The Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP), Ramsar's scientific subsidiary body

The Scientific and Technical Review Panel of the Ramsar Convention was established by Resolution 5.5 (Kushiro, 1993) as a subsidiary body of the Convention to provide scientific and technical guidance to the Conference of the Parties, the Standing Committee, and the Ramsar secretariat. Its individual members are elected by the Standing Committee, based upon nominations from the Parties, on the same regionally proportionate basis that is used for electing the Standing Committee itself, but they serve in their own capacities as experts in the scientific areas required by the STRP's Work Plan and not as representatives of their countries. Resolution VII.2 (San José, 1999) modified the composition of the STRP, and Resolution X.9 (Changwon, 2008) established the present modus operandi and terms of reference of the STRP.

In addition to the 12 individual STRP members, delegates from the five International Organization Partners -- BirdLife International, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), IUCN, Wetlands International, and WWF International -- represent their organizations as full members of the Panel. In addition, representatives of the 18 subsidiary bodies of other Multilateral Environment Agreements and non-governmental organizations and associations specified in Resolution X.9 are also invited to participate as permanent observers during each triennium, and representatives of other organizations are invited to participate in the work of the STRP as required by the nature of the tasks under study.

The STRP's Work Plan for each triennium is built around the priority tasks determined by the Standing Committee, which are based upon requests from the Conference of the Parties by means of its Strategic Plan and COP Resolutions and Recommendations. The STRP members and observers are assisted in their work by a network of STRP National Focal Points who advise them directly on STRP matters and provide a liaison between the STRP and the networks of other relevant experts within each of their countries. The STRP's Expert Working Groups and the National Focal Points communicate by means of electronic mail and Internet discussion groups.

The work of the STRP is further assisted by the STRP Support Service, which is operated by Wetlands International under contract with the Convention. The purpose of the Support Service is to provide the STRP Expert Working Groups and National Focal Points with additional contacts among the expert networks of the International Organization Partners and other groups, identify gaps in needed expertise and endeavor to fill them, assemble a clearinghouse of additional information resources for the tasks of the Work Plan, and facilitate communication amongst the Working Groups, the Focal Points, and other sources of expertise.

The Scientific and Technical Review Panel, 2009-2012

Heather Mackay, Chair of STRP

Chairperson: Dr Heather MacKay
Vice-Chairperson: Ms Rebecca D'Cruz

Regional networking:

Africa: Dr Stanley Liphadzi
Asia: Ms Rebecca D'Cruz
Europe: Ms Rebecca Lee
Neotropics: Dr Montserrat Carbonell
North America: Mr Randy Milton
Oceania: Mr Philippe Gerbeaux

Thematic experts:

Rebecca D'Cruz , Vice Chair of STRP

Wetland inventory, assessment, and indicators: Mr Dave Pritchard
Ramsar site designations: Mr David Stroud
Wetland restoration and management: Mr Kevin Erwin
Wetlands and climate change: Prof Max Finlayson
Wetlands and human health: Dr Pierre Horwitz
Wetlands and water resources: Prof Mike Acreman
Wetlands and agriculture: Mr George Lukacs
Communications, Education & Public Awareness (CEPA): Ms Christine Prietto

The Convention's five International Organisation Partners (IOPs):

BirdLife International: Dr Vicky Jones
Wetlands International: Mr Ritesh Kumar
IWMI: Dr Matthew McCartney
IUCN: Dr Mark Smith
WWF: Ms Archana Chatterjee

STRP members' biographies

Reports of STRP meetings are available here.

The Scientific and Technical Review Panel, 2006-2008

Regional representatives, with networking responsibilities:

Africa: Dr Heather MacKay
Asia: Ms Rebecca D'Cruz
Europe: Dr Karen Jenderedjian
Neotropics: Dr Juan José Neiff (from May 2007)
North America: Prof Roy Gardner
Oceania: Dr Philippe Gerbeaux

Thematic experts (for STRP priority work areas):

Wetland inventory and assessment, including indicators: Ms Teresita Borges
Wise use and ecological character: Mr Randy Milton
Water resource management: Prof. Mike Acreman
Ramsar site designation and management: Mr David Stroud
Wetlands and agriculture: Dr Max Finlayson
Communications, Education & Public Awareness (CEPA): Ms Christine Prietto

The Convention's five International Organisation Partners (IOPs):

BirdLife International: Mr Dave Pritchard
Wetlands International: Mr Ritesh Kumar
IWMI: Ms Rebecca Tharme
IUCN: Dr Mark Smith
WWF: Ms Archana Chatterjee

The Oversight Committee has appointed Dr Heather MacKay as Chair of the STRP for 2006-2008, and Ms Rebecca D'Cruz as Vice-Chair.

The Scientific and Technical Review Panel, 2003-2005

Individual Members' names are followed by their places of employment and (in parentheses) the areas of special expertise they bring to the Panel.

Prof. Teresita Borges (Ms), Senior Officer, Direction of the environment, Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Cuba (environmental policy and legal framework development including on protected areas, impact assessment, coastal zone management and biological diversity and cultural heritage, including for inland wetlands)

Prof. Francisco Contreras Espinosa, Professor-Investigator, Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Mexico (coastal lagoon research, including inventory assessment and management)

Dr Cui Lijuan, Associate Professor, Research Institute of Forestry, Chinese Academy of Forestry, China (wetland inventory assessment, impact assessment, and wetland economic valuation, at wetland site and basin scales)

Dr Max Finlayson, Director, Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist, Australia (inventory, assessment and monitoring, wise use, local communities, wetland management, restoration invasive species, and collaboration with other conventions)

Prof. Ho Sinn-Chye, Director, National Oceanography Directorate, Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, Malaysia (aquatic biology and limnology, restoration, management and capacity building)

Dr Jorge Jiménez Ramon, Director, Organisation for Tropical Studies, San Pedro, Costa Rica, Costa Rica (wetland restoration, site and basin management, mangrove conservation and wise use)

Mr Najam Khurshid, Pakistan (waterbird and wetland research and conservation and project implementation, conservation and rural development, development of education materials and education centres)

Prof. Eckhart Kuijken, Director General, Institute of Nature Conservation, Belgium (wetland conservation ecology and conservation policy preparation, including assessment, management planning, landscape ecology, education, training and policy advice; migratory goose ecology)

Dr Heather MacKay (Ms), Research Manager and Head: Water and the Environment, Water Research Commission, South Africa (sustainable management of aquatic ecosystems, especially water quality and allocations and management, including environmental flows and groundwater issues)

Mr Puttoo Manikchand, Research and Development Officer, National Parks and Conservation Service, Mauritius (wetland monitoring and management)

Mrs Tatiana Minaeva, Senior Researcher, Tsentral'no-Lesnoy Biosphere Nature Reserve, Russian Federation (peatland science and conservation, national wetland policy and legislative development)

Prof. Steven Njuguna, Managing Director & Environmental Consultant, SPARVS Agency Ltd. Environmental Consultancy Services, Kenya (management planning, wise use, biodiversity inventory and assessment and environmental impact assessment, training, education and awareness, monitoring and evaluation and strategic planning)

Prof. Francisco Daniel Rilla Manta, Prof. of Environmental Management, Universidad Catolica del Uruguay, Uruguay (strategic development of wetland research and management, management planning and monitoring, restoration, and migratory species conservation)

Mr David Stroud, Senior Ornithologist, UK Joint Nature Conservation Committee, United Kingdom (bird monitoring programmes, peatlands, Ramsar site designations)

Dr Maria-José Viñals (Ms), Deputy Director, Sede para el Estudio de Humedales Mediterraneos (SEHUMED), Spain (landscape evolution, environmental impacts, assessment and natural and cultural heritage of Mediterranean wetlands, including inventory, designation and management of coastal and inland wetlands in Spain)

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION PARTNERS (institutional members)

BirdLife International
IUCN-The World Conservation Union
Wetlands International
World Wide Fund for Nature International

The Scientific and Technical Review Panel, 1999-2002

Individual Members' names are followed by their places of employment and (in parentheses) the areas of special expertise they bring to the Panel.

AFRICA

Aboubacar Awaïss, Abdou Moumouni University of Niamey, Republic of Niger (inland hydrology, ecotechnology of inland water, fishery management, wetland management)

Geoff Cowan, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Republic of South Africa (landscape ecology, geography, hydrology, geomorphology, biogeography, water resource utilization)

Harry Chabwela, University of Zambia (environmental impact assessment, biodiversity inventory, ecosystem evaluation, wetland and watershed management, community resource conservation, ecological zoning, game ranching, tourism)

ASIA

Mohammad Shatanawi, University of Jordan (hydraulics and irrigation, water resources policy and planning, water harvesting and conservation in arid zones, training)

Angel Alcala, Commission on Higher Education, Philippines (tropical coastal/marine biology and ecology)

EUROPE

Jan Pokorný, Institute of Botany, Trebon, Czech Republic (botany, monitoring of ecological change, restoration, wetland management teaching/training)

Toomas Saat, University of Tartu, Estonia (marine biology, hydrobiology, ichthyology, ornithology, wetland management planning)

George Zalidis, University of Thessaloniki, Greece (wetland inventory and monitoring, soil science, GIS)

Peter Maitland, Fish Conservation Centre, Scotland, United Kingdom (freshwater ecosystems, invertebrate monitoring, conservation of freshwater fish)

NEOTROPICS

Yara Schaeffer-Novelli, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (coastal areas, especially mangroves and invertebrates, oil impacts, marinas and aquaculture)

Jorge Jiménez, Organización de Estudios Tropicales, Costa Rica (coastal areas, mangroves and swamp forest, plant ecology, protected areas, watershed management)

NORTH AMERICA

Arthur Hawkins, US Fish and Wildlife Service, USA (watershed biology, local and regional planning, wetland and floodplain assessment, habitat restoration, biological indicators)

Substitute –Randy Milton, Department of Natural Resources, Canada (wildlife management in freshwater and coastal wetlands)

OCEANIA

Max Finlayson, Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist, Australia (impact assessment, inventory, training, Ramsar issues)

Substitute – Bronwen Golder, WWF International, New Zealand (community programmes, capacity building, economic and social assessment)

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION PARTNERS

BirdLife International
IUCN-The World Conservation Union
Wetlands International
World Wide Fund for Nature International

The Scientific and Technical Review Panel, 1996-1999

At the 6th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, held in Brisbane, Australia, 19-27 March 1996, the member states of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands selected new members for its Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP), which is charged with advising the Conference of the Parties, the Standing Committee, and the Bureau (secretariat) on technical issues of importance for the implementation of the Convention. The following wetland experts were chosen to serve from the close of the 6th Meeting of the COP until the end of the 7th Meeting of the COP (Costa Rica, 1999):

Members

• Africa: Yaa NTIAMOA-BAIDU (Ghana) -- Chairperson
• Asia: Makoto KOMODA (Japan)
• Eastern Europe: Mihály VEGH (Hungary)
• Neotropics: Roberto SCHLATTER (Chile)
• North America: Allan SMITH (Canada)
• Oceania: Keith THOMPSON (New Zealand)
• Western Europe: François LETOURNEUX (France)

Alternate Members

• Africa: Aboubacar AWAISS (Niger)
• Asia: Chaman Lai TRISAL (India)
• Eastern Europe: Mikulas LISICKY (Slovakia)
• Neotropics: Peter BACON (Trinidad and Tobago)
• North America: Mauricio CERVANTES ABREGO (Mexico)
• Oceania: Max FINLAYSON (Australia)
• Western Europe: Palle Uhd JEPSEN (Denmark)