The Ramsar Bulletin Board, 3 May 2001

3 May 2001

Headline story. News from the 'Swiss Grant for Africa'. It's a little known secret that, since the establishment of the Ramsar secretariat in Switzerland in 1988/9, the Federal Government of Switzerland has been making available to the Bureau a voluntary contribution of more than 100,000 Swiss francs per year, in addition to its regular contribution to the Convention's core budget, earmarked to support the implementation of the Convention in Africa. Summary annual reports on the use of these funds seem regularly to have been made to the Swiss Government, but for some reason they have never been brought before the public -- which is a pity, because taken together they contain a wealth of information about the progress of wetland conservation and wise use in that continent. In an effort to remedy this oversight, the Bureau has established an index page for Swiss Grant annual reports and begun populating it, so far with reports on funded projects in 1998 and 1999. Watch for more annual reports and occasional news items into the bargain. [03/05/01]

Staff notes. Cultural heritage of wetlands staff. Catalan culinary culture gained new respect and, indeed, enthusiastic support from Bureau staff on 28 April 2001, as Montse Riera prepared an enormous spread at Paulette Kennedy's house in Signy, Switzerland, and the secretariat personnel and their collaborators kept eating until finally they had to be driven off with quirts. Here are some photos: see how many people you can name (no points for the dog). [02/05/01]

Announcement. Draft Ramsar Strategic Plan for 2003-2008 available for comment. In mid-March 2001, the Bureau communicated to the Parties by diplomatic channels for comment the 3rd draft of the Strategic Plan 2003-2008, which in some form or another will eventually be adopted by the 8th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties in November 2002, superseding the successful Strategic Plan 1997-2002. The draft Plan is available on this Web site in English, French, and Spanish, and comments, corrections, rewrites, alternative draft Plans, even flames and ridicule can be offered by everybody up to 30 May 2001. After that date, interested parties will be forced to comment on the 4th draft instead. [03/05/01]

Note: Agenda papers for the 4th Meeting of the Mediterranean Wetlands Committee (MedWet/Com4), Portugal, 21-23 May 2001, are available on this site.

Available now. Agenda papers and pre-meeting documentation for the 4th European regional meeting on the Ramsar Convention. Beginning now, and progressing in the coming months. [01/05/01]

Who's where?

 Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, has been in Brazil for a Ramsar Workshop for government officials in a number of agencies, 25-28 April, and is traveling thence to New York, USA, to attend the first preparatory meeting of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 30 April-2 May 2001. [30/04/01]

 Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is attending the Convention on Migratory Species' 10th Scientific Council meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 2-4 May 2001. Whilst there he will be discussing further collaboration between Ramsar and CMS and its Agreements through the finalization of a draft joint work plan. There are also a number of agenda items of substantial common relevance to Ramsar, including the impact of climate change on migratory species, a review of artificial barriers to migration and other threats to migratory species and their habitats, and impacts of invasive alien species. [01/05/01]

 Margarita Astrálaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, is in Great Bend, Kansas, in the USA, attending a meeting of the US National NGO Ramsar Comittee, 27-29 April. She travels on to Washington, DC, USA, for talks with the Administrative Authority (US Fish and Wildlife Service), The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, the World Bank, and the Organization of American States. [30/04/01]

New on the Site: Reports on the use of the Swiss Grant for Africa; Agenda papers for European regional meeting, Slovenia, October 2001; Draft agenda for the 10th meeting of Ramsar's expert subsidiary body, the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP); UK Ramsar policy statement for Wales. [03/05/01]

News from the SGF. Russia reports on Kamchatka project. The Ramsar Small Grants Fund project "Development of a monitoring programme and draft management plans for the Ramsar sites located on the Kamchatka Peninsula" (1998) has been successfully accomplished, providing management plans and ensuring improved protection of four Ramsar sites in Russia. The management plans have been elaborated according to the Ramsar guidelines for management planning and contain the information about the state of biological diversity and nature resource users for Ramsar sites Parapolsky Dol, Moroshechnaya River, Utkholok Cape and Karaginsky Island. An inventory of the wetlands and evaluation of natural resources was carried out, and an economic valuation of the natural values of the area provide the following figures (in USD) - the estimated cost of vertebrate animals alone in Parapolsky Dol Ramsar site is 21.0 million, Moroshechnaya River - 37.5, Utkholok Cape is 27.5 million USD and estimate reaches 60 million USD in the Karaginsky Island Ramsar site. The official protection status of the sites was enhanced when documents regulating economic activity in the sites and their protection, as well as determining the site boundaries and area, were prepared and approved by the Administration of the Koryak Autonomous Area as a result of the project. The project was supervised by Prof. Vitaly G. Krivenko of the Research Institute for Nature Conservation (a Ramsar Award winner in 1999) and implemented by the Centre of International Projects of the State Committee on Ecology of Russia and the Centre of Study of Eurasian Migratory Animals. See a bit more here. (reported by Inga Racinska, Ramsar). [02/05/01]

Living Water info pack available. The WWF’s Living Waters Campaign is making available a superb info pack as a "WWF response to the global freshwater crisis". Eminently useful for anglophone educators and public awareness officers everywhere, the pack begins with a main brochure that outlines the essential need for fresh water and the scope of the impending crisis in freshwater availability ("By the year 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population could experience water shortages"!) and then focuses on the river basin (or catchment) approach to integrated freshwater management. Several ways forward are alluded to briefly, including the Ramsar Convention’s contribution to conservation and wise use at international level. Also included in the pack are richly informative pamphlets on five key river basins: ‘The River Niger, river of rivers’; ‘The Vistula River, an aging queen’; ‘The Orinoco River, a South American jewel’; ‘The Yangtze River, taming the dragon’; and ‘The Mekong River, an unknown and threatened kingdom’, all of them including maps, stats, thumbnail photos, and literary quotations, and explanatory text. No wetlands educator should be caught without this new info pack, which can be sought free of charge from Amalia Romeo of WWF International in Gland, Switzerland, aromeo@wwfint.org. See a few photos here. [30/04/01]

Added value feature. M. Tiéga sinks in Niger. Devoted members of the Anada Fan Club will be delighted to learn that, thanks to Mr Denis Landenbergue of WWF's Living Waters Campaign, the Bureau is able to supply poignant photos of the Regional Coordinator for Africa steeling himself in a creaky boat [left] for sinking deep into a proposed Ramsar site in Niger, and then celebrating his narrow escape afterwards. Prepare yourself. [26/04/01]

Wetlands International's review for 2000 now available. In just 16 colorful pages, Wetlands International's International Coordination Unit has summarized the present state of play throughout the organization, with its accomplishments for the past year. The new pamphlet summarizes global programmes, including work with Ramsar, CMS, and CBD, then proceeds to descriptions of progress in Europe (particularly with the Russia and Black Sea Programmes, the Central European and Upper Tisza Projects, and the GEF Lower Volga Management Project), in Africa, in Asia (and in particular the programmes based in China, Indonesia, the Lower Mekong Basin, Malaysia, and South Asia), in Oceania, and in the Americas. The work of the 21 Specialist Groups is also described, and lists of member countries and sponsoring organizations are included. This extremely useful publication is available free of charge from icu@wetlands.agro.nl. [30/04/01]

Update on the Participatory Management Clearinghouse. The Participatory Management Networking Service, a joint service of IUCN, the Ramsar Bureau, and WWF, managed by the IUCN Social Policy Group, has changed its name to the Participatory Management Clearinghouse, and has made a great deal of progress in assembling abstracts and references for published materials sorted into the categories: Collaborative Management, Indigenous Peoples Management, and Community-based Management, cross-referenced by regional emphases and cross-cutting themes. The Internet-based resource project was endorsed by Ramsar Standing Committee Decision SC25-8 and continues to make progress. View the latest state of things at http://iucn.org/themes/pmns/. [27/04/01]

News from the UK: new Ramsar policy statement for Wales. Following on from the UK Government's policy statement on Ramsar sites in England, issued on 14 November 2000 (reprinted here), Ms Sue Essex, Minister for the Environment, took the occasion of World Wetlands Day 2001 to issue the National Assembly for Wales' policy statement for Ramsar sites in Wales. Like its precursor, the statement lays out the present policy and legal situation of Ramsar sites and their relation to Natura 2000 sites and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), and it describes the government's expectations in terms of management and development decision-making at all levels concerning Ramsar wetlands, including multi-sectoral consultation. In general, the policy accords Ramsar sites the same protections found in the EC Birds and Habitats Directives; amongst other interesting features, the policy supplies guidance on such key Ramsar issues as Article 2.5 on "urgent national interest" and Article 4.2 on compensation. The policy statement for Wales has been reprinted here, with permission, in its English and Welsh versions. [25/04/01]

European Space Agency invites tenders for studies on environmental treaties. The European Space Agency has just published an invitation to tender for studies investigating the future contribution from Earth Observation to support the implementation of international environmental treaties. The studies are collectively called TESEO (Treaty Enforcement Services using Earth Observation). At least four projects will be started, each with a budget of maximum 250,000 Euros and duration of maximum 15 months. Each project will correspond to a theme related to an international environmental convention. At least the four following themes and corresponding conventions will be covered: Wetlands - Ramsar Convention; Carbon - Kyoto protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climatic Change; Desertification - UN Convention to Combat Desertification; Marine Pollution - MARPOL 73/78. Read further specifications here, and get your bids in. [24/04/01]

Ramsar Award winner 1999 takes Goldman Environmental Prize for 2001. Dr Myrsini Malakou, who received one of the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Awards in San José in 1999 on behalf of the Society for the Protection of Prespa, has won one of the Goldman Environmental Prizes for 2001. The announcement notes that she and Giorgios Catsadorakis "have used their research to create and advise community-based programs to restore Greece’s Prespa wetlands, one of Europe’s most biologically diverse regions. Thanks to the advocacy and leadership of Catsadorakis and Malakou, last year Albania, Macedonia and Greece signed an unprecedented agreement to create the first transboundary park in the Balkans, a region better known for conflict than cooperation". The announcements of the six Goldman Prizes for 2001 are at www.goldmanprize.org. (Our report of the creation of the transboundary Prespa Park on World Wetlands Day 2000 is available here.) [24/04/01]

New handbook on reedbed management from Tour du Valat. For some years, a number of useful handbooks on reedbed management and conservation, mainly for birds, have been available in the U.K. and the English-speaking world. Now the French-speaking community can enjoy a timely handbook on operational and conservation aspects of reedbed management prepared by the Tour du Valat Biological Station for the French Natural Areas Technical Agency (ATEN), a joint venture of the Ministry of Spatial Planning and the Environment, the French National Parks, Regional Nature Parks, Nature Reserves, Coastal Conservation Agency, and Tour du Valat. Read here more about this useful publication in French. [20/04/01]

Redbook published for fish in Spain. The Dirección General de Conservación de la Naturaleza and the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales in Madrid have published an exhaustive atlas and red book of fish in Spain, the Atlas y libro rojo de los peces continentales de España, edited by Ignacio Doadrio (364 pages, 2001). Following nine substantive essays on the scientific background, nearly a bazillion fishes are described in detail, with distribution maps, bibliographies, and crossreferences to the IUCN Red Book categories of threatened and vulnerable species. Available in Spanish only. Information can be sought from the Ramsar Authority in Spain, the Dirección General para la Conservación de la Naturaleza, Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, Gran Vía San Francisco 4, ES-28005 Madrid, Spain (Tel +349 1 597 5514 or +349 1 597 5522, Fax +349 1 597 5564, E-mail igdoncel@gvsf.mma.es). [19/04/01]

Ramsar unveils "CEPA" mini-Web site. The Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention decided at COP7 (San José, 1999) to launch an ambitious Ramsar "CEPA" outreach programme (visit the COP’s Outreach guidelines at Resolution VII.9). The guidelines commit both the Ramsar Bureau and the Contracting Parties to a number of activities to promote Wetland CEPA. Today the Bureau launches its mini-Web site on wetland CEPA, a tool which may be useful at national, regional and local levels, involving all sectors of society from key decision-makers to the public at large, wetland users, the media, as well as teachers and schoolchildren. Developed by Sandra Hails, the new Web pages report on some of the activities outlined in the guidelines, keeping Parties informed of what the Bureau is doing now and plans to do in the future. They also provide an open forum for the exchange of CEPA ideas and resource materials. This exchange will be facilitated by the CEPA e-mail discussion list, which we hope will bring together not only the CEPA Focal Points, both government and NGO, but also the many others involved in CEPA activities. View the new mini-Web site here and sign up for the CEPA discussion list as the spirit moves you. [17/04/01]

Ramsar and international law. There's recently been heightened interest in the Ramsar Convention in the context of international law and legal obligations. First, Wetlands, Water and the Law: using law to advance wetland conservation and wise use (IUCN, 1999, 332 pages), by Clare Shine and the late Cyrille de Klemm, offered an exhaustive study of wetland law at local, national, and international levels, with particular regard to the Ramsar Convention. Then, at the request of Standing Committee, IUCN’s Environmental Law Centre in Bonn undertook to develop guidance for the Parties on the interpretation of Articles 2.5 (restricting sites because of "urgent national interest") and 4.2 ("compensation" for doing so), the draft of which is presently out for comment from the Parties. Moreover, renewed interest is growing in the application of long-neglected Article 3.2, with requires Parties to notify the Bureau promptly of potential changes in the ecological character of Ramsar sites – in which David Pritchard of BirdLife recently made a substantial contribution to the dialogue for Standing Committee’s contemplation. A recent article in the Journal of Environment Law on Australia’s putative exploitation of weaknesses in the Ramsar doctrine of "wise use" has been ably rebutted by Bill Phillips. Now, to all of this good stuff, we’ve added a reprint of Michael Bowman’s insightful and thorough article in the Netherlands International Law Review in 1995, "The Ramsar Convention Comes of Age", which provides a thoughtful and succinct analysis of the Ramsar Convention in the context of other international legal instruments and international environmental law generally. We’re reprinting this article with the kind permission of Prof Bowman, Co-Director of the University of Nottingham Treaty Centre, and the publishers, Kluwer Law International. [17/04/01]

Switzerland inaugurates nature reserve near Geneva. In ceremonies on 6 April near Geneva, Swiss federal and Geneva city and cantonal authorities inaugurated the nature reserve "Teppe de Verbois", which has been incorporated into the newly expanded Ramsar site Le Rhône genevois - Vallons de l'Allondon et de La Laire. Valerie Higgins reports on the Teppe de Verbois festivities, and here is a description of the expanded Ramsar site. [13/04/01]

European wetlands in spatial planning. During 5-7 April 2001 the final transnational seminar of the WISP project (Wetlands In Spatial Planning) brought together some 35 experts at Dagsnäs Slott on the edge of Lake Hornborga Ramsar Site, in the immediate vicinity of the famous stop-over site of up to 10,000 Eurasian cranes migrating to their Skandinavian breeding sites. Tobias Salathé reports on the meeting and provides background on the WISP project. [11/04/01]

Announcement. The next deadline for the submission of project proposals to the Small grants for Wetlands Programme (SWP) of the Netherlands Committee for IUCN has been advanced from the 1st of July to the 23rd of May 2001. Thanks to IUCN-NL Programme Officer Esther Blom, the announcement can be read here in English, Français, and Español. [11/04/01]

MedWet Regions Network. The 2nd meeting of the MedWet Regions Network took place 24-27 March on the island of Menorca and featured discussions with personnel from seven regions about development of a wetland conservation and wise use project based upon multiregional collaboration. Here is a brief report and a few photos. [10/04/01]

Wetland management course set for Russia. Irina Kamennova reports that a National Training Course on the conservation and management of wetlands according to Ramsar principles will take place in Russia, with all costs and organization sponsored by the Wetlands International-Russia Programme with financial support from the Government of The Netherlands. The course description has been reprinted here, with two evocative photos of the site of the course excursion to the Cranes' Homeland. The description is in English, but not surprisingly the course will be conducted in Russian (eat your hearts out). [02/04/01]

Wetlands and cultural heritage management. The importance of people and their cultural heritage of wetlands has long been recognized by the Ramsar Convention. Recently, the Ramsar Bureau has been developing closer links with those involved in the cultural heritage management of wetlands, with whom there is much common ground on the objectives of wetland management. Amongst recent developments, Ramsar's Nick Davidson participated in the 2nd General Assembly, Strasbourg, 22-23 March 2001, of the Europae Archaeologiae Consilium (European Archaeological Council, EAC), a network of representatives of national and subnational cultural heritage management organizations and agencies, established in 1999 and currently representing 21 European countries. Here you will find Nick's informative report on the meetings and their significance for Ramsar; his Foreword to The Heritage Management of Wetlands in Europe, a splendid book which was launched at the meeting; his statement to the meeting congratulating the participants on the new book and stressing avenues of future cooperation; and a reprint of the "Strategy for the Heritage Management of Wetlands", which was adopted by the EAC General Assembly on 22 March. [27/03/01]

Victor Pulido wins award in Peru. Es un placer comunicarles que el Sr. Víctor Pulido Capurro, quien recibiera en 1999 el Premio de Conservación de Humedales de Ramsar, acaba de ser galardonado con el premio Parque Las Leyendas de Perú. El Parque Las Leyendas es el Parque Zoológico mas importante del Perú, y a la vez han nombrado al Sr. Pulido como padrino del Jardín Botánico del Parque. Víctor es Director del Programa de Humedales en Perú e importante colega en la implementación de la Convención Ramsar en Perú. Felicidades!

[It’s a pleasure to announce that Mr. Víctor Pulido Capurro, who in 1999 was the recipient of Ramsar's Wetland Conservation Award, has received the Parque Las Leyendas Award. Parque Las Leyendas is the most important zoological park in Peru, and they have also named Victor as the Park's Botanical Garden patron. Victor is director of the Wetlands Program of Peru and an important colleague in the implementation of the Ramsar Convention in his country. Congratulations.] [27/03/01]

From the Ramsar Forum. Design guidelines for stormwater pollution control ponds and wetlands. Bill Phillips reports from Australia on a new set of guidelines, useful and inexpensive -- read it here. [28/03/01]

Announcement. MedWet Coordinator deadline extended. Because a number of potential candidates for this position have indicated to the Bureau that they have missed the deadline for applications originally set for 28 February 2001, and responding to a request from the Greek Government, the Bureau has decided to reopen the call for applications. The deadline for receiving applications has been extended to 30 April 2001. Short-listed applicants will be interviewed in Sesimbra, Portugal (near Lisbon), on 23 May 2001, immediately after the closure of the 4th Meeting of the Mediterranean Wetlands Committee, to be held in Sesimbra on 19-23 May. Applicants will be informed if they are going to be interviewed at the latest by 10 May 2001 and are invited to keep the date of 23 May free for a possible trip to Portugal. The full description of the vacancy is available on this Web site [link later removed]. [22/03/01]

Ramsar unveils plans for subregional meetings before COP8. Ramsar meetings of the Conference of the Contracting Parties are traditionally very substantial affairs, with many technical and political issues under discussion and many resolutions and guidelines emerging at the end. Historically, in order to help the Parties prepare for these deliberations, regional and subregional meetings are held in advance of each COP. For COP8 (Valencia, November 2002), the Standing Committee has proposed an ambitious programme of ten subregional meetings for Africa, Asia, and the Neotropics and one pan-regional meeting for Europe. Standing Committee intends that the meetings will assess implementation of the Convention since COP7, provide training in the new National Reporting tool, reach consensus on regional inputs to the Draft Strategic Plan 2003-2008, evaluate experiences with implementation of Ramsar's cooperative agreements with other important MEAs, and suggest improvements to Ramsar's contributions to the regions. The Bureau has prepared a descriptive programme that details the likely dates and venue of each planned meeting and its objectives and intended participants, with indicative budgets, and is seeking financial support to be able to bring these events to fruition. Don't miss this one! [23/03/01]

Archeology in the Ramsar news again. The Deputy Secretary General, Dr Nick Davidson, will be attending the European Archaeological Council Board meeting, General Assembly, and 2nd EAC Heritage Management Symposium, on Cultural Landscapes & Sustainable Development, 21-23 March. During the meeting he will be discussing with EAC members the development of their wetland strategy and discussing a Memorandum of Cooperation with Ramsar, as well as their involvement in preparing the cultural issues activity for Ramsar COP8, and he will be speaking at the launch of their Heritage Management of Wetlands book (for which Nick has contributed the Foreword on behalf of Ramsar). EAC plan to distribute copies of the book to all European Ramsar focal points. [21/03/01]

Progress from PIANC's working group on wetland restoration. The 4th meeting of the working group on wetland restoration set up by the International Navigation Association (PIANC) -- "to raise awareness and to provide a technical guidance document targeted at engineers, scientists, developers and managers in the ports and navigation sector, to assist them in planning, design, construction, monitoring and management of fresh and saltwater wetlands, internationally" – was held in London, England, 13-16 March 2001. Here is Tobias Salathé's report on the event and the process of which it is a part. [21/03/01]

More to follow. Watch this space. Feedback and suggestions are welcome 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.