The
Ramsar Archives 
1
April 1998
Headline
Story: Questionnaire on Management
Planning Guidelines -
help still needed. In
February the Bureau asked for input from wetland site managers in order to help the
Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) determine whether further revision
of the Convention's Management Planning Guidelines is desirable. A brief questionnaire
was circulated to the Contracting Parties and posted on this Web site.
By the requested deadline of 31 March, the response has been disappointing,
with only about 30 responses from Argentina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, the
Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Honduras, Liechtenstein, Malaysia,
Malta, Mexico, Namibia, Turkey, and Zambia, and another 30 from the United Kingdom.
In the hope of receiving still further responses, the deadline has now been
extended to the eve of the STRP meeting itself, 21 April. If you have
firsthand knowledge and experience of developing or implementing management
plans for Ramsar or other wetland sites, please help by filling out the questionnaire,
posted here in English, French,
and Spanish versions and available as
a Word 7 e-mail attachment, and returning it to the Bureau before that date.
[31/3/98]
Slightly
Less Important Headline Story: Economic Valuation book redivivus. Yes, it's come back to life, the economic valuation
of wetlands book that will not die. Responding to the cries of dismay and chagrin
from hysterical masses congregated outside the Bureau's windows, we have ordered and
received another thousand copies of The Economic Valuation of Wetlands
in English by Barbier, Acreman, and Knowler. Buy it if you can
(IUCN Publications Unit, Cambridge UK, iucn-psu@wcmc.org.uk,
US$ 26.25), but let us know if that's a problem; we'll send you
one if you promise to read it carefully and absorb it into your work habits. [31/3/98]
Headline Alert: Small Grants Fund Deadline is NOW (or nearly so). Governments and organizations wishing to submit Ramsar
Small Grants Fund project proposals for consideration by the Standing Committee in October
have only until 31 March to get their applications, duly endorsed by the administrative
authority of the Contracting Party. If you're just rotating the idea of applying
around in your head, it's too late! But if you are presently putting the finishing
touches on your proposal, finishing-touch faster! Here
are the background information and forms. [22/3/98] [Ha Ha, too late. 31/3/98]
Who's Where . . .
Montserrat Carbonell, Regional Coordinator for the Neotropics, is in the USA to attend the Wetlands International - Americas board meeting, 23-24 March, and will then begin an application of the Management Guidance Procedure at Palo Verde, Costa Rica, 25 March - 3 April. [23/3/98]
New
on the Site: Diplomatic
Note 1998/6 with Ramsar's proposed Joint Work Plan with the CBD; Ramsar
introductory info pack materials in Spanish; Ramsar
Forum exchange on livestock grazing in wetland management; reports of the
MedCom1 meeting (with pix) and the
Paris Water Conference (with
speech). [31/3/98]
Brief Announcement: The Ramsar Internship for Asia will be open as of mid-October
and applications are invited before 1 June 1998. Here is the
full announcement. [24/3/08]
Czech
party set for 31 March. On 31 March
a special ceremony will be held at the 'Novozámecky fishponds' Ramsar site in the Czech
Republic to mark the successful completion of an emergency assistance project under the
Convention's Small Grants Fund. The money (some SFR 40,000) was allocated
in 1997 for the rebuilding of the water control structure which regulates outflow from the
fishponds. Without this work the wetland system was in imminent danger of drying out. It
is hoped that the successful implementation of the SGF project, together with other
management planning measures, will lead to the removal of the site from the Montreux
Record in the not too distant future. [27 March 1998]
Paris
Water Conference reported. The International Conference on Water
and Sustainable Development, held in Paris in preparation for the Commission
on Sustainable Development meeting in New York in April, provided an opportunity
to advance the Ramsar "message", that an "ecosystems approach"
must underpin the implementation of the new paradigm of integrated water resources
management, and that the Ramsar Convention is well placed to assist the international
community in meeting the challenges of the global water crisis of the next century.
Here's the Secretary General's
report on the Paris Conference and his intervention in plenary, with the
text of the Conference's Final Declaration.
[25/3/98]
MedCom1
meeting a success. The first meeting of the Mediterranean Wetlands
Committee, with the Ramsar Convention's Secretary General serving as ex officio
chairperson, has concluded in Thessaloniki, Greece, and produced a final set
of decisions. Here's
a report on the meeting and subsequent excursion to the Lake Karla restoration
project, with photos, and the
text of the final decisions. [24/3/98]
Notes
of only marginal interest. 1) The Economic Evaluation
of Wetlands book, which went out of print last month to great
cries of dismay, is being reprinted now and will be ready by the end of March.
2) The Convention's introductory brochure has just
been reprinted in a second edition, in English, French, and Spanish, and is
available for free in any reasonable quantities from the Bureau. The leaflets
explain the Convention very well in such short space and, in addition, because
they're light and handy, they make extremely good party favors. And because
of the excellent paper stock on which they are printed, they also fold well
into imaginative paper airplanes, origami waterfowl, etc. Here's one of them
now, still all folded up. E-mail Ramsar's Valerie Higgins (vph@hq.iucn.org)
if you need some. [24/3/98]
INTECOL
VI set for Québec in 2000.
Clayton Rubec has forwarded the initial press release announcing the planning
of INTECOL VI, the Sixth Wetland Symposium of the International Association
of Ecology, for Québec in August 2000. TheRamsar Convention, along with many
other groups, will be assisting in this landmark meeting.
Here's a copy of the announcement. [18/3/98]
Workshop
set for Kathmandu.
Following on from the successful International Conference on Asian Wetlands
(New Delhi, January 1998), IUCN-Nepal, Bangladesh Pousch, and the Indian Environmental
Society have organized a Workshop on Environmental Education for Wetlands Conservation
set for Kathmandu, Nepal, 9-11 April 1998. Read
about it here. [13/3/98]
"The
world focuses on water". Between now and
early June, there will be three major conferences -- the Water and Sustainable
Development conference (19-21 March), the UN’s Commission on Sustainable
Development meeting (beginning 20 April), and the 4th COP of the CBD (beginning
4 May) – which will examine the issues involved in the looming global water
crisis and endeavour to mobilise the responses needed. The Ramsar Bureau has
been doing its part to help shape the response, arguing in several of the preparatory
meetings for these conferences that the "ecosystems approach" must
underpin the implementation of the new paradigm of integrated water resources
management. Here’s a brief overview
of the progress so far. [5/3/98]
Germany
publishes report on Ramsar implementation.
The Bundesamt für Naturschutz announces the publication of Ramsar-Bericht Deutschland
(Ramsar Report Germany) by Günter Mitlacher. This study analyzes 20 years
(1976-1996) of Germany's Ramsar membership -- how has the Convention been implemented?
What have been the consequences for the protection of its 29 Wetlands of International
Importance and for the birds living in them? The 189-page book is written
in German with a 2-page summary (reproduced
here) and short explanations to numerical tables in English. It's available
for DM 29.80 + p&p from BfN-Schriftenvertrieb, c/o Landwirtschaftsverlag,
D-48084 Münster (tel +49 2501 801 0, fax +49 2501 204). [5/3/98]
European Internship vacancy in the
Bureau. The Bureau is seeking to replace
Maryse Mahy, who completes her one-year posting plus an extension. Here are the terms of reference; the position is open as of 1
August 1998, and applications are due before 31
March. [18/2/98]
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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