Daft Resolution VI.25 on Change in Character Other Than Ecological

The 6th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, Brisbane, Australia: 19-27 March 1996

DRAFT RESOLUTION VI.25:
DRAFT RESOLUTION ON DESCRIPTION OF CHARACTER AND CHANGE IN CHARACTER. OTHER THAN ECOLOGICAL (submitted by NN*)

REITERATING RES. VI.14. by which the Bureau Work Programme for 1997-99 was approved;

RECALLING the function of the Standing Committee to supervise the conduct of the Bureau's programmes;

NOTING that the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) was established by RES 5.5 to give advice to the Standing Committee as well as to the Bureau;

MINDFUL of the tasks assigned to the Standing Committee, the STRP and the Bureau by RESOLUTIONS VI.1, VI.2, VI.3, VI.4, VI.6, VI.7, VI.9, VI.1O, VI.11, VI.14, VI.15, VI. 17, VI.18, VI.21, VI.22, VI.23 and RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7, 6.9, 6.13, 6.14, 6.15 adopted at the 6th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties **;

EMPHASISING that the wise use of the capacities of the Standing Committee, the STRP and the Bureau is of utmost importance;

FURTHER RECALLING RES. VI. 17 on financial and budgetary matters, and also the aim to achieve cost savings;

RECOGNIZING the need for the conservation of the physiological and psychological character of the members of these bodies, so that they can carry out their functions to the satisfaction of the Contracting Parties;

REAFFIRMING the precautionary principle also in this context;

THE CONFERENCE OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES

INSTRUCTS the Standing Committee, the STRP and the Bureau to complete information sheets - with particular attention to sections 1-215, 220-500, 502-700 of the sheet - describing the present physiological and psychological character of the individual members;

FURTHER INSTRUCTS the Standing Committee, the STRP and the Bureau to send these information sheets (including their EEG records, as maps, at the scale of 1:Meeting) within one half day after the closure of the 6th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, to the Ramsar Database, and update their respective sheets regularly, after each meeting of either the Standing Committee or the STRP as well as after regional meetings;

REQUESTS partner organisations, and other organisations specialised in psychological disturbances in particular, to analyse the different categories of threats which derive from fulfilling all the tasks, and which are likely to affect adversely the physiological and/or psychological character of the members of the three bodies;

URGES the members of the three bodies to make individual efforts to develop wings and/or fins, as appropriate, so as to achieve considerable savings of travel costs, and acknowledges that such changes in character are not adverse, but rather desirable;

FURTHER REQUESTS the partner organisations to base their analysis on the information sheets and report on their findings and conclusions to the 7th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties;

CALLS ON the Contracting Parties to identify those members of the Standing Committee, the STRP and the Bureau who might be in need of conservation, restoration and/or rehabilitation;

INVITES the Contracting Parties to also identify those members who might have degraded beyond recovery and take special, gentle care of them;

URGES the Contracting Parties to offer voluntary contributions for the purposes of conservation, restoration and rehabilitation; and

FINALLY CALLS ON the Contracting Parties to show mercy towards the members of the Standing Committee, the STRP and the Bureau and to make an effort at the 7th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to recognise that after all, they work for the benefit of the Ramsar Convention and for the conservation of wetlands worldwide.

* NN=Nova Neurologia

** The full list of tasks entrusted to the Standing Committee, the STRP and the Bureau is not annexed, as producing it would have diminished considerably the forest resources of the host country.