The Ramsar Bulletin Board, 3 March 2003

Headline story. Ramsar's next Secretary General to take up the reins in August 2003. The Ramsar Bureau is delighted to announce that yesterday, at its 29th meeting, the Standing Committee selected Dr Peter Bridgewater to become the new Secretary General, to replace Mr Delmar Blasco, who will be stepping down at the end of July 2003 after eight years of distinguished service for the Convention on Wetlands. Chosen by the SC in closed session from amongst a short-list of very strong candidates, Dr Bridgewater's selection was greeted by enthusiastic approval when it was announced before Contracting Party Observer States, International Organization Partners, and the Bureau's staff, and Mr Blasco, indicating that he was extremely pleased to be turning the secretariat over to such able hands, pledged to work closely with the new appointee over the next five months to ensure a seamless transition. Read the full press release, with photos, right here! [02/03/03] [Photo left courtesy of Earth Negotiations Bulletin at Ramsar COP8]

Dr Max Finlayson, new STRP chair

Headline story.Standing Committee names new STRP for Ramsar. At its 29th Meeting, held 26-28 February 2003, the Ramsar Standing Committee reviewed a large list of nominees for the regional members of the Convention's scientific subsidiary body, the Scientific and Technical Panel (STRP) for the triennium 2003-2005, and chose 14 experts to be invited to join the STRP, according to the regional proportions following the Standing Committee's own regional representation as laid down in Resolution VII.1.The regional experts will join representatives of the four International Organization Partners (BirdLife International, IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Wetlands International, and WWF International) as full members of the STRP, as well as a number of expert representatives of invited observer organizations from the NGO and MEA communities. Here's the list of STRP appointees. [03/03/03] [Photo left courtesy of Earth Negotiations Bulletin at Ramsar COP8]

Headline story.Standing Committee reaches apogee. Not much fun yesterday for Observer Parties and International Organization Partners, hanging out in the lobby as the Standing Committee remained locked away in closed session until 2:30 p.m., discussing matters concerning the selection of a new Secretary General and new STRP members. In the afternoon, decisions were taken endorsing the Ramsar Centre for the Western Hemisphere in Panama, the national planning tool and National Report format for COP9, the creation of a "Subgroup on Resolution VIII.45" (more important than that sounds!), and the membership in the new Subgroup on COP9. Sadly, the USA conveyed the news of the death of Prof Peter Bacon (right) of Trinidad and Tobago, an esteemed wetland scientist who has been a close friend of the Ramsar family for many years. The USA paid tribute to highlights of Prof Bacon's career. [28/02/03]

Headline story. Standing Committee 29 takes wing! The Ramsar Standing Committee, mumbling off in small groups over the past few days, celebrated its first day of full plenary yesterday, the 26th, and immediately consigned itself to still more small negotiating contact groups to sort out all the thorny issues. Very congenial welcoming statements were made by the Chair,Gordana Beltram of Slovenia, and the Secretary General, Delmar Blasco, and substantial welcoming challenges were made by Jean-Yves Pirot on behalf of Achim Steiner, DG of the Bureau's host organization IUCN-The World Conservation Union (text here), and by David Pritchardof BirdLife International, on behalf of the four Ramsar Partners (BirdLife, IUCN, Wetlands International, and WWF International) (text here). Following all which, a delightful reception buffet was successfully laid on in the IUCN lobby -- the roast beef nibbly sandwiches were great, though the salmon things were a bit salty, as were Montserrat and José Ramon in the photo left. [27/02/03]

Standing Committee 29 papers here.

Headline story.Ramsar Standing Committee 29 gets under way. As SC29 begins, the Secretary General selection subgroup has completed its second day of interviews with short-listed candidates for the Secretary General's post, to begin in August, and the new Subgroup on Finance has held its first meeting. This morning, Wednesday, the plenary sessions begin, whoopee. Details will follow. [25/02/03]

Who's where? 

The Standing Committee has gone away again and a few days of round-the-clock sleep may bring the Ramsar secretariat back to full complement. [02/03/03]

Agreement signed: MedWet, Tour du Valat, and WWF-MedPO.Maria Anagnostopoulou, MedWet Communications Officer, reports that "new collaboration has been established among the MedWet Initiative, Tour du Valat and WWF-MedPO, for common action to conserve freshwater ecosystems in the Mediterranean. Its objective is to increase the added value of joint efforts and produce more effective and efficient results for the Mediterranean region. Based on this collaboration agreement, WWF MedPO and TdV will strengthen their collaboration in the framework of the MedWet programme and in line with WWF's global conservation priorities (TDPs and Ecoregion Conservation), and TdV's five year plan, for the conservation of Mediterranean Freshwater Ecosystems. MedWet will seek the participation of the other members of the Technical Network where appropriate." More details, with the text of the agreement and photos, are available at http://www.medwet.org/news/news_announcements.html. [26/02/03]

From the Ramsar Forum. Session on River Basins and Biodiversity for 3rd World Water Forum.Oi May Chew (oimay@genet.po.my), Programme Officer, Global Environment Centre in Malaysia, announces "Global Environment Centre (GEC) is organising a session on 'Integrating Biodiversity, Wetland and River Basin Management' at the 3rd World Water Forum in Japan. The Forum will be held from 16-23 March 2003 in Shiga, Osaka and Kyoto. GEC is pleased to invite all Ramsar Forum members who will be attending the 3rd World Water Forum to join us in our session, which will be held on the 17th March 2003 in Kyoto. Our session is under the theme of Water, Nature and Environment." More details are available here. [26/02/03]

News from the SGF.Bolivia completes SGF project on Lake Poopó. The Ramsar Bureau is pleased to announce the completion of project "Evaluation of the current status of Lake Poopó for its designation as a Ramsar site and the establishment of a Wise Use and Integrated Management Area", submitted to the SGF 1998 cycle by Mr. Omar Rocha of the World Conservation Society (WCS)-Bolivia (and national STRP focal point). Here are the details, with a map and photos. [25/02/03]. [Español]

Two new publications for Guatemala and Latin America / Dos Nuevas Publicaciones para Guatemala y Latinoamérica. El Consejo Nacional de Áreas Protegidas de Guatemala (CONAP) y la Asociación para el Manejo Integrado de los Ecosistemas Naturaleza y Ambiente (MILENYA) nos extendió una invitación a la presentación y entrega oficial de las publicaciones: "Humedales de Importancia Internacional, en una Encrucijada - Conservar o Conservar: El Caso de Manchón-Guamuchal. Informe Técnico, Imágenes, Consideraciones y Reflexiones." Por: Ph.D. Yara Schaeffer Novelli, Universidad de Sao Paolo-Instituto Oceanográfico Laboratorio BIOMA-Bioecología de Manglares, Sao Paulo, Brasil. y "Memoria de Mesa de Manglares - II Congreso Forestal Latinoamericano". Estas publicaciones fueron presentadas el pasado Miércoles 19 de Febrero, 2003 en las oficinas de CONAP - 5a avenida 6-06 zona 1 Edificio IMP, Salón Delfines, 5to Nivel, Ciudad de Guatemala, Guatemala. Para mayor información sobre como obtener las publicaciones, favor contactar a Anabella Barrios Ambrosy (eambrosy@terra.com.gt). [25/02/03]

Vacancy Announcement.Tour du Valat offers short-term position. Christian Perennou writes: "Dear colleagues, Tour du Valat is seeking a French-speaking person to coordinate the production of a Mnagement Guidebook for temporary pools (cf. recent Ramsar Resolution at COP8 on this habitat) : job description attached. Best wishes, Christian." See this announcement[link later removed] for the six-months' post of "Un(e) Chargé(e) de recherches en Ecologie végétale pour un contrat de 6 mois, qui sera appelé à travailler sur le projet suivant: Un guide de gestion des mares temporaires oligotrophes". [23/02/03]

RBI seeks advice on case studies. Ms Chew Oi May (oimay@genet.po.my) of the Global Environment Centre, writes: "As a contribution to the Ramsar-CBD River Basin Initiative (RBI), the Global Environment Centre (GEC) is preparing a guideline for South East Asian countries on “Integrating Wetlands, Biodiversity and River Basin Management”. This will build on the Ramsar Handbook 4 on “Integrating wetland conservation and wise use into river basin management”. It will be produced in English and four Asian languages: Thai, Vietnamese, Indonesian and Malay. The project is funded by the ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (ARCBC). To make the guidelines more relevant to the region, South East Asian case studies will be included in the adapted version." Your advice is sought on the selection of case studies. [23/02/03]

Argentina celebrates WWD2003 with a high-Andean Ramsar site. The Bureau is very pleased indeed to announce that, as of 2 February 2003, the Government of Argentina has designated its 12th Wetland of International Importance. The "Reserva Provincial Laguna Brava" (405,000 ha., 28°24'S, 69°05'W) is located at altitudes between 2500-4500m above sea level and includes a system of saline and hyper-saline shallow lagoons. Characteristic high-Andean communities of bofedales (wet-marshy meadows) are found above 3000m. The Reserve is host to a rich biodiversity associated to the wetland, with abundant summer populations of endemic waterfowl, including James' and Andean flamingos (Phoenicoparrus jamesi and P. andinus). The site also has special recognition as a Reserve for Camelids, most notably vicuña (Vicugna vicugna) and guanaco (Lama Guanicoe). Historically, the region was utilized by the Incas as an important enclave for domination of local populations and as a natural Andean transit point to Chile. Currently, it is precisely the development of an international road, plus the possibility of mineral prospecting, which could potentially affect the site. Recent management and zoning measures are to be strengthened to insure the proper long-term conservation of the site. Excellent photographs of the new site by Horacio de la Fuente are available here. -- site description by Julio Montes de Oca. [21/02/03]

From the Ramsar Forum.Controling lippia in wetlands.Sarah Moles writes: "Dear Ramsar Colleagues, Does anyone have information (or links to information) on methods of controlling lippia (Phyla canescens) in wetlands and on floodplains? Ramsar sites in the Gwydir valley of NSW, Australia, are gravely threatened by this invasive and highly destructive weed. Any information or current research on effective chemical agents and /or biological controls is urgently sought. Yours sincerely, Sarah Moles, Wetlands Conservation Officer, WWF Australia MS 172, Allora, Qld 4362 smoles@wwf.org.au." [21/02/03]

Honduras designates its 5th Ramsar site. The Bureau is pleased to announce that the Republic of Honduras has designated its 5th Ramsar site, finalized on 3 February 2003 -- the Laguna de Bacalar in Gracias a Dios department (7,394 ha, 15°08'N, 85°10'W). The Laguna de Bacalar is a marine-coastal wetland on the Caribbean coast characterized by broad-leaf forest, swamps, and mangrove forest. The areas adjacent to the lagoons are dominated by mangroves, characterized by red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle), white mangrove (Languncularia racemosa), and buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus). The site's rich fauna includes endangered species like the Caribbean manatee (Trichechus manatus), uncommon birds such as the jabirú (Jabiru mycteria) and fish characteristic to this type of ecosystem, including schoolmaster snapper (Lutjanus apodus) and horse-eye jack (Caranx latus). The site is invaluable in providing flood control, sedimentation capture, and stabilization of the reflux between the sea and the lagoon, which is fed by the Sico Tinto o Negro river. Economic activity by small populations in the area, including agriculture, deforestation and illegal fishing remain as threats. However, government and non-governmental organizations remain active in promoting sustainable fishing practices and appropriate micro-basin management. -- site description by Julio Montes de Oca. [20/02/03] [français et/y español]

New Coordinator for Asia joins the Ramsar Bureau. Dr Guangchun Lei of China has joined the Ramsar Bureau as our new Regional Coordinator for Asia, replacing Najam Khurshid, who has returned to Pakistan following two and a half years of service for the Convention. Following completion of his bachelor's and master's degrees in Forest Protection at Central South Forestry University in China, Dr Lei served from 1988 to 1993 as Chief of the Division of Nature Reserve Management in the Forest Department of Hunan Province, overseeing some 31 protected areas amongst which, the famous Dongting Lake, was one of China's first Ramsar sites upon its accession to the Convention in 1992. He earned his Ph.D in Ecology in 1997 after four years of study at the University of Helsinki in Finland, and since 1999 has served both as a Professor in the Department of Ecology and Environmental Biology in Peking University and as Yangtze Programme Leader with the WWF China Programme, and most recently as Director of the Freshwater & Marine Programme, WWF China Programme. The Bureau staff welcomes Dr Lei warmly -- he can be reached at lei@ramsar.org, and the Assistant to the Regional Coordinator for Asia, Ms. Jia Ma, is at asia@ramsar.org. [20/02/02]

New electronic forum for Latin American wetlands. Julieta Peteán (humedales.proteger@arnet.com.ar), Programa de Humedales, Fundación PROTEGER in Argentina, writes: "La Fundación PROTEGER, en el marco de su Programa de Humedales, ha lanzado recientemente un Foro Electrónico Internacional dirigido a todos los interesados en la temática de los humedales de América Latina. Quisiéramos que los objetivos y la Ficha de Inscripción (adjunta) puedan estar disponibles en su página web, para una mayor difusión. [20/02/03]

Iberoamerican Workshop on Wetlands and Sustainable Development - Dr. Lucas Fernández, coordinator of the XVII CYTED (Iberoamerican Programme of Science and Technology for Development) Wetlands Network (lfernandez@geprop.cu) has informed us that the Network is organizing the 1st Iberoamerican Regional Workshop on Wetlands and Sustainable Development, to be held in Panama City, Panama, from 26-28 May 2003. Please find here the Workshop's information brochure (Spanish), including registration form. [20/02/03]

Taller Iberoamericano de Humedales y Desarrollo Sostenible - El Dr. Lucas Fernández, Coordinador Red Humedales Subprograma XVII CYTED (Programa Iberoamericano de Ciencia y Tecnología para el Desarrollo) (lfernandez@geprop.cu) informa que la Red Iberoamericana de Humedales del Programa CYTED celebrará en la ciudad de Panamá del 26 al 28 de mayo próximo su I Taller Científico sobre "Los Humedales de Iberoamérica y el Desarrollo Sostenible". Sírvase encontrar adjunta la circular de información sobre el Taller, incluyendo la ficha de inscripción.

Headline story.Wetlands International announces DGIS grants for 2003. To explore new ways of working with its development assistance partners, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, through its Directoraat-Generaal Internationale Samenwerking (DGIS), has an agreement with Wetlands International on cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands in which DGIS provides funding support through Wetlands International and its partners for a range of wetland conservation and wise use projects. Beneficiaries of the fund include DGIS target countries and neighbouring countries sharing a common resource, such as water catchments or fisheries. This week, Dr Douglas Taylor (taylor@wetlands.agro.nl), International Science Coordinator at Wetlands International in Wageningen, The Netherlands, has announced the list of the approved projects under the Wise Use and Poverty Alleviation programme (Focal Area B of the DGIS funding mechanism), running until 31 December 2003. Here is the list. [18/02/03]

Photos available. End of the year 2002, woe betide it. To put 2002 well behind us, the secretariat of the Ramsar Convention determined to fête the end of the year in a very exuberant manner. Unfortunately, thanks to Ramsar COP8 in Valencia, everyone was too tired. Many were still under heavy sedation on doctor's orders or still in traction, or just hadn't found their ways back from Spain yet. So, allowing semi-sufficient time for recovery, the traditional end of the year dinner was put off to late January, and then off we went to Geneva to tie things up properly and put quietus est to the COP year in the Paqui district of Geneva. The red light district, yes, but also the home of a very respectable small Lebanese restaurant with, apparently, an emphasis on Greek cuisine. Let's board the train and go eat! [18/02/03]

News from the SGF.Slovenia has successfully completed its SGF 1997 project "Establishment of a National Wetland Inventory". The State Agency for Nature Protection of the Slovenian Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy provided the Ramsar Bureau with a comprehensive final report on the SGF 1997 project which has contributed much to wetland conservation in Slovenia by setting up a firm base for development of a National Wetland Database. Read this summary of the project and its results prepared by the Bureau's Sergei Dereliev. [18/02/03]

From the Ramsar Forum. Botanical citation on Patagonia sought. Grace de Haro, Patagonia, writes: "Friends: I am trying to find the work by the botanist Vaino Auer who came to Patagonia (from Finland) around 1930. His work was published in the Actas de Botanica Tecnicas The Pleistoscene of Fuego Patagonia Part II The History of the Flora and Vegetation Annales Academicus Scienticum. Fennicae 50: 1-239. I would appreciate information on how to get hold of this publication which is important for the work that I am doing to protect 44 hectares of wetland in the town of Bariloche, Patagonia. This area is very sensitive and important as an environmental archive; besides the work by Vaino Auer there is nothing else as complete, apparently after him the wetland was forgotten and yet it is very important regarding Paleoenvironmental changes during the last 17,000 years in western Patagonia. This whole area in fact has not been studied yet." If you can help, please respond to juliograce@ciudad.com.ar. [18/02/03]

Netherlands names 14 new Ramsar sites. The Ramsar Bureau is very glad to announce the next batch of newly designated and extended Ramsar sites. The Government of The Netherlands has made a significant contribution to the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance, adding 14 sites and extending one more site impressively. The Netherlands has thus more than doubled the area of wetlands that it has placed under the Ramsar umbrella, from about 327,000 hectares (including the overseas territories) to 38 Ramsar sites covering 691,228 hectares, with more in the bureaucratic pipeline.One of the new sites stands out for particular mention -- the vast Waddensee, one of the four greatest wetlands in Europe by any standard and shared by The Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, is administered cooperatively by the Common Waddensee Secretariat, but is present in the List of Wetlands of International Importance only in smaller separate sections designated by each of those three Parties. The new Dutch site Waddeneilanden, Noordzeekustzone, Breebaart (135,000 hectares) helps to unite a large portion of the southwestern sections into a more coherent Ramsar whole. Here are brief Annotated Ramsar List descriptions drafted by Ramsar's Sergei Dereliev.[17/03/02] [français et/y español]

Ramsar-supported project distinguished as Eco-Index Innovative Eco-Initiative of the Month. The Eco-Index, developed in the framework of the Rainforest Alliance's "The Race to Save the Neotropics" program, highlights exemplary conservation initiatives. The Neotropical Centre for Wetlands Training (Centro Neotropical de Entrenamiento en Humedales - CNEH) is dedicated to the training of professional and technical staff, decision makers, and community leaders in academic institutions, governmental organizations, non-governmental and grass-roots organizations on the management and conservation of wetlands in the Neotropics, as well as in the creation of support material and public awareness on this topic. The CNEH was kick-started in 1996 when the WWF Central American Regional Office started providing funds for its initial publications and training events. From 1998, the Centre has received additional funding from the Ramsar Convention's Wetlands for the Future Fund, which is kindly supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Dept. of State of the United States of America. More information, and version en español, right here. [15/02/03]

Australia designates six new Ramsar sites, and extends another. The Ramsar Bureau is delighted to announce that Australia has designated six new Ramsar sites and extended one of its earlier ones. Australia now has 63 Wetlands of International Importance, totaling 7,287,645 hectares - actually these new sites were added to the Ramsar List as of 21 October 2002 but are only now being presented to the wetland public as we catch up with outstanding issues following COP8 in Valencia. The splendid new sites include three coral reef Nature Reserves far out to the north and northeast of the continent, all in near-pristine condition, as well as a collection of seven watercourses on the west side of Christmas Island, "The Dales", off to the west. Another new site is the well-known Banrock Station Wetland Complex, where the Banrock Station Wines company has combined wetland rehabilitation, commercial wine-making, and education and public awareness so effectively that the company was awarded the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award at COP8 in November 2002. The sixth site is a pair of small swamps, Fivebough and Tuckerbil, settled pretty comfortably in amongst the surrounding land uses near Leeton in New South Wales, another good example of the "wise use concept".

In addition to these new sites, Environment Australia has added a tiny 45 hectares to the existing Kooragang Nature Reserve site (2,926 ha), designated for the Ramsar List back in 1984 - a small addition, but what an excellent choice, for it's the well-known Shortland Wetlands, connected to Kooragang by a wildlife corridor, the site of the pioneering Wetlands Centre, founded in 1986 with the objectives of wetland rehabilitation and educational/public awareness activities, now an innovative leader in wetland CEPA activities. Lots more detail here. [14/02/03] [français et/y español]

Ramsar CEPA materials are available for borrowing and subtle alterations. Everyone knows that all of the Ramsar Convention's materials developed as part of its Communications, Education, and Public Awareness (CEPA) programme and its contributions to World Wetlands Day are available in the Convention's three working languages, English, French, and Spanish. Perhaps less well known is the fact that many of these materials are also available in electronic formats that make them suitable for reproduction by the Parties and NGOs in other local and national languages, either in faithful copies or in fanciful adaptations or both. Here is a brief report on what materials are available, with some lively examples of new products from China, Georgia, Latvia, Thailand, and The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and who knows where next. [13/02/03]

Ramsar and IUCN host the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment board meetings. The MA is a four-year process that commenced in April 2001 and "was designed to improve the management of the world’s natural and managed ecosystems by helping to meet the needs of decision-makers and the public for peer-reviewed, policy-relevant scientific information on the condition of ecosystems, consequences of ecosystem change, and options for response". The MA Board meetings are being hosted this week by Ramsar and IUCN-The World Conservation Union in the headquarters building in Gland, Switzerland, and more information will follow as it becomes available. [12/02/03]

Now available.COP8 documents in Spanish are now ready. Only French still to be completed! Where DOES the time go?!

Djibouti joins the Convention. The Bureau is delighted to announce that UNESCO has sent notification that on 22 November 2002 Djibouti deposited its instrument of accession with the Director-General to the Convention and the 1982 Paris Protocol. The Convention will therefore enter into force for Djibouti on 22 March 2003. The 136th Party's first Ramsar site is Haramous-Loyada (3,000 hectares, 11°35'N 043°09'E), a coastal site comprising intertidal sand and mud flats, islands, sandy shores, coral reefs, and shallow marine waters extending from just south of the capital, Djibouti city, to the Somalian frontier. No fewer than seven wadis issue into the sea, favoring the creation of mini-deltas suitable for mangroves. The site meets both of the waterbird Criteria, and a number of species, both wintering and staging, can be seen; the Ile de Haramous and its satellite islets provide places for nesting, rest, and refuge for more than 70 waterbird species. The marine waters also provide habitat for Dugong dugon, and the turtles Chelonia mydas and Caretta caretta frequent Haramous. The surrounding area provides agricultural and pastoral livelihoods to a considerable human presence, and the marine parts provide fish and crustaceans to local communities. Port extensions from the nearby city, as well as over-grazing, over-collection of wood for heating, and sand extraction are viewed as potential threats, as is the progress of two alien invasive species, the common crow Corvus splendens and the "chilean mesquite" tree Prosopis chilensis. Proposals to create an ornithological reserve are in the works. [11/02/03] [français et/y español]

WATC courses on Wetland Management, Wetland Restoration. The well-known International Courses on Wetland Management and Wetland Restoration, hosted by the Wetland Advisory Training Centre in The Netherlands, will take place 19 August to 1 October 2003 and 2 June to 1 July 2003, respectively. The deadline for applications to the management course is looming, 1 March -- the 15 January deadline for the restoration course has just been extended for a bit, so there is still time, but not much. Here is more information and a chance to download PDF versions of the course brochures and application forms. [Since removed.] [10/02/03]

Les Cèvennes Biosphere Reserve gets thorough wetland atlas. The French National Park and Biosphere Reserve Les Cévennes and the Adour-Garonne Water Management Agency have just published an exhaustive wetland inventory of the Mount Lozère area in the form of an A3-format atlas, composed of a series of 1:10,000 scale maps plus an exhaustive introduction that illustrates usefully several wetland conservation aspects addressed by a number of Resolutions adopted by the Contracting Parties during their most recent Conference in Valencia, Spain (COP8). Tobias Salathé reports here. [10/02/03]

Wetkit 2003 launched in Canada.Pauline Lynch-Stewart writes to the Ramsar Forum: "The new and improved WetKit: Tools for Working with Wetlands in Canada (www.wetkit.net) was launched this week at Canada’s National Conference on Wetlands Stewardship in Ottawa. WetKit is Canada’s premier Internet site for discovering and accessing wetland information, stewardship advice and conservation technologies. The WetKit website was built by the North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Canada) in partnership with the Government of Canada, Ducks Unlimited Canada and Wildlife Habitat Canada. . . . WetKit also helps Canada to deliver our obligations under the Ramsar Convention, by sharing with the Bureau and other Contracting Parties our progress on strategic objectives of the Convention." Read more here. [10/02/03]

News from Punta de Manabique. La Fundación Mario Dary de Guatemala informa sobre los resultados finales del proyecto "Promoción de la conservación y uso racional del Humedal Punta de Manabique, Izabal, Guatemala", financiado a través del Fondo Humedales para el Futuro. El Fondo es a su vez apoyado por el Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre y el Depto. de Estado de los Estados Unidos de América. [español]. [10/02/03]

Now available. Ramsar intervention to the Ministerial Consultation segment of the UNEP Governing Council meeting.The 22nd Session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum of the United Nations Environment Programme is taking place this week, 3-7 February 2003, in Nairobi, Kenya. The Ramsar Secretary General's intervention to the Ministerial Consultation segment, 6 February, is now available here. (His address to the plenary session on 4 February is also available.) [07/01/03]

Alien invasive species in Africa's wetlands launched on 5 February. IUCN-The World Conservation Union's Eastern Africa Regional Programme took the opportunity of UNEP's Governing Council meeting currently taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, to launch a new booklet, Alien invasive species in Africa's wetlands: some threats and solutions, by Geoff Howard and Susan Matindi, on behalf of IUCN, the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, and the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP). In an incisive 16 pages, the booklet outlines the threats and costs involved in the spread of invasive species of flora and fauna through the continent's wetlands and looks in more depth at a number of the worst offenders. Read more here about the new publication and how it can be obtained. [06/02/03]

From the Ramsar Forum.Information sought on methods to improve closed river mouths. "Dear All, The Murray River in Australia is regulated by a series of locks, weirs and barrages and its water is heavily extracted for farming and industry. Thus, there are very low flows at the mouth of the river and no prospects of additional water being received. With such low flows, large volumes of sand are being deposited inside the mouth by tidal processes without being flushed out again. This area is thus silting up and the mouth is presently closed. This is significantly affecting the Ramsar listed estuary in this area (the Coorong). The government is presently dredging the mouth to re-open it, but we are not sure that this is the best way of fixing the problem. I am aware that mouth closure is a problem in other river systems as well, so I'm looking for any information people might have regarding what is being done to other rivers to re-open their mouths and any alternatives to dredging the sand out. Thanks, Joanna Oborne (DWLBC) (oborne.joanna@saugov.sa.gov.au)." [07/02/03]

WWD news. WWD at the Quoile Countryside Centre. Tracy McCoey, Environmental Educator at the Quoile Countryside Centre, has sent a number of edifying photos of the kids experimenting in the wetland and painting an astonishing mural of themselves doing it. See them here. [07/02/03]

Headline story.Ramsar addresses UNEP Governing Council on relationships among environment conventions.The 22nd Session of the Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum of the United Nations Environment Programme is taking place this week, 3-7 February 2003, in Nairobi, Kenya. Here is the Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention's address to the plenary session on 4 February. See also Earth Negotiations Bulletin, http://www.iisd.ca/linkages/unepgc/22gc/. [05/01/03]

Great art.Russian children paint wetlands.Alexey Kudryavtsev (tesi@green.tsu.ru), of the NGO Tomsk Environmental Students' Inspection (TESI), Tomsk, Western Siberia, whilst requesting Ramsar materials for this year's World Wetlands Day activities in Tomsk had the bright idea of sending along four examples of childrens' wetland art from his organization's WWD activities in 2002. Contemplate them with awe. [06/04/02]

Conservation and Wise Use of Wetlands in Guatemala. Raquel Sigüenza de Micheo (rdemicheo@guate.net), National Coordinator, OTECBIO Biosafety Project (and former Ramsar intern!) reports on the publication of the Proceedings of the I National Workshop on Training "Conservation and Wise Use of Wetlands in Guatemala", carried out with the support of CONAP (Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas), INAB-IUCN-European Union's Mangrove Project, the Neotropical Training Center (CNEH), PROARCA/Costas, the WWF Regional Office for Central America, and the Ramsar Convention Bureau. Read more here (Spanish). [06/02/03]

Raquel Sigüenza de Micheo (rdemicheo@guate.net), Coordinadora Nacional , Proyecto de Bioseguridad OTECBIO (y antigua pasante en la Oficina Ramsar) informa sobre la publicación de las Memorias del I Taller Nacional de Capacitación: "Conservación y Manejo de Humedales en Guatemala", con el apoyo de CONAP (Consejo Nacional de Areas Protegidas), el Proyecto Manglar de INAB-UICN-Unión Europea, el Centro Neotropical de Entrenamiento (CNEH), PROARCA/Costas, la Oficina Regional de WWF para Centroamérica y la Oficina de la Convención de Ramsar.

Workshop on Ichkeul Lake, Tunisia. Ichkeul is the only Ramsar site of Tunisia and one of the most important wetlands of the western Mediterranean basin, along with Camargue (France), Doñana (Spain) and El Kara (Algeria), included in the Montreux record of the Convention since 1990 (and also in the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger), due to the restriction in water supply resulting in a serious threat of change of ecological status for the lake and the surrounding marshes. A workshop was hosted 28 & 29 January 2003 by the Tunisian authorities, and specifically by ANPE (Agence Nationale de Protection de l'Environnement), the Environment Agency of the Ministry of Environment and Land Use. It was organized with financial support by UNESCO - World Heritage Centre, and technical support by IUCN-Mediterranean Office and the Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat (member of the MedWet Technical Network). The objective of the meeting was to assess the options for a sustainable future for Ichkeul, especially as regards the water regime and development potential of the surrounding region. Read the MedWet Coordinator, Spyros Kouvelis' report, with photos, here. [05/02/03]

Now available. Ramsar / UNEP workshop on Africa's wetland management strategy report.UNEP and Ramsar, with financial support from the Swiss Government, hosted a workshop in Valencia, Spain, just prior to the opening of Ramsar's COP8: "Developing further the Plan of Action to implement Africa's wetland management strategy under the Environmental Initiative of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development)", and the report of the meeting is now available on this Web site. [04/02/03]

WWD news. France: Colloquium in Lille. Under the theme "Les zones humides: connaître, évaluer, gérer, sensibiliser" (Wetlands: knowledge, valuation, management, awareness), a colloquium was organized by the Water Management Authority of the Artois-Picardie basin at the Conference Palace of Lille. This conference, in honour of World Wetlands Day, brought together more than 400 people: students, technicians, reserve managers, water engineers, administrators, local and regional councilors, and others. Here is a brief report of the proceedings. For reports of other WWD2003 activities, click here. [04/02/03]

World Wetlands Day 2003. The 7th annual World Wetlands Day took place officially yesterday, 2 February 2003, and if history is any guide, activities of all kinds were hosted by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, local site managers, friends-groups, and school classes in more than 70 nations around the world -- if not on the Sunday, then at some other day conveniently nearby or even spread out over a week. This year, as in the past, the Ramsar Bureau was pleased to be able to supply (thanks to funds from the Evian project of the Danone Group) a number of helpful materials to help whip the wetland visitors into hysteria and give them something to take away, including a new poster and background paper, a Ramsar sites brochure, a new video, and an inspirational message from the Secretary General -- all of which will have continuing uses long after the Great Day. Alas, because of the unhappily scheduled meeting of the Conference of the Parties in November and the looming Standing Committee meeting at the end of this month, the Bureau was not able to post all of the submitted WWD plans, press releases, agendae, etc., prior to WWD, but there is still some hope that we will be able to continue the tradition by posting your reports of what actually happened in your neighborhoods. World Wetlands Day enthusiasts, please do send us your reports (in electronic formats) of your activities, whether they were joyous clean-up days or solemn seminars, long or short reports, with or without photos, as you wish, and we'll do our best to post either brief summaries or the whole reports on this Web site, as we have done in the past. [03/02/03]

Now available.Ramsar Mission to the Ouse Washes. In October 2000, the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), the Ramsar Administrative Authority for the United Kingdom (now the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, DEFRA), requested the listing of the Ouse Washes Ramsar site (designated 1976; 2,469 ha; 52º29'N 000º12'E) on the "Montreux Record", the Convention's list of sites requiring priority conservation attention The Ouse Washes were created in the 17th century to store and convey flood waters by a system of sluices, pumps and embankments, but have evolved considerably since then, with a number of negative impacts. A Ramsar Advisory Mission was requested, and the Ramsar Bureau's European Coordinator Tobias Salathé invited a hydrology and river basin planning expert, Dr Roel Posthoorn of the Wetlands Advisory and Training Centre (WATC) in the Dutch Institute for Inland Water Management and Waste Water Treatment (RIZA) and an expert on floodplain and wet grassland ecology, Professor Eckhart Kuijken of the Flemish Institute for Nature Conservation, to join him in the mission. Furthermore, experts of DEFRA, the UK Environment Agency, English Nature, and several non-governmental institutions took part in the mission, which (allowing for hoof-and-mouth delays) was carried out in November 2001. Here, at long last, is the final mission report, which succinctly summarizes the problems encountered and outlines potential solutions. Ramsar Advisory Mission No. 49 report. [31/01/03]

Now available.Resolution Collectors, take heart! The English language versions of all the 7,421 (more or less) Resolutions adopted by the 8th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties have now been finalized and are available on this Web site in HTML, Word, and PDF formats -- see the Resolutions index page here. The Spanish versions have been textually finalized and many posted already, and the rest only await posting here, so a few more days may suffice. The French versions are just a wee tiny little bit behind the pace, but should be ready as well in a week or ten days. Print versions of the English and Spanish should also be coming along in a few weeks' time, with French to follow, and when all three are fully suited out and brushed down, with hair combed neatly back and collar buttoned up, a CD-ROM with all three sets of the 46 Resolutions and their annexes can be sent out into the world to make their meagre fortune -- we can hope that we'll be seeing them brightly out the door on a CD within a month or six weeks' time. Then readers can really get down to saving wetlands. [29/01/03]

Kudos.Sarah Higgins wins Animal Action Award. The Lake Naivasha Riparian Associaton of Kenya was one of the winners of the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award in 1999, and Sarah Higgins, the LNRA secretary, was in San José to receive the Award (with LNRA president Lord Enniskillen, left). Now Sarah has received the Animal Action Award for her work at Naivasha, as follows: "None of us can be unaware of the huge contributions Mike and Sarah Higgins have made to Rhino Ark's water catchment preservation initiatives in the fencing of the Aberdare National Park and Sarah's dedication to her role in helping to conserve Lake Naivasha for future generations of both animals and humans. The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) have chosen to recognise Sarah's contributions to animal welfare generally, by their award to her of the Animal Action Award for 2002. The citation states: '(the Award) is for special people who have done something outstanding for animals ... you deserve the Award because of your devotion to animal welfare ranging from your fundraising activities, wildlife rescue missions, educational efforts in Naivasha, and for the role played in a variety of wildlife associations.'" [29/01/03]

Vacancy announcement.BirdLife International seeks Web Editor for Cambridge.Rosina Abudulai, of Ramsar's partner BirdLife International in Cambridge, the UK, is seeking applications for a Web Editor position for the organization headquarters, an editorial and creative position that nonetheless would benefit from some webmaster skills with Dreamweaver and HTML. The position announcement, rather jarringly in the second person, is available right here. [link later removed] [29/01/03

New Ramsar video available for download. The new 22-minute Ramsar video, produced for World Wetlands Day by TVE in English, French, and Spanish versions (and in another without audio text so that Parties can supply their own local translations), is available in VHS formats (Pal/Secam, NTSC, etc.). It offers an introduction to the problems facing wetlands everywhere and then covers promising approaches to their solution, focusing upon case studies of recent successful efforts at Chilika Lake, Azraq Oasis, the Danube River, Banrock Station, Lake Naivasha, and the Amazon Basin. This educational programme is now also available for downloading from the IUCN's servers, and you can have it by right-clicking on one of the links below and waiting a suitable amount of time - each video file is a .MOV file (viewable with the Quicktime plug-in and other media players) that's 115 megabytes in size, so the use of a 56.6kbps modem would not be counselled, but broadband users need not fear. But IMPORTANT - do NOT left-click on the link - if you do, your browser will try to stream the file and bore you silly while it buffers. Instead, RIGHT-CLICK on the link, and then choose "Save Target As" (Microsoft IE) or "Save Link Target As" (Netscape) and save the whole film to your hard disk, then launch it later at your leisure. The image, at best resolution, fills about half an 800x600-resolution computer monitor and thus could be shown to small groups, but when projected onto a screen it remains faithful at almost any image size. The links are: English version, http://indaba.iucn.org/ramsarfilms/ramsar-video-2002-e.mov; Français, http://indaba.iucn.org/ramsarfilms/ramsar-video-2002-f.mov; Español, http://indaba.iucn.org/ramsarfilms/ramsar-video-2002-s.mov. Remember, RIGHT-CLICK. [27/01/03]

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