News from the CEPA e-mail list

The Pond Manifesto (12/12/08)

Greetings everyone:

“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, our Secretary General Anada Tiéga, introduces The Pond Manifesto published by the European Pond Conservation Network, with support from the MAVA Foundation.

The Pond Manifesto produces facts and figures that show just how valuable ponds are in terms of the range of ecosystem services they offer. High concentrations of Red Data book species are found in ponds, and more broadly ponds can contribute much to the regional ‘species pool’ as rivers or lakes. They have a role to play in water management and in offering opportunities for climate change amelioration. And of course ponds have considerable cultural and social values, providing a valuable tool for outdoor teaching as well as research. What is perhaps something of a surprise is the vast area covered by ponds - it has been estimated that the millions of small ponds (where small = less than 10 hectares) around the world represent 30% of the global surface of standing water!

In 20-pages this new publication provides a well written and illustrated look at ponds and what they have to offer, supplying the background support for the strategy for European ponds presented at the end of the document.

Tobias Salathé here at the Secretariat has written a longer piece on the publication, usefully setting it in a broader context, which you can see here caxref:4460.

The full 20-page version in English as well as one page summaries in English, French, German and Spanish are available on the European Pond Conservation Network’s web site here http://campus.hesge.ch/epcn/projects.asp.

Best wishes, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat

**********************************

Sandra Hails, CEPA Programme Officer
Ramsar Convention Secretariat
Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 999 0176; Fax: +41 22 999 0169
E-mail: hails@ramsar.org
Web Site: http://ramsar.org
CEPA mini-Web site: http://ramsar.org/outreach_index.htm

**********************************************************