The Scientific and Technical Review Panel, Ramsar's scientific subsidiary body
The Scientific and Technical Review Panel of the Ramsar Convention was established by Resolution 5.5 (Kushiro, 1993) as a subsidiary body of the Convention to provide scientific and technical guidance to the Conference of the Parties, the Standing Committee, and the Ramsar secretariat. Its individual members are elected by the Standing Committee, based upon nominations from the Parties, on the same regionally proportionate basis that is used for electing the Standing Committee itself, but they serve in their own capacities as experts in the scientific areas required by the STRP's Work Plan and not as representatives of their countries. Resolution VII.2 (San José, 1999) modified the composition of the STRP, and Resolution X.9 (Changwon, 2008) established the present modus operandi and terms of reference of the STRP.
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| 11th Meeting of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel, Gland, Switzerland, 2003 |
In addition to the 15 individual STRP members, delegates from the five International Organization Partners -- BirdLife International, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), IUCN, Wetlands International, and WWF International -- represent their organizations as full members of the Panel. In addition, representatives of the 18 subsidiary bodies of other Multilateral Environment Agreements and non-governmental organizations and associations specified in Resolution X.9 are also invited to participate as permanent observers during each triennium, and representatives of other organizations are invited to participate in the work of the STRP as required by the nature of the tasks under study.
The STRP's Work Plan for each triennium is built around the priority tasks determined by the Standing Committee, which are based upon requests from the Conference of the Parties by means of its Strategic Plan and COP Resolutions and Recommendations. The STRP members and observers are assisted in their work by a network of STRP National Focal Points who advise them directly on STRP matters and provide a liaison between the STRP and the networks of other relevant experts within each of their countries. The STRP's Expert Working Groups and the National Focal Points communicate by means of electronic mail and Internet discussion groups.
The work of the STRP is further assisted by the STRP Support Service, which is operated by Wetlands International under contract with the Convention. The purpose of the Support Service is to provide the STRP Expert Working Groups and National Focal Points with additional contacts among the expert networks of the International Organization Partners and other groups, identify gaps in needed expertise and endeavor to fill them, assemble a clearinghouse of additional information resources for the tasks of the Work Plan, and facilitate communication amongst the Working Groups, the Focal Points, and other sources of expertise.
The Scientific and Technical Review Panel, 2009-2012
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Heather Mackay, Chair of STRP |
Chairperson: Dr Heather MacKay
Vice-Chairperson: Ms Rebecca D'Cruz
Regional networking:
Africa: Dr Stanley Liphadzi
Asia: Ms Rebecca D'Cruz
Europe: Ms Rebecca Lee
Neotropics: Dr Montserrat Carbonell
North America: Mr Randy Milton
Oceania: Mr Philippe Gerbeaux
Thematic experts:
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Rebecca D'Cruz, Vice Chair of STRP |
Wetland inventory, assessment, and indicators: Mr Dave Pritchard
Ramsar site designations: Mr David Stroud
Wetland restoration and management: Mr Kevin Erwin
Wetlands and climate change: Prof Max Finlayson
Wetlands and human health: Dr Pierre Horwitz
Wetlands and water resources: Prof Mike Acreman
Wetlands and agriculture: Mr George Lukacs
Communications, Education & Public Awareness (CEPA): Ms Christine Prietto
The Convention's five International Organisation Partners (IOPs):
BirdLife International: Dr Vicky Jones
Wetlands International: Mr Ritesh Kumar
IWMI: Dr Matthew McCartney
IUCN: Dr Mark Smith
WWF: Ms Archana Chatterjee
INVITED OBSERVER ORGANIZATIONS, 2009-2012
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Related STRP documents are available here
Reports of STRP meetings are available here
The Scientific and Technical Review Panel, 1996 - 2008 (PDF)
