The Ramsar Bulletin Board, 20 January 2009

Headline story. International Training of Trainers on Wetland Management course. The highly regarded International Training of Trainers on Wetland Management course run by Wageningen International will be taking place in June of this year. This course has been run for several years and has included many Ramsar 'people' in the past. Please take note of the 1 February deadline regarding the applications for sponsorship.[20/01/09]

Headline story.New Assistant Advisor for Asia-Oceania for Ramsar Secretariat. The Secretariat is very pleased to announce that Ms Ann Aldersey of Australia arrived in Gland this week to take up the position of Assistant Advisor/intern for Asia/Oceania, to succeed Pragati Tuladhar from Nepal. Ann holds a Bachelor of Environmental Studies (Hons) degree from the University of Adelaide in South Australia and has recently completed an MSc (Nature, Society and Environmental Policy) from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom. Ann has worked in South Australia for a number of government organizations, most recently for three years as Regional Planning Manager for a Natural Resources Management Board. This involved leading the strategic planning activities of the organization across the region. Previously she was employed by the South Australian Department of Environment and Heritage to prepare a management plan for the Bool and Hacks Lagoons Ramsar wetlands and to prepare nomination documentation for another wetland in the region. We wish Ann every success during her time at the Secretariat. [15/01/09]

Who's Where?

For more old Ramsar Secretariat travel news, see also 'Who Was Where', 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

Yesterday's News!

CREHO's course on EIA and SEA.The II International Course on Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment for the Management of Wetlands has been successfully completed. During 12 days of theoretical - practical sessions, 18 representantives from seven Latin American countries and the Caribbean participated in the second version of the international course on Environmental Impact Assessment and Environmental Strategic assessment for Wetlands Management, which was organized by the Ramsar Regional Center for Training and Research on Wetlands in the Western Hemisphere – CREHO. The course was held in Panama City from November 24th to December 5th, 2008, and was made possible thanks to the kind support of the Ramar Convention, the Organization of American States, the Panamanian Authority of Aquatic Resources (ARAP, spanish acronym), the Environmental National Autority of Panama (ANAM), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services. Photos and version español. [14/01/09]

Central American monitoring workshop. El primer Taller Centroamericano de Monitoreo de Aves de Pantano se realizó en el Parque Nacional de Palo Verde, Estación Biológica Palo Verde, Costa Rica, del 7 al 11 de diciembre 2008. Para este curso se becó a un grupo de 16 participantes de países de Centroamérica y Colombia. Informe y fotos. [13/01/09]

The first Central American Workshop of Swamp Birds Monitoring  took place at the Palo Verde National Park, Palo Verde Biological Station, December 7 – 11, 2008.  For this course 16 participants from Central American countries and Colombia were given scholarships. Report and photos.

Call for articles.CREHO’s INFOWETLAND, vol. 4, no. 1. The special issue on “wetlands and river basin management” is due out in March 2009, and CREHO – the Ramsar Regional Center for Training and Research on Wetlands in the Western Hemisphere – is calling for material on the processes, techniques, experiences and outcomes on this theme. More information here(PDF) [13/01/09]

“Ramsar soft law is not soft at all”. In 2006, the Competent Authority of Bonaire in the Caribbean Dutch territory of Netherlands Antilles permitted the construction of a resort in proximity to the Ramsar site “Het Lac”, and the Governor annulled that decision, largely on the basis that it infringed upon Article 3 of the Ramsar Convention and Resolution VIII.9 (2002) on environmental impact assessment. Following Bonaire’s appeal to the Dutch Crown, as reported here by Eric C. Newton in November 2007 the Crown supported the Governor’s decision and argued that resolutions, decisions and guidelines accepted unanimously by the Conference of Parties to the Convention, of which the Netherlands is a signatory, must be considered part of the national obligations under the Convention.

Prof. Jonathan Verschuuren, vice dean of the Tilburg University School of Law, has translated the case law annotation and provided his own commentary on the significance of this decision. He notes the Crown’s conclusion that the Governor was justified in using his authority to guarantee performance of the Kingdom’s obligations under the Convention and stresses the importance of the finding that, in line with Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1969), the “soft law” of COP resolutions intended to interpret the treaty’s commitments must also be fully taken into account. Prof Verschuuren’s paper “Ramsar soft law is not soft at all” can be downloaded (PDF) from http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1306982, and he has kindly allowed us to include it here as well. [09/01/09]

International seminar on the Bug River. The Bug river (772 km long) has its source in the Lviv region of Ukraine -- further downstream it forms the border between Ukraine and Poland and then between Poland and Belarus. Arguably the Bug river floodplain forms the backbone of the wider Polesie region, containing some of Europe’s richest natural treasures. Long stretches are in a natural state with natural discharge patterns, regularly flooded floodplain areas, a relatively good water quality and high biodiversity values. In order to clarify the current state of cooperation between the three governments and to explore possibilities of enhancing transboundary cooperation between relevant government bodies, NGOs and scientific institutions, an international seminar was held in Lublin (eastern Poland) on 13-14 November 2008. Tobias Salathé explains the background and summarizes the conclusions of the meeting. [09/01/09]

Now available.Language versions of the Changwon Declaration. The primary purpose of the  “Changwon Declaration on human well-being and wetlands”, adopted by Resolution X.3 of the recent meeting of the Conference of the Parties, “is to transmit key messages concerning wetland-related issues to the many stakeholders and decision-makers beyond the Ramsar community who are relevant to the conservation and wise use of wetlands, to inform their actions and decision-making”. At the COP, the Parties agreed to disseminate the Declaration as widely as possible, and the Republic of Korea generously agreed to help with the translations and logistics of that task. Language versions of the document are now available in PDF format in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. [06/01/09]

British honors for David Stroud. Congratulations to STRP member David Stroud, of the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee, who has been made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the UK's 2009 New Year Honours list, recently announced. David is recognised for this honour for his services to nature conservation. This is a hugely deserved recognition of David's tireless efforts for wetlands, waterbirds and much else both nationally and internationally. I hope you will all join me in congratulating David on his award of such a prestigious honour. A BBC News item about David's award is on: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/northamptonshire/7805406.stm. -- Nick Davidson, Ramsar. [05/01/09]

New Ramsar video available for download. The new Ramsar video “Wetlands: keeping our planet alive and well” is now available for download in English, French, and Spanish versions, both long and short. “The movie tells a story about the importance of wetlands for human beings and issues that these most precious resources are facing. The Ramsar Convention helps people to work together and manage these vital ecosystems.” It was first screened at Ramsar COP10 in Changwon, Korea, to grand applause, and in fact was produced by Green.tv with generous financial support from the city of Changwon.The long version runs about 4 and a half minutes, about 30MB each, and the 1 and a half minute shorter version is about 12MB. These downloadables are in QuickTime .MOV format – in the new year we’ll be making all of them available free-of-charge on a DVD in PAL and NTSC formats, and if you would like to be put on the list to receive one of the DVDs, please send your name and postal address (and PAL or NTSC preference) to Nathalie Rizzotti (rizzotti@ramsar.org), who was in charge of this project on the Ramsar side.

Download here. The long version: . The shorter version: . [23/12/08]

China designates six new Ramsar sites. The paperwork has been completed for the People's Republic of China's newest additions to the List of Wetlands of International Importance, designated with effective date of last World Wetlands Day, 2 February 2008. China has now designated 36 Ramsar sites, totaling 3,168,210 hectares, and globally the Convention now has 1,828 Ramsar sites covering a surface area of 168,985,680 hectares. Ramsar's Pragati Tuladhar has drawn up brief site descriptions for the Annotated Ramsar List, based on the information contained in the Ramsar Information Sheets that accompanied the designations. The WWF International Freshwater Programme has been very helpful in terms of financial support for this work, and the WWF China Programme Office with technical support. [19/12/08]

Now available. Forms for Ramsar regional initiatives. Forms are now available for the submission of proposals for regional initiatives to be operated in the framework of the Convention during the triennium 2009-2012. Contracting Parties are invited to submit proposals for regional initiatives (including regional networks and regional centres for training and capacity building), both ongoing or new ones. Based on the Operational Guidelines for regional initiatives (annexed to COP10 Resolution X.6), proposals for regional initiatives to be endorsed as operating within the framework of the Ramsar Convention must reach the Secretariat no later than 28 February 2009, which will allow time for analysis and submission to the 40th meeting of Standing Committee, 11-15 May 2009. COP10 instructed the Standing Committee to examine and approve initiatives which fully meet the Operational Guidelines as operating within the framework of the Convention, and it is therefore important that the proposals follow strictly the format outlined in the attached form and reach the Secretariat by the deadline indicated. Forms in MS Word [19/12/08]

“Rwanda: Thousand Hills point to 2020”. In the framework of Ramsar’s Swiss Grant for Africa project for Rwanda, Ramsar and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have joined hands to produce a series of radio documentaries (in French and English) to highlight the strong correlations that exist between the wise use of wetlands and food security in a land-locked country such as Rwanda. "Rwanda: Thousand Hills point to 2020: A radio reportage on Wetlands and Food Security in Rwanda” is available on CD and for download from the FAO Web site. Ramsar’s Abou Bamba provides more details and links. [18/12/08]

Vacancy announcement.BirdLife International - Director & Chief Executive. "Dear Colleague, BirdLife International is seeking a new Chief Executive following the news that Mike Rands is moving on to be Executive Director of the Cambridge Conservation Initiative. The attached Vacancy Announcement [PDF] provides all the details of what we require. But I wanted to ask you to spread the word as widely as possible and as quickly as possible. BirdLife is at a very exciting stage in its development - with a new Strategy and six Regional Programmes adopted at the Global Partnership Meeting last September, a strong, growing Partnership covering over 100 nations, and a very dynamic and professional staff spread over 18 Secretariat Offices. We need a decisive, forward-looking person with high standing to lead BirdLife forward in a very inclusive and collaborative way. Thank you for your help. Best wishes, Peter Johann Schei, Chair of BirdLife Council." [16/12/08]

Now available.Ramsar sites in the Baltic Sea region. WWF Sweden has recently published, as part of the Baltic ecoregion programme, a thorough analysis of “the representation of wetland types and species in Ramsar sites in the Baltic Sea catchment area”. The analysis focuses on the representation of different wetland types in the Ramsar List and distills priorities for future wetland conservation. Tobias Salathé provides the background and summarizes the conclusions, and provides a link to the publication -- click here. [15/12/08]

News from the SGF.Restoration and public awareness for Lake Ludaš in Serbia. “Setting conditions for the rehabilitation and restoration of wet meadows at lake Ludaš and realization of the Visitor Centre – Serbia/SGF2001 Final Report.” In 2001, the Ramsar Convention through its Small Grant Fund Programme was able to fund a two-phase project in Serbia intended to rehabilitate and restore wet meadows at Ludaško Lake, and to contribute to the realization of a Visitor Educational Centre. The site, located in Vojvodina province, is the oldest of nine Serbian Ramsar sites, in fact, one of the few remaining natural lakes of the Pannonia Plain. In the ‘50s most of the wet and fen meadows were converted into hayfields, pastures and arable lands, leading to severe degradation of the original ecosystems. Ramsar’s Monica Zavagli provides an illustrated report on this now-completed project. [15/12/08]

Expozaragoza Declaration. "On September 5th 2008, the National Wetlands Committee of Spain gathered in the International Center of Water and Environment (CIAMA) in Zaragoza. During the meeting, the Declaration proposal of the Wetlands Committee was discussed, in order to include it in the Water Letter of Expozaragoza." Ramsar's María Rivera explains (PDF). [15/12/08]

El 5 de Septiembre de 2008, se reunió en el CIAMA  (Centro Internacional del Agua y del Medio Ambiente) en Zaragoza, el Comité Nacional de Humedales de España. En esta reunión se discutió una propuesta de Declaración del Comité de Humedales para ser incluida en la Carta del Agua de Expozaragoza. Español (PDF).

Threatened Pacific Bird Forums. “Discussion topics have now been posted on BirdLife’s Globally Threatened Bird Forums at www.birdlifeforums.org proposing status changes for the 2009 Red List. I’d be extremely grateful for your continued support with this process this year. Information on a number of globally threatened birds from the Pacific which may warrant a revision of threatened status has been posted on the forum. The opportunity now exists to contribute to online debates by posting comments or information on these species. This is an important process for assessing the status of globally threatened birds in the region. The forums are freely open for comment and anyone can post information or views on the proposed changes to threatened species. So please feel free to pass this email and the forum address on to your contacts, colleagues and friends who may have information to contribute. We will need to have the comments by early February for them to be incorporated in to the reviews.” – James Millett, Senior Technical Advisor, BirdLife Pacific Partnership, Suva, Fiji, James@birdlifepacific.org.fj, http://pacific.birdlife.org/.

"Oil and Gorillas?"-- A Ramsar and UNEP-GRASP Documentary Film on Great Apes, Extractive Industries in Petit Loango Ramsar Site in Gabon. The Ramsar Convention Secretariat and the United Nation's Environment Programme - Great Apes Survival Project (UNEP/GRASP) have released a documentary that highlights the correlations that exist between the sustainable management of wetlands hosting great apes in a developing country confronted with oil exploration activities.The film shows the example of a country that is trying to reconcile conservation and development concerns through participative management of a park which is both a great ape site and a Ramsar site. Ramsar's Abou Bamba provides more details. [11/12/08]

Now available.Report on Survey of Canadian Ramsar sites. "Dear Ramsar Colleagues, Following up on the November 1 COP side event on "Assessing the Value of Ramsar Designation: Survey Results from North America", the report entitled "Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites) in Canada", which discusses on the survey results from Canada's 37 Ramsar site managers, is now available at http://www.ramsar.org/wurc/wurc_canada_survey_2007.pdf.  I very much recommend your perusing this interesting document.  Among the key findings: -- Managers of 25 (67.6%) of the Ramsar sites think that the designation helps to maintain the ecological character of the site. --  The two most valuable benefits of site designation are “protection of the site and surrounding area” and “public awareness of the wetland.”

But there is much more, including a comparative analysis of the findings from the survey of U.S. Ramsar sites.  The report on U.S. sites, published in the Environmental Law Reporter, is available at http://www.ramsar.org/wurc/wurc_gardner_elr2007.pdf. Several people have expressed interest in conducting similar surveys in their own countries.  Please keep us informed about your progress and let us know if we may be of any assistance. Best regards, Roy" -- Royal C. Gardner, Professor of Law and Director, Institute for Biodiversity Law and Policy, Stetson University College of Law, Gulfport, Florida, USA. [11/12/08]

Now available.The Pond Manifesto. "Wetland ecosystems come in all shapes and sizes – and all have a role to play. The larger ones, perhaps inevitably, have enjoyed the most attention – it is easy to overlook the many small waterbodies scattered across the landscape. Fortunately, over the last decade, our knowledge and attitude towards small wetlands has begun to change. We know now that they are crucial for biodiversity and can also provide a whole range of ecosystem services. These ‘local waterbodies’ can also help us encourage the link between people and wildlife." With these words, Ramsar’s Secretary General Anada Tiéga, introduces The Pond Manifestopublished by the European Pond Conservation Network, with support from the MAVA Foundation. Tobias Salathé provides links to the new document and places it into context. [11/12/08]

Update on UNEP-GEF Siberian Crane Wetland Project. From 28 to 30 November 2008, the UNEP-GEF Siberian Crane Wetland Project (SCWP; http://www.scwp.info/) held its 7th Project Steering Committee Meeting in Rome, Italy, to review the progress of the project activities carried out in 2008, as well as project outputs and outcomes expected in the coming year. Ramsar's Lew Young was there and has provided this report with photos. [11/12/08]

Now available. By popular demand -- PowerPoint presentations from Ramsar COP10 plenary sessions, in PDF format. [11/12/08]

Now available. SGF portfolio of project funding opportunities. The Ramsar Small Grants Fund (SGF) was established in 1990 as a mechanism to assist developing countries and those with economies in transition in implementing the Convention and to enable the conservation and wise use of wetland resources. From 1991 to 2007 the Fund has provided a total of 7.3 million Swiss Francs to 217 projects from 104 countries, providing up to 40,000 Swiss francs (about US$32,000) per project. Over this same period, 470 feasible projects were not supported due to lack of funds. The Fund relies exclusively upon voluntary contributions from government agencies and national and international NGOs.

Each year a rigorous evaluation procedure is carried out by the Ramsar Secretariat to assess the project proposals according to the strength of the project design, their relevance to the Convention’s objectives, and the capacity of the proponents to complete the project successfully. The SGF Portfolio 2008 (PDF) describes 18 projects that were favorably evaluated, but for which financial support has not yet been found. We strongly encourage you to consider providing financial support for one or more of these projects.  If you are able to help or would like additional information, please contact Ms Alexia Dufour (dufour@ramsar.org). [09/12/08]

News from the Evian partnership.Ecoles de protection de l’eau – background reports. In 2007, a new agreement between Danone-Evian and Ramsar was signed to support a new programme called “Les Ecoles de protection de l’eau” or 'water protection institutes'. This new fund complements the Danone Evian fund for water. Nathalie Rizzotti, Ramsar’s Project Officer, explains the purpose of the programme and provides links to background reports from the participating NGOs: Bird Conservation Nepal on its project at the Jagdisphur Reservoir Ramsar site, WWF Thailand on its project at Beung Khong Long lake Ramsar site, and Fundación Proteger on its project at Jauukanigas and Chaco Ramsar sites. [08/12/08]

Crucial meeting for the Prespa Lakes. In spite of various difficulties and broader political disagreements, the collaboration among Albania, the FYR of Macedonia and Greece on the Prespa Lakes has been maintained for eight years now, becoming stronger with time. Established in 2000 by a joint declaration of the three prime ministers and facilitated by Ramsar and its MedWet Initiative, the Prespa Park process has been evolving with positive results, and progress has been strengthened by the implementation of a large GEF/UNDP project in the area. This was evident during the 11th regular meeting of the Prespa Park Coordination Committee (PPCC), held in a new visitor centre in the Greek part of Prespa on 21-22 November 2008. Representing the three governments, municipalities and local NGOs, this body has been the key driver of the collaboration process and the promoter of the GEF/UNDP project, acting now as the project oversight committee (POC).Thymio Papayannis, who was present representing MedWet, provides this brief summary of the meeting and a photo. [08/12/08]

BirdLife's "Think Pink" campaign for Lake Natron. "Speaking at a recent Conference of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, Tanzania's Environment Minister outlined the value of Lake Natron as the world's most important breeding site for Lesser Flamingos Phoeniconaias minor. Dr Batilda Salha Buriani stated that Lake Natron is: "The sole breeding ground of up to 2.5 million flamingos ... representing 75% of the global population"." Recent proposals to construct a soda ash plant on Lake Natron have evoked international concern, and a Ramsar Advisory Mission to the site in February 2008 offered cogent suggestions. "BirdLife International believes the development, and associated infrastructure, will displace and scatter the Lesser Flamingos, and is spearheading the "Think Pink" campaign to conserve Lake Natron." BirdLife's article welcoming Minister Buriani's remarks has been reprinted here, and more information about the Think Pink campaign can be found on the BirdLife Web site. [05/12/08]

Networking with wetland managers in Nordic-Baltic countries. Networking with wetland managers in Nordic-Baltic countries was the focus of the 4th seminar of the Nordic-Baltic Wetland Initiative on 23-25 September 2008 in Finland. It brought together 35 Ramsar focal points from national and provincial administrative authorities, wetland managers, environmental monitoring specialists and others. The main theme of the seminar was wetland management planning, aiming to increase the exchanges between Nordic and Baltic countries of lessons learnt and to form active planning networks for the future. The seminar was perfectly organized by Ms Tiina Niikkonen of Metsähallitus, the Finnish state enterprise that administers more than 12 million hectares of state-owned land and water areas, with support from the Ministry of Environment, in the village of Kempele, close to Oulu airport at the edge of Ramsar site N°1523 Liminganlahti Bay Area. Ramsar's Tobias Salathé provides the details, with photos. [01/12/08]

Culture at Ramsar COP10. During the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties of the Convention on Wetlands, held in Changwon from 28 October to 4 November 2008, the South Korean authorities and the Convention's Culture Working Group ensured that there would be no shortage of events to highlight the role of cultural values in wetland management. Thymio Papayannis surveys the activities that took place there and summarizes the Convention's way forward on these issues. [01/121/08]

Now available.Good practices and lessons learned in integrating ecosystem conservation and poverty reduction objectives in wetlands. While recognizing the arguments for linking conservation with poverty reduction, literature reviewing integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) emphasize the complexities involved in moving from theory to practice. Some question whether meaningful conservation and poverty reduction results can be achieved simultaneously, while others suggest results can improve with a better understanding of strategies and processes. This Lessons and Good Practices (Ls&GPs) study conducted by IWMI for Wetlands International (WI) (with funding from the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs) explores these views using several wetland-based ICDPs as case-studies. IWMI's Sanjiv de Silva explains the studies and provides links to PDF downloads. [01/12/08]

From the Ramsar Forum.World Wetland Network (WWN). “One of the outputs of the Ramsar COP meeting was the formation of the World Wetland Network (WWN), a support network for NGO’s involved in wetland conservation work. The WWN has a minimal management committee made up of volunteers, but if the network proves to be active, we may seek funding to get some more resources to run it. The WWN aims to give smaller wetland NGO’s a voice in the Ramsar convention, do some specific work with the Romanian NGO’s on the run up to the next Ramsar COP meeting in 2012, as well as offering best practice and support to partners in the meantime. For more information please do not hesitate to contact me – I would be happy to forward you the workplan and terms of reference, and I act as the Chair of the WWN. If you are a wetland NGO and would like to join the mailing list, then please contact Esteban Biamonte, at uniondeornitologoscr@gmail.com. Best regards, Chris.” -- Chris Rostron, Head of Wetland Link International, WWT London Wetland Centre (chris.rostron@wwt.org.uk). [01/12/08]

Niumi-Saloum named as Africa's first Transboundary Ramsar site. The Secretariat is extremely pleased to congratulate the governments of Gambia and Senegal for their declaration of the first African Transboundary Ramsar Site and the first Transboundary Ramsar Site outside of Europe, called Niumi-Saloum. Delta du Saloum was designated as Senegal’s third Ramsar Wetland of International Importance in 1984, and Gambia’s Niumi National Park was designated on 13 October 2008, also the third Ramsar site in that country. Ramsar's Cynthia Kibata provides all the details here. [28/11/08]

Italy removes Stagno di Cagliari from the Montreux Record. The Secretariat is pleased to announce that Italy has completed the formalities for the removal of the last of its Ramsar sites  that has been on the Montreux Record of sites “where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring or are likely to occur” for quite a few years. According to documentation provided by the Administrative Authority in the Ministry of the Environment and Territory and the Sea, managers at “Stagno di Cagliari” on the island of Sardinia have made substantial progress in resolving the problems for which the site was added to the Record in 1990, and after consultations with the Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) it has been removed from the Record as of 25 November 2008. Ramsar's Monica Zavagli provides further details here. [26/11/08]

Date and venue of the next COP. The Contracting Parties at Ramsar COP10 welcomed the offer of Romania to host the next meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, COP11, set for late in the northern spring of 2012, the exact date to be determined later.

New Standing Committee elected. At the final plenary session of Ramsar COP10 on 4 November, the Parties elected the new Standing Committee for the next triennium. In the framework of proportional representation laid out in Resolution VII.1 (2002), for Africa we have Cameroon, Mauritius, Nigeria, and Tanzania (Tunisia was provisionally chosen as well in the event that the African region should reach 49 Contracting Parties before the next COP); for Asia, China, Lebanon, and Thailand; for Europe, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, and Georgia; for the Neotropics, Jamaica, Panama, and Paraguay; for North America, Mexico; and for Oceania, the Marshall Islands. The Republic of Korea and Romania are also SC members as host of the most recent and next meetings of the COP, Switzerland and the Netherlands continue as permanent observers as hosts to the Secretariat and Wetlands International, and the International Organization Partners also continue as permanent observers.

At the subsequent 39th meeting of the Standing Committee, the new Committee elected Dr Kim Chan-woo [photo above] of the Republic of Korea as the SC Chair for this term and Paraguay was elected Vice-Chair. The new Subgroup on Finance was also chosen (China, Finland, Jamaica, Marshall Islands, Mexico, and Nigeria), and Finland was elected its Chair. The Standing Committee welcomed the offer of Georgia to host the next full Standing Committee meeting, SC40, in Batumi, tentatively set for 11-15 May 2009. [10/11/08]

Now available. Reports of Standing Committee 38 (27 October 2008) and Standing Committee 39 (4 November 2008), both in PDF format. [10/11/08]

Ramsar COP10 enters history. The 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties drew to a happy conclusion on 4 November in Changwon, Korea, and now we’re left to sort it all out. Thirty-two of the 33 draft Resolutions were adopted in one form or another, some easily, some with ad hoc contact groups spilling out into the lobby right to the last minute. A budget got passed for the next triennium, a lot of STRP guidance on various matters got adopted, and the Changwon Declaration, a sort of blueprint for the future of wetlands, intended to sensitize readers in other sectors on the importance of wetland wise use for their work as well, got an enthusiastic send-off. Nearly a gazillion side events brought people together to learn about wetland-related initiatives and organizations all over the world, and the exhibition hall provided a short course in current wetland activities globally, and especially in Asia. The COP participants luxuriated in a perfect bath of Korean hospitality, with several dinners with entertainment, excursions to nearby sites of interest, a brilliant festival of traditional Korean culture going on outside all week, and the helpful, ready smiles of countless Korean volunteers.

Most of the Secretariat staff are presently convalescing after the past year’s COP deadlines and the round-the-clock COP itself, but later in November we’ll settle down to finalizing and harmonizing the latest revisions to the draft Resolutions and preparing to publish the official Proceedings of the COP, which will appear on the Ramsar Web site and on CD-ROM hopefully by the end of the year. In the meantime, here is one more page of photographs from the final days of the COP, snapped off hastily amid the deluge of document revisions raining down upon us throughout. [08/11/08]

Feedback and suggestions are welcome to the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ).