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Sustainable river basin governance - new publication (05/08/05)

Good afternoon everyone:

A useful publication is available from the Institute of Developing Economies (IDE), based in Japan. The publication ‘Promoting Sustainable River Basin Governance - Crafting Japan-U.S. Water Partnerships in China’ comes from a project involving water experts from Japan, the United States, and China who worked together on a project looking at river basin governance. The overall goal was to identify possible opportunities for U.S.-Japan assistance to promote successful river basin governance in China.

Published in March of this year, this collection of research papers by the water experts is divided into three main sections, one of which is the enhancement of public participation in river basin decision-making processes (the other two are the structure and function of river basin commissions, and the creation and operation of innovative finance mechanisms). In the public participation section you will find a paper by Reiko Nakamura (joint winner of the Ramsar Award 2005 in the education category) on "Essentials of Stakeholder Participation in the Wise Use of Wetlands: Good Practice of Two Lagoons in Japan and India". Another paper in this section looks at stewardship approaches versus regulatory approaches to resource management, while a third considers the role of the news media in promoting public participation in basin management in China.

You can view and download all chapters here http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Spot/28.html.

Best wishes, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat