages, and you can have one -- actually, you can have a lot of them, as
many as you realistically think you can use to tell the public that 2 February isn't just
the day after 1 February. If you would like one or more copies, hurry and inform Valerie Higgins of the Bureau of your postal address,
and she'll send them to you straightaway. [17/12/97]
New on the Site: French
and Spanish translations of the Economic Valuation of Wetlands
book [see the Ramsar Library]; Spanish version of the Agenda and Programme for
COP7; Rules of Procedure for the Conference of the Parties, French
and Spanish versions join the English; report on the Women's Basketry Cooperative in Botswana;
Wetlands, Biodiversity, and the Ramsar Convention,
the complete text and photos here in the Ramsar Library; [3/1/98]
Coming Soon: The French translation of the COP7 Agenda and Programme; the full texts of the 1993 4-volume Directory of Wetlands of International Importance, long out of print; report of the Secretary General's recent trip to the Neotropical region.
Kyoto
Meeting, opportunity for Ramsar. Ramsar's
Special Consultant, Dr Ken Lum, reports from Kyoto that the new climate change
protocol presents Ramsar with new opportunities to influence global policy.
See Ken's report here. [23/12/97]
Wetland Action - Asia: "Towards 2002:
Action on the Ramsar Strategic Plan". After two postponements, the dates
of the Ramsar Meeting, hosted by the Malaysian government, are confirmed for 16-20
February 1998. The meeting aims to review implementation of the Ramsar Strategic Plan
1997-2002 in Asia and contribute to development of a regional implementation plan for the
region. In addition, one day will be devoted to thematic workshops on: Water &
Wetlands and Donor Policy & Practice for Wetlands. Participants
are expected to include representatives of Contracting Parties and non-Contracting
Parties, development assistance agencies, research organisations, related environmental
conventions and the private sector. For more information and registration details, please
contact: Wetlands International - Asia Pacific, IPSR, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia (fax: +60 3 757 1225, email: wiap@wiap.nasionet.net).
[16/12/97]
Major
Admonition: Another
deadline hurtling in upon us. The
deadline for applications for the 5th International Course on Wetland Management in
Lelystad, the Netherlands, is just about here -- 1 January 1998. Those of you who've
come to believe that having memorized the "Ramsar Guidelines for Management Planning
at Ramsar Sites and Other Wetlands" just isn't trying hard enough, start scraping
together your guilders and get on up there to the Netherlands next 14 May to 24
June. You can read a replica of the descriptive brochure right here. [12/12/97] [out
of date]
Southeast Asia - progress towards accession of
new Parties. The Thai cabinet last month approved accession to the Ramsar
treaty and proposed the Thale Noi Non-hunting Area as the nation's first Ramsar site, for
which a management plan is presently being prepared; the accession of Thailand is
considered to be well advanced. During Rebecca D'Cruz's visit to the region last
month, it transpired, however, that the legal documentation for Cambodia's accession, and
Ramsar Information Sheets for its three proposed sites, have gone missing during political
disturbances of July 1997 and are being prepared anew. [16/12/97]
Ramsar Newsletter 26 --
Don't Miss It! You probably didn't. It's mostly news that was reported on
this Web site over the past few months, so if you've been staying in touch with
Ramsar-related affairs here you won't learn much from NL26. But . . . .
nonetheless, NL26 is extremely attractively presented, as laid out by Irene from
L'IV Communications in Morges, Switzerland, and would make a wonderful Christmas (or
analogous religious holiday) present for your Ramsar-related loved ones. And
ALL 4000 SUBSCRIBERS to the Ramsar Newsletter, in whatever language, are receiving an
unautographed copy of the famous and colorful World
Wetlands Day poster, and -- not only that, but also
-- a page of Ramsar Forum debates the purpose of which is not entirely clear, all in one
envelope. If you're not yet a subscriber, don't sit on it, do it now! Call
Valerie Higgins (vph@hq.iucn.org) and say "Sign
me up, and don't forget the poster." [11/12/97]
Ramsar
Small Grants Fund (SGF) -- Call for 1998 proposals. At the end of November the
secretariat sent a diplomatic note, with copy to all of the Ramsar Administrative
Authorities and contacts in the potential recipient countries, calling for the submission
of proposals for SGF funding in 1998. In the note it was made clear that, since the funds
available in 1998 will probably not be more substantial than in 1997, Contracting Parties
should note that it is unlikely that they will successfully gain funding approval for more
than one project each. Thus, the Bureau recommends that a pre-selection be made by the
Administrative Authorities and that only the top priority project be submitted for
consideration.
The deadline for submission of proposals is 31 March 1998. The SGF Operational Guidelines and Request for Funding forms, in English, French, and Spanish, are available on this Web site in the Key Documents section, as are descriptions of projects that have been funded over the past seven years of the Fund's existence. Annette Pavlic (ahp@hq.iucn.org) is the Bureau's focal point for SGF affairs. [3/12/97]
Friends of the Earth address change. Please note the new address of
Friends of the Earth-Spain: Amigos de la Tierra, Avenida de Ajalvir a Vicalvaro 82, 4o;
28022 Madrid, Spain (tel +34 1 306 9900 and 306 9921; fax +34 1 313 4893; e-mail tierra@arrakis.es). This is also the address of the
Friends of the Earth International's Wetlands Campaign and of the Coordination Network for
the conservation and wise use of wetlands along the East Atlantic Migration Floyway. (posted to the Ramsar Forum, 3/12/97) [4/12/97]
Bahrain becomes the 105th Contracting Party. The
Ramsar Bureau is pleased to announce that Bahrain has deposited its instrument of
accession with UNESCO as of 27 October 1997, so that the treaty will come into force for
Bahrain on 27 February 1998. Bahraini authorities submitted to UNESCO maps indicating
boundaries for two designations for the List of Wetlands of International Importance,
wetlands known as "The Huwar Islands" and "The Gulf of Tubli", but for
the moment we have no other information about them. The accession of Bahrain is
particularly welcome because the Convention is presently less well represented in the
Middle East than in many other regions. [25/11/97]
Completed data on 35 Russian Ramsar sites. The
Bureau is delighted to announce that the Permanent Mission in Geneva of the Russian
Federation this morning handed over completed Ramsar Information Sheets (in English) and
maps for the 35 Russian Wetlands of International Importance in Russia, as designated by
Government Decree in 1994. The data and maps were accompanied by a letter from the Deputy
Chairman of the Ramsar Administrative Authority, the State Committee of the Russian
Federation on Environmental Protection, Mr Amirkhan Amirkhanov.
This is excellent news, representing a substantial step forward for the Convention at national, regional and global scales (and adding some 4 million more hectares to the Convention's coverage). It makes a particularly significant contribution to fulfillment of Brisbane Resolution VI.13 on site data.
Congratulations and thanks are due to the State Committee, to the Research Institute of the Russian Federation on Nature Conservation (responsible for collection and compilation of the original Russian language version of the data), to the staff of Wetlands International in Wageningen and Moscow (especially the Moscow staff who undertook the heavy burden of translation into English, including working in their personal time), and to the Governments of the Netherlands and the USA which have been important financial supporters of the joint effort required to reach this goal. [20/11/97]
Jamaica
is the Convention's 104th Party. The Ramsar Bureau has been informed
by UNESCO that on 7 October 1997 Jamaica completed the formalities necessary
for its accession to Ramsar as its 104th Contracting Party, which means that
the Convention will enter into force for Jamaica on 7 February 1998.
The "Black River Lower Morass" wetland has been designated by Jamaica for inclusion in the List of Wetlands of International Importance. The largest freshwater wetland ecosystem in Jamaica, it is located in the St. Elizabeth parish of southwestern Jamaica (18 degrees 4 min. N, 77 degrees 48 min. W) and has an area of approximately 5,700 hectares. The Black River Lower Morass is a complex of shallow brackish lagoons, limestone islands, tidal marshes, mudflats and mangroves near the coast, and extensive freshwater marshes with peat formations. It is owned by the Government of Jamaica and the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica.
Jamaica is welcomed as the third Ramsar Contracting Party in the Caribbean region, after Trinidad and Tobago and the Bahamas, and the Convention is making special efforts to attract more Caribbean states to the Ramsar family before the 7th Conference of the Parties in May 1999. [18/11/97]
Wetlands
for the Future / Humedales para el Futuro -- new call for proposals.
Wetlands for the Future is an initiative for training and capacity-building
on conservation of wetlands in the Neotropical Region, sponsored by the Ramsar
Convention, the United States State Department, and the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service. Following its first very successful three-year period, during
which some US$ 750,000 were allocated for a wide range of projects, a new Memorandum
of Understanding has been signed which continues the initiative for
another three-year term. The call for proposals is reproduced here in
English and Spanish.
[18/11/97]
More to follow. Watch this space.
Feedback and suggestions to: the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney
28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail
). Updated
regularly by Dwight Peck, Ramsar.
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