The Ramsar Bulletin Board, 2 October 2000
Headline story.The Standing Committee agenda papers beckon to you! Despite all the odds, the Bureau has succeeded in finalizing all 31 massive primary documents (with their gazillion pages of semi-useful attachments) scheduled for the consideration of the 25th meeting of the Standing Committee (23-27 October 2000, Gland, Switzerland), many of which are interesting, or at least significant. They will be sent in hardcopy by courier to all of the SC members and registered observers tomorrow at first light, and they are already available on this Web site.
The SC25 agenda papers include: the Secretary General’s report on all the progress the Convention has made over the past year [2]; update on "compliance" issues among the Parties and the increasing importance of Article 3.2 [3, 8]; lots on the Convention’s "synergies" with the CBD and other conventions and financial mechanisms [5, 6, 7, 29]; progress on indigenous people [9] and river basins [11]; proposals for place, dates, and agenda for the 8th Conference of the Contracting Parties in Spain in 2002 [14, 15]; beaucoup de financial stuff [21, 22, 23, 26, 27, 28]; Small Grants Fund issues [24, 25]; location of the MedWet Coordination Function [30]; finding a new Secretary General in due course [31]; and best of all (if better were possible) the second draft of the evolving Strategic Plan for 2003-2008 [18]. You’ll also be delighted to find background papers by Dave Pritchard (on compliance [3] and on the draft Strategic Plan [18]), Faizal Parish (on river basins [11]), and the Environmental Law Center (on "urgent national interest" issues [8]). The index is at http://ramsar.org/key_sc25_docs_index.htm. [1/10/00]
Who's where?
Najam Khurshid, Regional Coordinator for Asia, has probably left Damascus, Syria, after taking part in a workshop on "Effective management of protected areas and Biosphere Reserves for the conservation of biodiversity", which is supported by the Ramsar Bureau, UNESCO, UNEP, and CEDARE, and should now be in Teheran, Islamic Republic of Iran, to attend stakeholder and Steering Committee meetings on the GEF project currently under way there through the efforts of Ramsar, UNDP, and Iranian officials. [26/9/00]
Alain Lambert, Senior Adviser for Environment and Development Cooperation [The SAEDC!], should be in Teheran by now as well, and for the same purpose. No, wait!!!, now he's off to visits in Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia to discuss several wetland initiatives in Southeast Asia in general, and in particular a major Mekong River Delta management programme with Ramsar's partner and national authorities, in a visit organized by IUCN's regional office in Asia.[29/9/00]
Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe is in Odessa, Ukraine, to attend two workshops: 1) on the "Conservation, restoration and wise use of wetlands and wetland resources along the Black Sea coast" organized by Wetlands International (with financial support from the Netherlands), including delegations from eight Black Sea range states and a number of international organizations; 2) on "Water issues and natural resources management", the final workshop of the Ramsar-Danone/Evian-MedWet4 project on "technical twinnings between Ramsar Sites in closed seas deltas within the MedWet-Eurosite framework" (with delegations from 10 Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas deltas), followed by a visit of coastal wetlands between Odessa and the Ukrainian part of the Danube delta. [27/9/00]
New on the Site: Text of the new Memo of Cooperation with The Nature Conservancy; Ramsar Advisory Mission 18 (1990), reprint of the classic study of Pakistan's wetlands by Derek Scott and Abdul Latif Rao. [30/9/00]
Sir Gerard Boere of The Netherlands. Simon Nash of Wetlands International reports: "On Wednesday 27 September 2000, in the Hague, The Netherlands, Dr Gerard C Boere (left), long-time representative of The Netherlands on the Ramsar Standing Committee, was knighted and becomes an Officier in de Orde van Oranje Nassau, a title awarded to him by the State Secretary for Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries on behalf of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands. The State Secretary stressed in her presentation the catalytic role Gerard Boere has played in the development of international nature conservation, especially with regard to wetlands and migratory waterbirds. As customary in the Netherlands the award is given to persons who play an active role in society (outside of their professional capacity). Gerard has been involved in the development of many key nature conservation organisations including SOVON, WIWO and the Wader Study Group. He also has played an important role in strengthening relations between Russian and Dutch biologists in exchange programmes." [30/9/00]
Ramsar in Pakistan is now on the Net. In the context of the Evian Project, financed by 
the private-sector Danone Group, the Convention has been able to finance the installation of Internet access for Ramsar's Administrative Authority in Pakistan. Umeed Khalid reports that the National Council for the Conservation of Wildlife (NCCW) in the Ministry of Environment, Local Government and Rural Development has recently been able to establish Internet access, with the following address for official correspondence: nccw@isb.paknet.com.pk . This is the twelfth Contracting Party that the Convention has been able to assist in bringing on-line by virtue of the Evian Project. [29/9/00]
Brief report on the Ramsar Advisory Mission to the Ebro Delta. Following a number of citizen and NGO notifications to the Bureau about problems in maintaining the ecological character of the Ebro Delta Ramsar site, the Bureau, as required by Article 3.2 of the Convention, made inquiries with the Administrative Authority in Spain. Promptly the Spanish Ministry of Environment invited a Ramsar Advisory Mission to the site, in coordination with the Department of Environment of the region of Catalunya. Tobias Salathé of the Bureau, with experts Patrick Dugan and María José Viñals as well as national and regional authorities, applied the Ramsar Advisory procedure 18-22 September, and Dr Salathé's report on the mission is available here. The full report will be posted here after it's been finalized. [26/9/00]
Exemplary outreach device from Brazil. The Ministry of Environment of Brazil, specifically the Protected Areas National Program in the Secretariat of Biodiversity and Forests, has produced an extraordinarily attractive maxi-brochure on Ramsar sites in Brazil. Entitled "Life begins with water", the gracefully written text (available in both English and Portuguese) folds out to show brief descriptions of the Convention, the wise use principle, and Brazil's Ramsar role, with short factual blurbs on her seven Ramsar sites -- then folds out again to a fine A3-size poster with a map and photos showing the location and essential nature of all of those sites (this illustration, photographed by Sasha Belokurov from its prominent display in the Ramsar Bureau, doesn't do justice to the real thing). Brazil has produced an especially elegant Ramsar-related outreach product that should serve as an example and an inspiration to all of our other Contracting Parties in their fulfilment of their Resolution VII.9 public-awareness obligations. Update: the Portuguese copies are gone now, write to dap@mma.gov.br instead, but we still have English versions to give out to all deserving individuals. [26-29/9/00]
GISP Phase 1 Synthesis Conference now under way.Nick Davidson, the Deputy Secretary General, is in Cape Town, South Africa, 17-24 September 2000, for a meeting of the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP) to review its completion of Phase 1 work and consider its Phase 2 programme, and a CBD Liaison Group meeting, in the context of the CBD/Ramsar Joint Work Plan, to consider the preparation of materials for its upcoming SBBSTA meeting in 2001, which will be preparing follow-up to CBD's interim guiding principles endorsed by CBD COP5. Invasives will be a major topic for discussion at the next CBD COP in 2002, and IUCN’s guidelines and and CBD's interim guiding principles will feature prominently in the Ramsar STRP’s advice to our own COP8 in 2002. Here is Nick's interim report on how the meeting is progressing from the Ramsar perspective. [20/9/00]
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. Jim Corven reports that the WHSRN Council gave final approval to the designation of 4 new sites into the Network. At its regular meeting September 17 in Indianapolis, Indiana, the Council formally endorsed the nominations of Elkhorn Slough (California), Lake Erie Marshes (Ohio & Michigan), Laguna Madre (Texas & Mexico), and Guerrero Negro (Mexico), and Nushagak Bay (Alaska) was confirmed, bringing the total number of recognized shorebird reserves up to 46. The total area of these sites brings over 120,000 acres (75,000 hectares) into the reserve system and includes 22 partners who are committed to the conservation of these critical wetland habitats. Here are more details. [22/9/00]
Two Ramsar Advisory Missions now under way: Spain, and Senegal/Mauritania. 1) Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, is leading a Ramsar Advisory Mission to the Ebro Delta Ramsar Site in Spain, together with Ramsar Experts María José Viñals (of Sehumed in València, a member of the MedWet Coordination Team) and Patrick Dugan, and a number of Spanish (José Ramón Picatoste and Magdalena Bernues of the Ministry of Environment) and Catalunyan (i.e. regional and local) experts. 2) Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, is taking part in a multi-partner Ramsar Advisory Mission, involving participation by Ramsar and the World Heritage Convention, as well as BirdLife International, IUCN, Wetlands International and WWF International, to the Djoudj, Senegal, and nearby Diawling, Mauritania, to assist with the problem of invasive species at both of these sites. Brief trip reports will follow soon, final RAM reports in some months' time. [18/9/00]
News from the SGF. Small Grants Fund project completed in the Slovak Republic. Alexander Belokurov reports that the SGF project National wetlands inventory and conservation in Slovakia (1998, 30,000 SFR) has been completed. The Slovak National Wetlands Inventory project was started in 1991, but completion of the inventory had faced a lack of funding from the governmental and non-governmental organizations involved. Support from the Ramsar Small Grants Fund has been the important source of funding which has enabled the finalization of a 9-year project conducted by more than 260 specialists and volunteers. More than 2000 wetland sites were described, from which 1606 were categorized - as wetlands of local (1050), regional (467), national (72) and international (17) importance with their total surface area approximately 200,000 ha. Data has been collected in the central database of the Slovak Union of Nature and Landscape Protectors. The final bi-lingual (Slovak and English) publication was completed. New Ramsar sites were identified and proposed for designation. [20/9/00]
World Wetlands Day falls on Ramsar's Big 3-0.Wetland world - A world to discover! is the motto of the 5th official World Wetlands Day, which just happens to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Convention on Wetlands. Delirious festivities are in the planning stage, and practitioners in the field who wish to help out in the celebrations will be able to acquire from the Bureau all sorts of odd little things -- brochures, mousepads (probably in the shape of a frog), posters, stickers with evocative nature images on, poignant speeches by the Secretary General, quotable blurbs for the local press, oh what not else! As in recent years, Bureau staff will welcome news of your World Wetlands Day planning and they vow to post it promptly on this Web site, so as to gather momentum and supply inspiration to less-left-brain World Wetlands Day planning officials, and when at the end of the day (2 February or early 3 February) it's all over, the Bureau will also welcome reports of what actually happened, similarly for posting here.
To open the bidding, the Bureau has produced a very neat rather-green 2-ply A5 flyer on WWD 2001, designed by Saatchi and Saatchi (but mostly authored by the Secretary General), in English, French, and Spanish, available right now in any reasonable quantities from environmentalist Valerie Higgins (higgins@ramsar.org). The text of the flyer is also available here as of now, in English, French, and Spanish, in case anyone should want to quote the juicy bits in local media. And this is only the beginning. [15/9/00]
Wetland restoration in Zám-puszta, Hortobágy National Park.Zám-puszta, covering 2,800 hectares, is one of the most valuable stretches of the southern grasslands of the Hortobágy National Park (80,000 ha), a Ramsar site and UNESCO Biosphere Reserve that is also inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Upon learning from András Böhm in the Ministry of Environment that celebrations were held on 6 September 2000 at Hortobágy to mark the completion of a significant restoration project on part of the site, the Bureau requested further background on the event and received this brief report, written by Ms Szilvia Gori of the Park Directorate, who is Hungary's National Focal Point for the Ramsar STRP. The project in Zám-puszta was carried out with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Fisheries and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was organized by Wetlands International - Africa, Europe, Middle East. [14/9/00]
Another tearful parting. Petra Holtrup is leaving the Bureau, sadly, after a very fruitful two months' summer internship. Dr Holtrup received her PhD from the University of Bonn (Germany) in the international relations of environmental policy, specializing in the design of effective international environmental agreements. Following a posting in the USA to study decision-making in environmental policy, especially in Germany and the USA, she came to the Bureau for summer 2000 and completed a study, begun by former interns Maryse Mahy and Anett Zellei, of National Wetland Policies and related instruments, and National Ramsar/Wetland Committees, amongst the European Contracting Parties. Her report, including analysis and a great many trenchant recommendations, will be used as a basic working document for the Ramsar European Regional Meeting slated for Slovenia in October 2001, but will be available on this Web site long before that time. Petra is now taking up a posting with the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, but in October and November will be representing the German Foreign Ministry and the OSCE as an election observer in Bosnia and Kosovo. The staff of the Ramsar Bureau are very happy to have worked alongside Dr Holtrup and wish her the best success in her future career (especially the part about Kosovo!). [14/9/00]
Ramsar mission to Georgia and Armenia. The international workshop on Wetlands Conservation in the Caucasus, organized by the Georgian Centre for the Conservation of Wildlife and the Caucasus Environmental NGO Network with financial support from the USAID, 
was held in early September in Kobuleti, Georgia. Some 25 representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, USAID, UNDP, BirdLife International, Wetlands International, and the Ramsar Bureau gathered to discuss wetland conservation and water management, Ramsar implementation, and regional cooperation. From that meeting, Ramsar's Tobias Salathé traveled to Armenia to view present and potential Ramsar sites and hold discussions with the Administrative Authority in that country. More detail on both can be found in this brief trip report. [13/9/00]
The UK names its 156th Ramsar site! Continuing its excellent tradition of protecting everything that's not nailed down (i.e., 15.07% of the total number of Ramsar sites, and 0.009% of the Convention's total surface area), the United Kingdom has designated its 156th Ramsar site, also named as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Special Protection Area under the EC Habitats Directive. The Inner Clyde Estuary Ramsar site (1826 ha, effective 5/9/00) is a long narrow, heavily industrialized estuary near Glasgow on the west coast of Scotland, consisting mostly of tidal mudflat with a shoreline of unmanaged semi-natural coastal vegetation; saltmarsh is also present. In winter, the site supports internationally important numbers of redshank Tringa totanus. Sport fishing and hunting, in addition to navigation, are practiced in the area. Dredging and pollution from domestic sewage and oil are considered to be adverse factors, but monitoring is intended and long-term improvements in water quality are expected. This is the UK’s 156th Ramsar site and the Convention’s 1035th. [12/9/00]
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment releases project summary. "The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment is a four-year [US$20 million] process designed to improve the management of the world's natural and managed ecosystems by helping to meet the needs of decision-makers and the public for peer-reviewed, policy-relevant scientific information on the condition of ecosystems, consequences of ecosystem change, and options for reponse." Similar in many ways to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) in scope and organization, the project is sponsored by the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Foundation, and the World Bank, with significant support from UNDP, UNEP, US AID, and many other governments and foundations. UNEP, WCMC, and the World Resources Institute, amongst others, are contributing parts of the "distributed secretariat", and the project has been described as intended to provide "a joint assessment process to meet specified information needs of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands". The official Project Summary in English has been reprinted on this Web site, and the Ramsar Bureau has agreed to undertake its translation into French and Spanish. [12/9/00]
Workshop set for Western China in June 2001. An International Workshop on Conservation and Wise Use will be conducted in Korla City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous region of China next June in order to exchange and summarize experiences and study results. The organizers of this workshop are Wetlands International (China, Oceania and Asia-Pacific), the Forestry Department of Xinjiang and the Government of Bayangol Prefecture of Xinjiang, and associated with Global Environment Network. Here is the text of announcement, with some photos of study sites to be visited, sent to us by Li Lukang, WI-China. [12/9/00]
Joint Advisory Mission to Ichkeul, Tunisia. The report of the Joint Advisory Mission, 28 February - 4 March 2000, to Ichkeul National Park in Tunisia is now available on this Web site, in French and English versions.A good example of inter-agency cooperation, the mission was conducted by the World Heritage Convention, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and IUCN-the World Conservation Union, with additional support from Eurosite, and the report provides a survey of problems, recent conservation efforts, and recommendations for urgent future actions at one of the world's most important wetlands for migratory birds, already listed on the list of World Heritage in Danger and the Ramsar Convention's Montreux Record. View this report in English or French here. [9/9/00]
USA's Okefenokee Swamp Ramsar site still under threat. In March 1999, this Web site reported promising developments in settling environmental disputes over the DuPont company's planned strip mining adjacent to the Okefenokee Swamp protected area in the state of Georgia, USA. Disappointingly, that arrangement seems now to be on the verge of unraveling, according to a new report from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Here is the US FWS news release. [8/9/00]
Honduras responds to threats to 1000th Ramsar site. Responding to information supplied by non-governmental organizations and concerned citizens about threats to the Ramsar site called "Sistema de Humedales de la Zona Sur de Honduras" (Ramsar site no. 1000), Mr Delmar Blasco, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, acting within the context ofArticle 3.2 of the Convention requiring informing the secretariat of threats to Ramsar-Listed wetlands, sought clarification from the Administrative Authority in Honduras, and received a very satisfactory reply from the Secretary of Natural Resources and the Environment of Honduras, Ms. Xiomara Gómez de Caballero. You can view it here. [7/9/00]
Wetlands International announces new staff secondment. Wetlands International is pleased to announce that from 1 September 2000, Dr. Gerard C. Boere from the Division of International Affairs of the Netherlands Ministry for Agriculture, Nature Management and Fisheries, started his three year secondment with the ICU as International Programme Co-ordinator (please don't fret that they still spell Coordinator with an -, as if we were all stuck knee-deep in the British Civil Service in northern and northwestern India in 1895-98). Here's the official announcement. [7/9/00]
Announcement. Superb new book on wetlands hydrology. MedWet and the Tour du Valat have produced a brilliant new book, no. 10 in the well-known Conservation of Mediterranean Wetlands series, edited by Jamie Skinner and A.J. Crivelli. Written by Mike Acreman of the Institute of Hydrology in Oxford (co-author of Ramsar's Economic Valuation of Wetlands, 1997), this glossy and very well-illustrated A4 109-page volume covers questions of water cycle, management, hydrological modeling, flooding, groundwater, and water needs for wetlands. English and French editions are available, and we've been told that the Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat has a certain number of copies available for distribution. [7/9/00]
Announcement bis. BirdLife International seeks Project Development Officer for Europe. Peruse the announcement in the privacy of your own home. [since removed] [7/9/00]
Wetlands International names International Director.Chris Kalden, President of Wetlands International, has announced that Simon Nash has been named as the new International Director, replacing Ms Robin Schaap who recently completed her successful tenure as head of the International Coordination Unit based in The Netherlands. Mr Nash is presently Head of Operations for Wetlands International - Africa, Europe, Middle East and has also been serving as interim director of Wetlands International - Americas through its transition period. He joined one of the Wetlands International precursor organizations, the International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau, in Slimbridge, UK, in 1989. The press release can be viewed at http://www.wetlands.agro.nl/wetlands_ICU/news/director.htm [obsolete address]. [6/9/00]
World Commission on Dams reports on wetlands work.Dams: Official Newsletter of the World Commission on Dams, No. 7 (August 2000) reports on the "ripple effect" of the WCD's work over several countries and thematic areas, and includes a brief report on its work with wetlands. Here is a reprint of that section of the report. [6/9/00]
Lake Chad Basin Commission update. The Presidents of Chad, Niger, and Nigeria, and high-level representatives of the Presidents of Cameroon and the Central Africa Republic met 28 July 2000 in N'Djamena for the 10th summit meeting of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, with the President of Sudan participating as an observer, and took a long step forward in ensuring a sustainable future for Lake Chad and its large catchment. SFR 40,000 grants have recently been awarded or are planned for each of the Commission Member States by the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) Living Waters Campaign to assist in the designation of related Ramsar sites in each of them, and a Global Environment Facility (GEF) project has been approved specifically for Ramsar designation and an appropriate management plan for Lake Chad and its basin. The LCBC Heads of State agreed a Final Communique welcoming the Ramsar, WWF, and GEF initiatives, calling for further donor support, and stating their intention to designate all of Lake Chad as a transboundary Ramsar site as soon as the relevant studies can be completed. Here is our reprint of the Final Communique in English and French. [4/9/00]
New Ramsar Intern appointed for Asia. The Ramsar Bureau is pleased to announce that Satiraporn Sirisampan from Thailand has been appointed to the position of Ramsar Intern and Assistant to the Regional Coordinator for Asia, replacing Taeko Takahashi of Japan, who completes her one-year tenure in the post on 28 November. Ms Sirisampan is 25 years old and has a B.Sc. in Forestry (Major: Watershed Management) from Kasetsart University, Thailand, and a M.Sc. (Major: Hydrological Processes) from Nagoya University, Japan (with a scholarship from the UNESCO International Hydrological Program). She is currently working as an Environmental Assistant at the Asia-Europe Environmental Technology Centre in Bangkok. Ms Sirisampan, who prefers to be known by her nickname "Tug", will take up her duties in mid-November 2000. [29/8/00]
Tracts acquired for USA Ramsar site. Ducks Unlimited is taking a lead role in the acquisition and restoration of two tracts of land, including Raft Creek, 4,165 acres, which is part of the White River ecosystem, and the Hatchiecoon tract, consisting of 900 acres, both included within the Cache-Lower White Rivers Ramsar site (81,376 hectares, designated November 1989) in the midwestern state of Arkansas, USA. The two tracts support one of the largest concentrations of wintering waterfowl in Arkansas. Other partners in this public-private cooperative initiative include the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the National Wild Turkey Federation, and numerous private donors. More detail is available in this announcement to the Ramsar Forum. [31/8/00]
More to follow. Watch this space. Feedback and suggestions to: the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail 
). Updated regularly by Dwight Peck, Ramsar Bureau.
