The Ramsar Bulletin Board, 2 June 2000

Headline story.Libya accedes to the Ramsar Convention. The Bureau is very pleased to announce that the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya completed its accession formalities on 5 April 2000, and the Convention on Wetlands, as amended by the Paris Protocol of 1982, will come into force for the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on 5 August 2000. The new Party has informed UNESCO, the Convention’s Depositary, that two wetlands have been designated as Wetlands of International Importance – Ain Elshakika and Ain Elzarga, both on or near the Mediterranean coast in the general area of Darnah and Tubruq – but Ramsar Information Sheets have not yet been received for them. The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya becomes the Convention’s 121^st Contracting Party, and these are the 1026^th and 1027^th Ramsar sites globally. [30/5/00]

Headline story. BirdLife International identifies European IBAs. BirdLife International has published a vital reference work that will have significant value for everyone concerned with the implementation of the Ramsar Convention. Important Bird Areas in Europe: Priority Sites for Conservation, edited by Melanie F. Heath and Michael I. Evans with others, is a 1600-page 2-volume compendium of country analyses and individual site descriptions of more than 3,600 sites that meet BirdLife's criteria for IBAs, which largely overlap with the Ramsar Convention's Criteria for Identifying Wetlands of International Importance, especially Criteria 6, and with the EC Birds Directive's guidance for Special Protection Areas (SPAs). Ramsar’s Strategic Framework and guidelines for the future development of the List of Wetlands of International Importance, adopted by the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention at the 7th COP in 1999, advocates a systematic and strategic approach to selecting and designating new Ramsar sites in furtherance and recognizes that this requires solid scientific data and inventories of wetlands within their territories that qualify under the Ramsar Criteria. For the European region, this new publication will go very far towards meeting that need. As is stated in the Summary to volume I, "Many IBAs are wetlands of international importance yet only 30% of these have been designated under the Ramsar Convention. Given the compatibility of IBA criteria with Ramsar criteria, it is possible to estimate that a further 1,000 IBAs in Europe should be considered for designation as Ramsar sites because of the internationally important numbers of waterbirds that they hold." Here's more detail, availability, and a photo. [29/5/00]

Interesting Web site.The Spanish Ramsar site at S'Albufera de Mallorca has a very interesting Web site at  http://www.oninet.es/usuarios/salbufera/ . An English-language section is provided. [31/5/00]

New on the Site:New archival stuff: Spanish versions of early Recommendations of the COP;   Participants in the Groningen COP2;Conference report of the 3rd COP, Regina; the French version of the COP5 Kushiro conference report. (30/5/00)

Ramsar Intern appointed for the Americas. Mr Marco A. Flores has been appointed to the Bureau post of Intern/Assistant to the Regional Coordinator for the Americas, to begin in early August 2000 for a year's tenure, replacing Flor de María Salvador Pérez of Peru. Mr Flores, a citizen of the USA, is from the US territory of Puerto Rico and earned his bachelor's degree in Environmental Science from the University of Puerto Rico in San Juan in 1994. He has just completed his master's degree in Environmental Policy and Management from the School of Foresty and Environmental Studies at Yale University in Connecticut, USA. He is fluent in Spanish and English and has work experience in many aspects of wetlands work, including hazards assessment and environmental impact assessment, restoration, and community imvolvement. [25/5/00]

Announcement.Ramsar Bureau seeks Intern for Asia. It's time now to begin soliciting applications for the position of Intern/Assistant to the Regional Coordinator for Asia. Qualified candidates from that region are encouraged to read the general terms of reference for Ramsar Internships and apply by 30 June 2000, to begin on 1 November 2000. [18/5/00]

River Restoration 2000 conference reported. The European Centre for River Restoration (ECRR), under the umbrella of the Dutch Institute for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment (RIZA), organised from 15 to 19 May 2000 an international conference on practical approaches to river restoration throughout Europe, including a few review papers on river restoration aspects in North America, China, and Australia. More than 100 specialists (engineers, biologists and administration staff) exchanged their respective experiences and visited different river and floodplain restoration sites in the southern Netherlands along the rivers Maas (Meuse) and Rhine (Waal, Rijn). Here's a brief report. [22/5/00]

Ramsar's address to the CBD's 5th COP. Ramsar's Secretary General, Delmar Blasco, addressed the plenary session on the opening day of the CBD's COP5, 15 May 2000. Here's the text of his remarks.[17/5/00]

Ramsar Bureau unveils superb new exhibit. Coming (perhaps) to a theatre near you - the new Ramsar traveling exhibit, spreading the Ramsar wise use message to large venues whenever and wherever possible. Financed by the Evian/Danone project, designed by Saatchi & Saatchi under the direction of the Secretary General and the Bureau's Communications Team, this enormous display of fine photos and poignant text, lumbered through customs in two rather large wheeled suitcases, is presently drawing gasps from the spectators at the 5th COP of the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nairobi. If you're not in Nairobi now, view it here on this Web site, and then come to the Millennium Wetland Event in Montreal in August and get a second chance to see it in real time. [17/5/00]

Australia extends its Macquarie Marshes site in public/private partnership. Australia has extended the Macquarie Marshes site (1/8/86, 18,143 hectares) by an additional 583 hectares, largely by virtue of the kind of stewardship agreement between government and private landowners that is showing considerable promise in several countries, including Australia, the UK, and the USA. Environment Minister Senator Robert Hill writes: "I would like to take this opportunity to commend Eric Fisher and his family, the owners of Wilgara, for their stewardship of this wetland and their future commitment under the Convention to the long-term conservation of Wilgara. I would also like to commend the work undertaken by the NSW [New South Wales] National Parks and Wildlife Service in partnership with the National Parks Association and World Wide Fund for Nature to secure the Ramsar nomination for private lands such as 'Wilgara'. The work between the community, non-government organizations, and all spheres of government clearly demonstrates that wetland conservation and sustainable use can be achieved through cooperation with dedicated landholders." [16/5/00]

Mother's Day at the Ramsar Bureau. "Dear Moms of Ramsar Interns, Happy Mother's Day. It would have been so difficult to start a new life and work in a foreign country without your understanding and assistance with thoughtfulness. Thus, We, interns at Ramsar, would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation. This is just one way to show our thanks out of millions. We placed flowers on the central table. Please take one when you go home today. Thank you very much with four big hugs. Sasha, Evans, Flor, and Taeko." [15/5/00]

Ramsar plans for the CBD's 5th COP. As the 5th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity gets under way in Nairobi, Kenya, Secretary General Delmar Blasco and Regional Coordinator Anada Tiéga are already there, and Deputy Secretary General Nick Davidson will be joining them for the second week. Here's what's on the agenda for Ramsar at the COP and associated events.[15/5/00]

SEHUMED's Valencia CD-ROM is now ready. SEHUMED (Sede para el Estudio de los Humedales Mediterráneos), which recently joined the Greek Biotope/Wetland Centre (EKBY) and the Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat as a third secretariat on Ramsar's MedWet Team, has just published an exemplary educational tool on the wetlands of its home-ground Valencia region in Spain, and in particular on L'Albufera de Valencia, one of Spain's Ramsar sites since 1989. With Spanish, English, and French versions on the same disk, and run-time versions of QuickTime and other necessary plug-ins, the package provides an attractive and informative introduction to the region's ecology as well as to important issues common to many other wetland systems. For more information, consult http://sehumed.uv.es or write to sehumed@uv.es. [16/5/00]

Wetlands in Russia, volume 2: Important Peatlands. The 91-page second volume has appeared in the superb trilogy on Russian wetlands produced by the extraordinarily productive Wetlands International - Russia Programme: Important Peatlands has been managed by the late Prof. Marina Botch and edited by Tatiana Minaeva and Irina Kamennova, the latter of whom also made the accurate and fluid translation into English, with editorial help by Marcel Silvius. 51 peat wetlands are listed and described according to the structure of the Ramsar Information Sheet, forming a sort of shadow list of potential Ramsar sites. You can discuss availability with the Russia Programme directly at russia@wwf.ru or fax +7 095 7270938. [16/5/00]

Tanzania joins the Ramsar Convention. The Ramsar Convention is very pleased to welcome the United Republic of Tanzania as its 120th Contracting Party. Tanzania's instrument of accession to the Ramsar Convention, as amended by the Paris Protocol, was accepted by UNESCO as of 13 April 2000, so the treaty will come into force for Tanzania on 13 August 2000. As its obligatory first Wetland of International Importance, the new Party has designated the vast Malagarasi-Muyovozi Wetlands (3,250,000 hectares), which is listed as fulfilling all eight of the Ramsar Criteria. More detail on this new site is available here. [11/5/00]

UK designates Thames Estuary and Marshes. The Bureau is pleased to announce that the United Kingdom has designated its 151st Ramsar site, "Thames Estuary and Marshes" (5589 hectares), also a Special Protection Area under the EC Birds Directive. The site comprises a complex of brackish floodplain, grazing marsh ditches, saline lagoons and intertidal saltmarsh and mudflat along the River Thames between Gravesend and Sheerness in Essex and Kent. The habitats support internationally important numbers of wintering waterfowl, and the saltmarsh and grazing marsh are of international importance for their diverse assemblages of wetland plants and invertebrates. The site performs important hydrological functions, including shoreline stablization, sediment trapping, flood water storage and desynchronization of flood peaks, and maintenance of water quality by removal of nutrients. Human uses include yachting, angling, wildfowling (seasonal), jet skiing, waterskiing, and birdwatching; disturbance from some of these is a current issue but is being addressed through negotation and awareness-raising. This is the Convention's 1025th Wetland of International Importance and brings the UK's total surface coverage to 726,229 hectares. [12/5/00]

Announcement.Wetlands International - AEME seeks Coordinator for flyway project. Following up on the news that UNEP-GEF has approved funding for a major initiative to help conserve wetlands on the African Eurasian Flyway, Wetlands International - AEME would like to announce a vacancy for the position of Coordinator of this project. To read more about the project details visit: http://www.wetlands.agro.nl/Waterbird_Monitoring/AEWA-GEF.html . Terms of reference for the position are available on this Web site. [since removed] [12/5/00]

Ramsar signs three-way MOU with CIESIN and Wetlands International. The Ramsar Bureau has signed a memorandum of understanding with Wetlands International, which maintains the Ramsar Sites Database under contract with the Convention, and the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (Columbia University, USA) for "Cooperation for the Development and Operation of a Data Gateway for Ramsar Site Information". The MOU's general objectives are to "develop an on-line Ramsar Wetland Data Gateway through a multilevel, multidisciplinary, diverse resource base, including spatial, tabular and graphic data, all of which can be accessed through a common search interface"; to "encourage innovation in information dissemination and decision-making by sharing expertise on relevant information technologies, including interactive, on-line tools for encouraging dialogue and participation among diverse user groups"; and to "facilitate the development of more powerful data-sharing capabilities within the Ramsar community by sharing expertise on such new technologies. Examples of this may include the development of applications using the Spatial Database Engine (SDE®) and OpenGIS®, incorporation of wetlands data catalogs into the Ramsar Wetland Data Gateway, and sharing of expertise on metadata management". Dr Antoinette Wannebo, CIESIN's focal point on the project, has been active over the past year as an invited expert on the Convention's Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP), as has Wetlands International's focal point, Scott Frazier, Senior Wetland Inventory Officer at WI. Here's the text of the MOU. [9/5/00]

Announcement. Two positions open at BirdLife International. Our colleagues at BirdLife International are seeking to fill two fundraising positions, one for the European Division, to be based in Wageningen, The Netherlands, the other for the Africa Division, to be based in Cambridge, UK. Here's the announcement and the job description for the first of them. [since removed] [10/5/00]

Wetlands International joins forces with Australian wine company to raise funds for the Weerribben Ramsar site, Netherlands.Banrock Station is an Australian winery which, as part of its public benefit activities, supports the conservation of wetlands (see related story). It has done so at its own vineyards in South Australia, but also elsewhere in Australia. Since mid-1999, Banrock Station, Staatsbosbeheer (the Dutch Forestry Service), and Wetlands International - AEME are cooperating on a wetland restoration project in De Weerribben National Park in the northeastern part of The Netherlands. For every bottle of Banrock wines sold through Albert Heijn, a Dutch grocery chain, NLG 0.10 goes to this project. A first cheque for NLG 50,000 was handed over during a ceremony in De Weerribben in November. The money is being used to recreate open water and perpetuate the cycle of open water - land formation - erosion - open water. Because of increased flood control and closing off of the Zuyderzee, this cycle has been disrupted, leading to disappearance of open water and loss of biodiversity. More information can be found on the WI-AEME website ( http://www.wetlands.agro.nl ), and of course in the brand new Visitor Centre of De Weerribben, recently opened by Staatsbosbeheer. Reported by Joost Brouwer, Ph.D. Project Development Support Wetlands International - AEME Tel: +31 317 47 88 75 Fax: +31 317 47 88 85 E-mail: brouwer@wetlands.agro.nl [9/5/00]

New Ramsar pin in the USA. A new Ramsar pin has been produced by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, with accompanying bookmark, one of the USFWS' steps "to energize our contacts with Ramsar site managers across the country". The USFWS is also actively promoting the forthcoming annual meeting of the US NGO National Ramsar Committee, which this year will feature the participation of site managers from the Chesapeake Bay, Okefenokee, and Cheyenne Bottoms Ramsar sites. The meeting will highlight a viewing of the new Ramsar video, which is also being reproduced in the USA in English and Spanish for the use of site managers. [Sorry for the bad image. It's hard to scan a pin.] [8/5/00]

The Ramsar Rug is now a reality. Mr A. Najafi writes that the Islamic Republic of Iran is presenting the Ramsar Bureau with a new carpet (photo right), 1 by .80 meters, of cotton and wool and some 2500 knots per 7 square cm. (apparently about 404,700 knots in all!), and 27 days in the making! The Department of Environment will be presenting the new carpet to Ramsar's Secretary General, Delmar Blasco, at the CBD meeting in Nairobi next week. [8/5/00]

Major event in Ramsar history. The Ramsar ‘Toolkit’ is finally ready – the English version anyway: French and Spanish versions will be ready in the next few months.The so-called Toolkit embodies nearly all of the various guidelines that have been adopted by the Conference of the Contracting Parties to assist wetland managers, national authorities, and others in implementing the Convention’s mission and objectives. Formally entitled the Ramsar Handbooks for the Wise Use of Wetlands, the nine brochures are organized along the lines of the three "pillars" of the Convention: 1) The wise use of wetlands; 2) Wetlands of International Importance; and 3) International cooperation. Read the whole story here, and then, if you should still feel that this Toolkit is something that needs to happen to you, write to our colleague Valerie Higgins and ask for one or more or all of the volumes you need, allowing a little time for delivery since Valerie, and the rest of us, are all very busy right now. [4/5/00]

Development Assistance Officer named for Ramsar. The Secretary General is very pleased to announce that the interviewing panel was unanimous in its decision to offer the position of Development Assistance Officer to Mr Alain Lambert, a national of Belgium born in 1960. Mr Lambert has an MSC degree in International Law from the Université Libre de Bruxelles and another in Environmental Economics from Wye College in the University of London. Formerly Chief of the UNIDO field offices in Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil successively, he became Donor Relations Officer in 1994 at IUCN headquarters in Switzerland. Since May 1997 he has served as Senior Environmental Officer in Brazil for DFID, G7 Pilot Programme to Conserve the Amazon. He speaks and writes French, English, Spanish, and Portuguese all very well. Mr Lambert is married with three children. Here's a description of the position and some more detail. [3/5/00]

Habemus accountantem. Mr. Ibrahim Shaame (Tanzania) has arrived in the Ramsar Bureau to take up his post as the Convention's first accountant, working in consort with the new Development Assistance Officer and with the Bureau's Finance Assistant, Paulette Kennedy (left). Mr. Shaame has most recently been working in the Finance Department of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in Geneva. Apart from his training in accountancy, Mr. Shaame has a sound knowledge of computer hardware and software packages. He is fluent in Arabic, English, French and Swahili, with familiarity with German as well.[3/5/00]

Memo of Cooperation signed with Cartagena Convention. At ceremonies yesterday (1 May 2000) at the International Environment House in Geneva, Switzerland, Mr Delmar Blasco, Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands, and Mr Nelson Andrade, Regional Coordinator for the United Nation Environment Programme's Caribbean Action Plan, signed a Memorandum of Cooperation intended to help Contracting Parties to the Conventions to identify and strengthen conservation of those sites of international importance that are relevant to both Conventions. The Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region, known as the Cartagena Convention from its place of adoption in Colombia in 1983, came into force in 1986 and, through its secretariat, serves to facilitate the direction and coordination of the legal implementation of the Caribbean Action Plan. The new MOC contains a 'Statement of Work' which itemizes eight areas of intended cooperation and information sharing, all intended to assist in identifying potential wetlands for nomination as Ramsar sites or as protected areas under the SPAW Protocol, avoiding duplication of efforts and maximizing joint efforts where appropriate, and mutally supporting both Conventions amongst their Parties. Here are some news and photos, and here's the text of the MOC. [2/5/00]

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