The Ramsar Standing Committee, 2009-2012
The 10th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties elected a new Standing Committee to oversee Convention matters during the period until the next COP, set for Romania in 2012, and the inaugural meeting of the new Standing Committee (SC39) elected its Chair and Vice Chair, Mr. Yeon-Chul Yoo (Republic of Korea) as Chair and a representative of Paraguay as Vice Chair. The present composition of the Standing Committee reflects the regional proportions mandated by Resolution VII.1. The first full meeting of the new Standing Committee took place in May 2009.
Standing Committee members are elected as Parties.Africa: Cameroon, Mauritius, Nigeria, Tanzania
Asia: China, Lebanon, Thailand
Europe: Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, Georgia
Neotropics: Jamaica, Panama, Paraguay
North America: Mexico
Oceania: Marshall Islands
COP10 host country: The Republic of Korea
COP11 host country: Romania
Permanent observers: Netherlands, Switzerland, BirdLife International, IUCN-International Union for the Conservation of Nature, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Wetlands International, WWF International. [The host countries of the Ramsar Secretariat and the Ramsar Sites Database and the five International Organization Partners are welcomed as Permanent Observers.]
