The Ramsar Bulletin Board, 8 August 2000
Headline story. Millennium Wetland Event opens in Quebec, Canada. The Millennium Wetland Event, featuring the annual meetings of the Society of Wetland Scientists, INTECOL, the International Peat Society, and the International Mire Conservation Group, got under way in Quebec City, Canada, on 6 August with registration, setting up of the exhibits, and a cash bar with free potato chips and cold cauliflower bits, followed by musical odds and ends over breakfast in the plenary hall, Monday, 7 August, and keynote addresses by Eville Gorham on priorities for wetland research in the coming era, Ramsar Deputy Secretary General NickDavidson on linkages between wetland science and policy at international level, and Stephen Lewis, former Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, whose exceptional speech on the challenges ahead was avidly discussed throughout the day. Dr Davidson's keynote address to the first plenary session is available on this Web site. [8/8/00]
Headline story. Sustainable management of urban wetlands.The Ramsar Convention assisted in s
upporting the within-Australia travel costs of Dr Madhu Verma in her presentation of a paper on sustainable management of wetlands, especially in India. The paper was entitled "Need for Holistic Planning for Sustainable Management of Urban Wetland Ecosystems: A Case from India" and was authored by Dr. Verma, Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Forest Management, Bhopal, India, Ms. Nishita Bakshi, Senior Research Fellow, Environmental Economics, & Ramesh P.K. Nair, Senior Research Fellow, Limnology, and it was presented at the International Symposium on Ecosystem Health at the Carlton Crest, Brisbane, Australia, on 14 July 2000. The conference was organized by the International Society for Ecosystem Health and its main theme was Transdisciplinary Approaches. The subsession under which this paper was presented was the Economic Analysis of Ecosystem Health. The paper attempted to study the changing needs of a growing city and how unsustainable use of an urban wetland would lead to problems in the future. Health of the ecosystem was related to the health of the city's population and cost and expenditures in preventive and curative measures were also discussed in the paper. More information is available from Dr Verma, madhuver@hotmail.com . [8/8/00]
Who's where?
Monsieur Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, steadfastly attended by the Bureau's Tobias Salathe and Dwight Peck, is participating in the soi-disant Millennium Wetland Event in Quebec, Canada, 6-12 August 2000. The Secretary General is on a very welcome vacation in Spain, his first serious time off in the past 5 years; everyone else is fluttering all about the Bureau, bouncing on the edges of their chairs waiting for Europe's August holiday migration to get seriously under way. [8/8/00]
New on the Site:Minutes of the 9th meeting of the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP); Brief descriptions of Ramsar Small Grants Fund project allocations for this year; Update on overlapping designations between the Ramsar Convention and UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere programme. [25/7/00]
Bangladesh designates its 2nd Ramsar site. Bangladesh has designated its 2nd Wetland of International Importance, effective 10 July, to join the famous Sundarbans coastal mangrove forest on the Ramsar List. Here is a brief description of the new site, drawn from the RIS and the covering letter by Syed Marghub Murshed, Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forest.
Tanguar Haor is Bangladesh's most important freshwater wetland, extending over 9,500 ha in Sunamganj District in the northeastern part of the country; it lies in the floodplain of the Surma River, one of the main tributaries of the Brahmaputra at the base of the Meghalaya Hills in adjacent India. The area harbours some of the last vestiges of natural swamp forest and is totally flooded in the monsoon season, apart from artificial hillocks upon which homesteads are constructed. Tanguar Haor provides habitat for at least 135 fish and 208 bird species, including 92 waterbird species and 98 migratory bird species, and including 10 IUCN Red Book and 22 CITES listed species. About 30-40,000 migratory waterfowl converge on the area in the northern winter months, and rare species such as Pallas's Fish-eagle Haliaeetus leucorhyphus are relatively common and breed in the area. Tanguar Haor also supports a rich fishery and is regarded as one of the country's richest breeding grounds for freshwater fish. Threats include over-exploited fishery stocks and uncontrolled taking of waterfowl, and the local community has been denied access to the resources by leaseholders of the fishery, which has led to conflicts. Under the National Conservation Strategy Implementation Project-1, a first management plan was produced in 1997 and a new one is going into implementation in 2000, which is intended to restore access and use rights. Hunting of turtles, tortoises, and waterfowl is widespread and part of everyday life, and the way of life - living in homesteads built on mounds -- is said to be unique in this part of Bangladesh. The Ministry of Environment and Forest, at the time of designation, has requested that the site be placed on the Montreux Record as soon as that procedure can be completed. This is Ramsar's 1031st Wetland of International Importance. [27/7/00]
Bolivia designates 3rd Ramsar site. The Ramsar Bureau is pleased to announce that Bolivia has designated Cuenca de Tajzara (5,500 hectares), effective 13 June 2000. Situated in the endorrheic Tajzara basin, 45 kilometres west of the city of Tarija, at 3,700m above sea level, the site consists of a group of seasonal, semi-permanent and permanent lakes, high-altitude streams, marshes and high-Andean pastures. The two permanent lakes (areas between 350 and 800 ha) serve as a refuge for 40 species of birds indigenous to the high-Andean aquatic systems, where about 90% of the high-Andean waterfowl in Bolivia is found. The area is important for migratory shore birds, with year-round concentrations of the vulnerable high-Andean waterfowl species Andean flamingo (Phoenicopterus andinus), James's flamingo (P. jamesi), and Fulica cornuta. More than 30 archaeological sites have been identified near the lakes, ranging from vestiges of primitive hunter-gatherers, pre-Incan hydraulic constructions, cave paintings illustrating aquatic birds, and three Incan roads that lead from the basin to the valley. The main economic activity is the raising of sheep, llamas and cattle; agriculture is limited by the climate, though the families in the area have an average of ½ to 1 hectare for subsistence crops. There is a visitors' centre, a bird-observation site, information material, and facilities for school visits. There are plans to draw up a management plan with the participation of the local communities. The site forms part of the Reserva Biológica de la Cordillera de Sama, which is managed by the Servicio Nacional de Areas Protegidas through the NGO Protección del Medio Ambiente Tarija (PROMETA). [25/7/00]
Info Update.Ramsar and coral. Here's a timely update on the state of play via-á-vis coral reefs. In response to an inquiry from Eric Gilman, Jantien van Oord of Wetlands International, Scott Frazier's colleague in the management of the Ramsar Sites Database, has provided us with the latest info. Her message follows: -- To: egilman@lava.net . Dear Mr Gilman, Thank you for your email. I've searched our Dbase on coral reef sites and out of the 1030 Ramsar sites in the world (78,219,945 hectares), 22 sites hold coral. Together these sites cover a total area of 3,969,526 hectares (NB this is site area total only, we do not have information on the area covered by coral). In 9 of these 22 sites, the coral is a primary wetland type. These 9 sites cover (again, site area total, NOT coral area) 455,382 hectares. In the other 13 Ramsar sites, coral reefs are just occurring within the site, but are not a primary wetland type.
For more information on the under represented wetland types, you can have a look at our website: http://www.wetlands.org/RSDB/default.htm. If you want more information on the terminology and the classification of wetland types, this link to the Ramsar website will be of use: http://www.ramsar.org/key_ris_index.htm.The figures I gave you above are also on our website. And you can view the distribution of the coral reef Ramsar sites in the map found at the URL above.
I hope this is helpful for you. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any more questions. Kind regards, Jantien van Oord
Announcement.Ramsar Bureau seeks Intern for Africa. The Ramsar Bureau is seeking applications for the position of Intern/Assistant to the Regional Coordinator for Africa. For this internship the applicants must be nationals of countries on the African continent. The position requires a very high level of English or French and an ability to work in the other language. Qualified candidates from that region are encouraged to read the general terms of reference for Ramsar Internships and apply by 15 September 2000, to begin on 15 January 2001. [24/7/00]
New book. Dniester Delta wetlands are focus of new EPCEM report. The Dniester River is one of the main Eastern European rivers. In its lower stream, known as the Dniester Delta, it forms extensive wetlands along the northwestern coast of the Black Sea in Ukraine, and remains one of the most intact wetland ecosystems in the Black Sea Region. The Dniester Delta Project Group 2000 in the Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, The Netherlands, has published a 121-page report in English called Towards an integrated management plan for the Dniester Delta Wetlands, and to obtain a copy, you should contact the Department of Environmental Sciences at telephone +31 317 484812, fax +31 317 484839. [22/7/00]
Another new book. Learn Japanese the wetland way. Former Ramsar Bureau member Dr Satoshi Kobayashi's translation of the Ramsar book Economic Valuation of Wetlands, by Barbier, Acreman, and Knowler (1997), has recently been published in Japanese by the Kushiro International Wetland Centre (KIWC). Sit down with a mug of hot spiced tea at your large rustic-style faux-oak diningroom table with the English version (available from the Ramsar Bureau) by your left hand and your KIWC version (inquire at kiwc@marimo.or.jp ) by your right hand, and start learning Japanese now. All discrepancies to be reported to Dr Kobayaski without delay. [20/7/00]
Recommended Web site. Info and maps on many Ramsar sites in the Russian Federation, with hopefully more to follow. Look here -- http://www.geocities.com/siae.geo/ramsar/ramsar.html
WWT Wetland Centre in London.Maryann Bird (Time Magazine Europe Edition, 10 July 2000) writes, "The Wild Side of Town: Transformed into Europe's biggest urban wetland center, a derelict London site quacks and buzzes with life, luring humans". The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) has successfully opened it 43-hectare Wetland Centre constructed out of four disused 19th-century reservoirs within 8km of downtown London. Time Magazine's Europe Edition features an excellent article of news and background, citing Ramsar's definition of wetlands and commitments made by Contracting Parties. The Web version of the article is available at http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/2000/0710/wetlands.html. [18/7/00]
First meeting of REReP Task Force. After the Kosovo war, the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe was established, guided by three steering groups (called ‘working tables’) on democratization and human rights, security issues, and economic reconstruction, development and cooperation. Amongst several activities of the latter figures the Regional Environmental Reconstruction Programme for SE Europe (REReP). This programme is guided by a Task Force consisting of the Ministries of Environment of Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania and the FYR of Macedonia, including authorities of Montenegro and Kosovo, plus observers from donor countries, international organizations, and NGOs. The Task Force held its first meeting in Cavtat, Croatia, 6-7 July 2000 -- click here for more background and an update, including Ramsar's role in the initiative. [11/7/00]
New Intern slated for Europe. The Bureau is pleased to report that Inga Racinska has been appointed to the post of Intern/Regional Assistant for Europe, to succeed Alexander Belokurov of the Russian Federation, beginning in October 2000. Presently pursuing an MSc degree at the University of Latvia with a thesis on “Guidelines for elaboration of management plans for protected areas in Latvia”, Ms Racinska also has a BSc in Biology from the same institution and is a graduate of the International Course on Wetland Management (WATC, RIZA) in Lelystad, The Netherlands, 1999. She is presently serving as 'Director Assistant' in the Latvian Fund for Nature and has had a good deal of experience with management planning for Latvian wetlands, particularly the Lake Engure Ramsar site. She also has experience in organizing meetings and seminars, including the 3rd Ramsar Pan-European regional meeting held in Riga in 1998. She speaks Latvian, Russian, and English fluently. She will be working closely with Ramsar’s Regional Coordinator for Europe, Dr. Tobias Salathé. The Bureau staff looks forward to welcoming Ms Racinska to Switzerland in October. [10/7/00]
Moldova becomes Ramsar's 122nd Contracting Party. The Ramsar Bureau is delighted to announce that the Republic of Moldova deposited its instrument of accession with the Director General of UNESCO on 20 June 2000, and the Convention, as amended by the Protocol of 1982, will enter into force for Moldova on 20 October 2000. The 122nd Contracting Party has designated "Lower Prut Lakes" (19,152 hectares), in the southwestern part of the country, as its first Ramsar site. You and all your friends and relations can learn more right here. [français, español] [6/7/00]
Society for Wetland Scientists calls for Ramsar grant proposals.Eric Gilman, on behalf of the International Committee of the SWS - The Society of Wetland Scientists, has posted a call for new grant proposals under the SWS Ramsar Support Framework. View the announcement here, and apply by 1 November at the latest. SWS members working on Ramsar-related issues are eligible to apply for grants of US$5,000, plus any additional matching funds that may be forthcoming. [4/7/00]
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.
