Ramsar COP7 DOC. 13.2

"People and Wetlands: The Vital Link"
7^th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties
to the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971),
San José, Costa Rica, 10-18 May 1999

 Ramsar COP7 DOC. 13.2

Agenda item XI: Issues arising from Resolutions and Recommendations of previous meetings of the Conference of the Parties

1. The Ramsar Wetland Conservation Awards were established in 1996 by Resolution VI.18 of the 6th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) in order to recognize and honor the contributions of individuals, organizations, and governments around the world in promoting the conservation and wise use of wetlands.

2. Each of the three Awards for 1999, which will be presented at the 7th Meeting of the COP in San José, will be accompanied by the Evian Special Prize, generously provided by the Danone Group (France), of US$ 10,000.

3. For the 1999 Awards, the Ramsar Standing Committee (October 1998) has chosen to share the Awards in the Individual and NGO categories.

4. Further information about the 1999 Ramsar Award winners, including interviews and photographs, is available on the Ramsar Web site ( http://ramsar.org/key_awards99_index_e.htm ), and fact sheets on the winners are included in the Media Kit prepared for this Conference of the Parties.

5. The 1999 Ramsar Award laureates are:

Individual Category (shared): Prof. Vitaly G. Krivenko, Russian Federation

Individual Category (shared): Victor Pulido, Peru

NGO Category (shared): Lake Naivasha Riparian Association, Kenya

NGO category (shared): Society for the Protection of Prespa, Greece

Government/Non-governmental Coalition Category: Pacific Estuary Conservation Program, Canada