Search for existing conservation guidelines
(posted to the Ramsar Forum, 10 June 1998)
Search for existing conservation guidelines
Hi,
I have been working at the Institute for Forestry and Nature Research in The Netherlands (see http://www.ibn.dlo.nl/) for ages, dealing with black-tailed godwits, waterbirds, black terns, wetland management in Europe and Africa, and the like. Presently I have been seconded by my institute to Wetlands International (see http://www.wetlands.agro.nl) for 12 months to work on background documents for the African Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) under the Bonn Convention. First task is to produce Conservation Guidelines, the first batch of which should be discussed at a Workshop during the 2nd International Conference on Wetlands and Development, in Dakar next November.
The guidelines to be produced are the following:
a) guidelines for making species action plans; b) guidelines for identifying and tackling emergency situations; c) guidelines for the preparation of site inventories; d) guidelines for management of critical sites.
These four are the urgent ones, which have to be done before the meeting in Dakar. Further guidelines to be prepared are:
e) guidelines for sustainable harvest of waterbirds; f) guidelines for regulating trade in waterbirds; g) guidelines for ecotourism in wetlands; h) reducing crop damage; i) waterbird monitoring protocol.
I was convinced that many, many guidelines of this sort must already have been written on many, many occasions. So why invent the wheel again? Well, first, AEWA wants its own set of guidelines as part of its recognisable face. Secondly, it appears that the possibly existing material is much more hidden than I ever thought, and that many customers think there is nothing at all. So there is a need.
I began with an inquiry for references of existing documents, first to all 144 waterbird count coordinators in the AEWA Region (potential users), then to all specialist group coordinators of Wetlands International, and to dozens of additional potential resource persons, possibly including you already. Total: about 200 people dealing with this topic. Amazing outcome:
Most respondents (of the very, very, VERY few that responded anyway - even the prospect that the one coming up with the golden tip might be invited to come to Senegal to give a presentation about it, did not work - can you understand that?) say they know nothing. Two respondents, by sharp contrast, said there would be far too much to even try to get it together. So now what?
To give you an example of how extremely hidden this stuff is, and how little it 'lives' among people: practically all I needed to know about topic a (species action plans) is in the proceedings of a workshop under the Bern Convention held specifically on this subject a year ago, and which were published just last month (Drafting and implementing action plans for threatened species. Workshop, Bertiz, Navarre Spain, 5-7 June 1997. Environmental encounters, No 39. Council of Europe, 1998). Many on my mailing list appear to have been involved in this workshop, and yet NOBODY thought of mentioning it. It turned up on my desk by sheer coincidence, last week. See?
So, I would be most grateful for just ANY pointer (even the stupid ones) towards existing documents dealing with this guidelines stuff. Oh, and if you have the brightest ideas, you ARE quite welcome to come to Dakar to present them.
Thanks everybody
Albert Beintema, Institute for Forestry and Nature Research, PO Box 23, 6700 AA Wageningen or Wetlands International, PO Box 7002, 6700 CA Wageningen
email: a.j.beintema@ibn.dlo.nl private website: http://home.wxs.nl/~beintema (read about Tristan da Cunha...)
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