The Ramsar Bulletin Board, 3 May 2004

Headline story.Nordic Wetland Conservation. The Nordic Council of Ministers has recently published an excellent, well-illustrated 176-page book entitled Nordic Wetland Conservation, covering 30 years of conservation experience in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden and including self-governing territories like Greenland, Åland, and the Faeroes. Available from bookstores in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and English versions, it provides superb coverage of the general wetland issues, the wise use concept, the Ramsar Convention and other international regimes, and the status of wetlands in each of the Nordic countries. The back cover offers the following brief description: "Conservation of wetlands has formed an important part of the Nordic nature conservation effort, particularly in the last 30 years. This work by the Nordic countries has been closely linked with the task of fulfilling their obligations as signatories of the Ramsar Convention and, as regards the nations that are EU members, the requirements of the more recent Birds and Habitat Directives. . . . This report attempts to sum up the status of wetland conservation in the Nordic region after 30 years. It also points out a number of unfulfilled tasks and makes recommendations for how the work should proceed in the years ahead." A brief review, with illustrations and reprints of the prefaces and recommendations, and with ordering information, can be seen here. [01/05/04]

Headline story. Nordic Wetland Conservation bis. On a related note, on Monday, 3 May 2004, the "Nordic Wetland Conference & Ramsar Meeting" will convene in Ørlandet, Norway, with plenary sessions on the 4th and 5th of May, a field excursion on the 6th, and a brief closing summary on the 7th. Subjects for discussion include overviews of wetland conservation in the region (including the launch of the book cited just above) and of the work of Ramsar, the CBD, CMS and AEWA, and Wetlands International, followed by country reports on Ramsar Sites conservation and case studies of individual sites and projects in the Nordic and Baltic regions. The conference will be chaired by Finn Katerås and will feature among the speakers Tobias Salathé, Torsten Larsson, Gunn Paulsen, Øystein Størkersen, Gisli Már Gislason, Tatiana Minaeva, and many other wetland and Ramsar-related experts. Tobias Salathé will provide an enlightening report when he returns, and in the meantime here is the agenda and programme (PDF). [01/05/04]

Headline story. Cooperation for water resources management. At a 27 April side event at the 12th meeting of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, New York, USA, co-organized by the Swiss Agency of Environment, Forests and Landscape, the Japanese Ministry of Environment, and the Ramsar Convention, and chaired by IUCN's Director General Achim Steiner, the focus was upon the need to have an integrated international approach to managing the world's scarce water resources. Following presentations by Ambassador Beat Nobs (left) of Switzerland and Mr Tomohiro Shishima of Japan on experiences in their countries, Peter Bridgewater, Ramsar's Secretary General, emphasized the unique and lengthy experience the Convention has had with cooperation on water resources management. Here is Sebastià Semene's brief illustrated report on the side event and his media release in PDF format. [29/04/04]

Who's where? 

Nearly all of the Secretariat staff are at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva today, 3 May, for a briefing session on Ramsar issues for representatives of the permanent missions to the United Nations. [03/05/04]

Spyros Kouvelis, the MedWet Coordinator, is in Brezovica, Slovakia, 28 April, at the invitation of the Carpathian Wetland Initiative project, to make two presentations on Thursday about Resolution VIII.30 on regional initiatives and the history and work of MedWet. On Monday, 3 May, he will be in Paris, France, to participate in the Regional Steering Committee meeting of the MedWet/Coast project. [28/04/04]

Yesterday's News!

SWS Ramsar Grants for 2004. The Society of Wetland Scientists' Ramsar Support Grant Programme was established in 1999 to help advance the Convention's objectives in the developing world, and since that time some 18 grants, totaling US$ 90,000 have been made with funding assistance from the Society and the US Fish and Wildlife Services. The grants for the 2004 cycle have just been announced by Eric Gilman, the grant programme manager, and the winners are Ms Thu Hue Nguyen for work at the Xuan Thuy National Park Ramsar Site in Viet Nam; Mr Carlos Bento and Dr Richard Beilfuss for work in Mozambique's Marromeu Complex of the Zambezi Delta; and Mr Alvin Lopez in order to provide assistance for the accession of Lao PDR to the Convention. The details are available here. [26/04/04]

Ramsar participates in GEF lake basin steering committee. At the World Bank in Washington, USA, 22-23 April 2004, Secretary General Peter Bridgewater and Sebastià Semene Guitart participated in the second Steering Committee meeting for the Global Environment Facility medium-size project entitled Towards a Lake Basin Management Initiative. The project is designed to draw together global expertise on the management of lakes, in a lake basin context, and to produce a report which can act as guidelines and future support for all interested in the subject of lake basin management. It is to be based on the experiences gained and lessons learned from some 28 GEF projects on lakes, and will provide more general experience and advice from practitioners, covering a range of subjects from the natural and social science bases needed, through policy development, CEPA and management interventions. Here is Sebastià's brief report on the results. [27/04/04]

From the Ramsar Forum: Netherlands-based aid contacts.

Côte d'Ivoire names National Ramsar Committee. In response to Recommendation 5.13 of Ramsar COP5, Kushiro, Japan, 9-16 June 1993, the government of Côte d'Ivoire has just established its National Ramsar Committee - by Ministerial Decree no. 00336/MINEF/CAB, 19 April 2004, the Ministry of Water and Forests has nominated the new members who include, in addition to government authorities, researchers, university professors, government organizations and NGO representatives with different qualifications in the field of wetland management and who have taken up their new responsibilities from the date the decree was signed. The committee will work on the designation of new Ramsar Sites, preparation of an inventory of the wetlands in Côte d'Ivoire, and reactivation of the Convention's implementation in the country. The Ramsar Secretariat urges other Parties that have not yet established their National Wetlands/Ramsar Committees to do so soon, as they are useful tools for facilitating the implementation of the Convention at the national level. [26/04/04]

Ramsar at the CSD12. The 12th meeting of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development is taking place 14-30 April 2004, and Ramsar's Sebastià Semene here reviews the Ramsar presence there, including a side event on the International Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership, a private sector partnership in which Ramsar is a participant; the Secretary General's address to the plenary session; IUCN's "Environmental Flows for Sustainable Development" side event; and a look ahead to a special event co-organized by the Ramsar Convention, the Swiss Confederation, and the Ministry of Environment of Japan to take place on 27 April. Here is his brief report. [22/04/04]

Now available. Draft agenda for Ramsar COP9. The Ninth Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties is scheduled to be held in Kampala, Uganda, 7-15 November 2005. A provisional draft agenda is being sent to the Parties this week by diplomatic note in English, French, and Spanish for their general information -- further developments will be noted in future revisions of the document as the COP planning progresses. The English version is available here. [23/04/04]

New report on Venice Lagoon. "The Lagoon of Venice as a Ramsar Site" is the title of a 63-page illustrated report prepared by Ramsar experts Michael Smart and María José Viñals, now published by the Province of Venice in Italian and English. As a follow-up to last year's seminar "Ramsar meets Venice" (cf. our short report, also providing an introduction to the Lagoon and its values: www.ramsar.org/mtg_venice_2003.htm), Asessora Delia Murer of the Provincial Government, in charge of Hunting, Fishing and the Provincial Police, presented the document to the media on a fishing boat during a trip in the northern part of Venice Lagoon on 14 April 2004, followed by a rich tasting of the Lagoon's varied food products in a fishermens' hut near Mazzorbo island. Here is Tobias Salathé's report on the launch and lunch and a reprint of the English version can be read here. [21/04/04]

Mongolia names five new Ramsar Sites. The Ramsar Secretariat is extremely pleased to announce that Mongolia has designated five new Wetlands of International Importance, covering nearly 809,000 ha, bringing the number of Ramsar Wetlands in the country to eleven. The nominations and Ramsar data sheets were prepared with the help of WWF Mongolia as part of a project co-funded by the Ramsar Small Grants Fund jointly with the WWF International 'Living Waters Programme'. Mongolia, which joined the Convention on Wetlands in 1998, now has 11 Ramsar Sites covering a surface area of 1,439,530 hectares. Ms Liazzat Rabbiosi of the Ramsar Secretariat has prepared brief site descriptions based on the Ramsar Information Sheets submitted by the Administrative Authority in Mongolia, the Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Nature and Environment, from research by B. Ouyngerel and N. Tseveenmyadag of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and Batnasan N., Freshwater Officer for the WWF Mongolia Programme Office. Liazzat's brief site descriptions are accompanied by some very beautiful photographs as well, so click here at once. [15/04/04]

"Edinburgh Declaration" available now.The recent global flyways conference "Waterbirds around the World" (Edinburgh, UK, 3-8 April 2004), organised by Wetlands International and the governments of the UK and the Netherlands, was one of the largest gatherings ever on the topic, with 456 waterbird scientists and wetland and waterbird conservation practitioners from 90 countries worldwide, and with the Ramsar Convention represented by the Deputy Secretary General. It provided a major opportunity to review the (generally declining) status of waterbirds in the light of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development and its 2010 biodiversity target. A first key output of the conference is "The Edinburgh Declaration", developed by participants during the meeting. This highlights the perilous state of many of the world's waterbirds, recognising that this is driven by the continuing decline in the quality and extent of the world's wetlands, and sets a agenda for urgent and collaborative national and international action on wetlands and waterbirds, including through implementation of the Ramsar Convention. The Declaration is reproduced here, and further outputs from the conference will be a Conference Summary (due later in 2004) and a two-volume set of conference proceedings (in 2006). [13/04/04]

Ramsar List updates. The United Kingdom has completed a review of its structure of Ramsar Sites and consolidated some which had formerly been counted as separate sites for legal reasons -- this process reduces the UK's and global totals by 11 formerly distinct RSs and 12,129 hectares, with no loss of actual wetland area covered. Similarly, Switzerland has restudied its 8 Ramsar Sites and submitted revised RISs, including several changes in the names of RSs and the correction of a surface area of the Rive sud du lac de Neuchâtel from 3,063ha to 1,705ha. [14/04/04]

Riversymposium 2004, Brisbane, set for late August. "Threats to Sustainable River Systems - beating the odds" is the theme of the 7th International River Management Symposium, 31 August - 3 September 2004 in Brisbane, Australia, part of the annual Brisbane Riverfestival. The traditional International Riversymposium celebrates the ecological and social value of rivers by examining world's best practice in river and watershed management and providing an international forum for science, research, management and policy development. "Since its inception in 1998, Riversymposium has established itself as one of the premier events on both the Australian and international calendar for river basin managers and policy makers. By facilitating solid partnerships between key stakeholders, Riversymposium has become a major forum for river and watershed management. Through river management case studies, presentations by keynote and other speakers, plus the awarding of the International and National Thiess Riverprize, Riversymposium provides an opportunity to celebrate and focus on rivers throughout the world." To learn more, visit the Riverfestival Web site. [12/04/04]

Closer cooperation between Ramsar and the Danube Commission. The Danube Commission (ICPDR) established for the period 2001-2004 an Ecological Expert Group - ECO EG (cf. our earlier report on the group's earlier meeting in Bavaria, which also supplies some background on the Danube Convention). The ECO EG met on 22-23 March 2004 in the South Moravian city of Brno (Czech Republic) to review the progress of its work before the 7th ICPDR COP and Ministerial Conference to be held in Vienna, 13-14 December 2004, and begin planning its future tasks and responsibilities for the period 2005 and beyond. Austria proposed to reinforce cooperation with the Ramsar Convention, notably in view of Ramsar issues to be fed into the Joint Action Programme of the Danube river basin states - a very interesting proposal that will be explored in more detail during the upcoming meeting of the ECO EG, scheduled for 6-7 September 2004 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Here is Tobias Salathé's brief but rewarding report of the ECO EG meeting and its context, with some very good photographs to go along with it. [08/04/04]

STRP midterm workshops set for July 2004. As laid down by Ramsar COP8 in its "modus operandi" for the Convention's Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP), in the triennium 2003-2005 the Panel would meet only twice as a body, instead of annually, with the possibility of "midterm workshops" for those Working Groups whose work would require them. Now Max Finlayson, Chair of the STRP, and Nick Davidson, the Secretariat's STRP focal point, have announced that arrangements have successfully been made to hold 1- and 1½-day workshops for the four Working Groups that will benefit most from them, to be held sequentially at Wetlands International in Wageningen, The Netherlands, 20-24 July 2004, just before the 7th INTECOL International Wetlands Conference scheduled for nearby Utrecht 25-30 July. Here is the announcement from Max and Nick with further details and the particulars about each of the four Working Groups. [07/04/04]

Flyways Conference update.News from Edinburgh. A press release from the conference organizers emphasizes the threats of climate change to waterbird populations and is reproduced here. In a side event on 5 April, Wetlands International launched the publication of the Asian Waterbird Census (following story) by presenting a hardcopy and CD-ROM version to Nick Davidson, Ramsar's Deputy Secretary General, and in the evening of 5 April a new three-way Joint Work Plan was signed by Nick, representing the Ramsar Convention, Arnulf Müller-Helmbrecht representing the Convention on Migratory Species, and Bert Lenten of the CMS's AEWA Agreement -- an earlier draft version of this new JWP was viewed with interest by the Parties at Ramsar's COP8 in November 2002, and the final agreed text ought to be coming here in the next day or two. [06/04/04]

Launch of Asian Waterbird Census 1997-2001. The Asian Waterbird Census, organized by Wetlands International, takes place annually in January and is carried out by volunteers interested in collecting information on waterbirds and wetlands as a basis for contributing to their conservation. Since it began in 1987, the AWC has covered more than 5,700 wetlands in 25 countries, and the publication edited by David Li Zuo Wei and Taej Mundkur and launched at the Global Flyways Conference on 4 April 2004 summarizes the results of counts from 1,392 sites in 22 countries, including 61 Ramsar Sites. The AWC is a vital part of the assembly of data for the global Waterbird Population Estimates, regularly published by Wetlands International and now in its 3rd edition, which are used by Ramsar Contracting Parties to evaluate potential Ramsar Sites according for Criteria 5 and 6 for designating Wetlands of International Importance (Resolution VIII.38). The 166-page softcover publication is available from the Natural History Book Service, http://www.nhbs.co.uk, and perhaps available for PDF download soon as well (to be confirmed). Here you will find a reprint of the Foreword by Ramsar's Secretary General, Peter Bridgewater, and the Summary of results and here is a press release from WI. [06/04/04]

From the Ramsar Forum.Performance standards for wetland restoration. Dr Bill Streever, who as an expert adviser to the Ramsar STRP developed the Convention's mini-Web site on wetland restoration in 2001, writes: "During the Society of Wetlands Scientists (SWS) conference in Seattle, Washington, 18-23 July 2004, we will be holding a workshop on wetland restoration performance standards. . . . In preparation for this workshop, I am looking for examples of performance standards that have been proposed or used on actual wetland restoration projects." Please read Bill's message to the Forum and respond if you can. [06/04/04]

Global Flyways Conference under way. "Waterbirds Around the World" is the title of the Global Flyways Conference 2004 ("A global review of the conservation, management and research of the world's major flyways") that has just got under way in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK, 3-8 April 2004. The conference has been organized by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Wetlands International, and the Governments of the UK and the Netherlands, and here is the first press release from the SNH, on the subject of waterbird declines. Ramsar's Deputy Secretary General, Nick Davidson, with David Stroud of JNCC, made a plenary presentation on 4 April on African-Eurasian flyways ("current knowledge, status, and future challenges") and that is available here as well. More news will follow: the launch of the Asian Waterbird Census 1997-2001, the signing of a Joint Work Plan among Ramsar, CMS, and AEWA, and what not else. Background documentation on the conference is available from the Web site of Wetlands International. [05/04/04]

Now available.Nordic Ramsar meeting programme. The Nordic Wetland Conference and Ramsar Meeting is scheduled for 4-7 May 2004 in Norway, and the applications deadline is 8 April. The tentative programme is available right here in PDF format. [05/04/04]

Updated information. China Peat Workshop, July 2004. New information about the International Workshop on Peatland Conservation and Sustainable Use has been sent by David Lee of the Global Environment Centre. Here is the third announcement as updated, with some photographs. [05/04/04]

From the Ramsar Forum.Incentives for constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment. From Svetoslav Apostolov (spapostolov@hotmail.com): "Dear all, I am doing my MSc thesis based on review of possibility to use constructed (man-made) wetlands for treatment of wastewater in Bulgaria, where this technique is still at the feasibility studies and pilot projects level. In that relation, I am now looking for information on all kind of incentives designed especially to encourage the use (where appropriate) of constructed wetlands for treatment of wastewater in favour of the classical wastewater treatment plants. Looking forward to any information you'd find relevant and worth sharing! All contributions to the thesis will be acknowledged, and all sources of information will be referenced! Thank you in advance and apologies for any possible cross-mailing! Svetoslav Apostolov, MS, Environmental Sciences and Policy Dept., Central European University, Nador u. 9, H-1051 Budapest, Hungary." [05/04/04]

MedWet Unit seeks new Communications Officer. The MedWet Initiative is a long-term collaborative effort under the Ramsar Convention for the conservation of Mediterranean wetlands. The MedWet Coordination Unit (based in Kifissia, Athens, Greece), an outposted unit of the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, announces the position vacancy (full-time) of the MedWet Communications Officer. The MedWet Coordination Unit collaborates closely with the expert wetland centres around the Mediterranean that make up the MedWet Team, in order to develop and implement the programme of activities of MedWet. The terms of reference are available here -- the deadline for applications is 24 April 2004 with a starting date of June 2004. [02/04/04]

WetKit Ramsar launched in Canada. Wetkit Ramsar is a brand new Web site designed to help Canadians find information and resources on the Ramsar Convention and their own Wetlands of International Importance. This extremely attractive and well-organized site provides resources for learning about wetlands and wetland conservation; for nominating a Ramsar site; for managing wetlands in a sustainable manner; and for assessing Canada`s progress on the Ramsar Convention. WetKit Ramsar is supported by the Canadian Wildlife Service of Environment Canada, the North American Wetlands Conservation Council (Canada), and Ducks Unlimited Canada, and is a subset of the popular WetKit Web site. Here is the announcement. [02/04/04]

UK designates salt lake on Cyprus. The Ramsar Secretariat is extremely pleased to announce that the United Kingdom has designated as it latest Wetland of International Importance a salt lake and associated marsh located within its Sovereign Base Area of the Royal Air Force on the Akrotiri Peninsula in southernmost Cyprus. "Akrotiri" (2,171 hectares; 34°37'N 032°58'E), also an Important Bird Area, is being added to the Ramsar List today but its designation is effective as of a year ago, 20 March 2003, because of some minor technicalities in sorting out the RIS data for the site. Ramsar's Assistant Advisor for Europe, Estelle Gironnet, has prepared a succinct description of the site based upon the RIS information provided by the UK's Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), right here. In addition, in June 2002 the Senior Advisor for Europe, Dr Tobias Salathé, was invited to visit Akrotiri and advise the authorities and local NGOs and stakeholders on its conservation and wise use, and his report on that visit can also be viewed here. [01/04/04]

Now available.Ramsar intervention at Global Ministerial Environment Forum. UNEP's Global Ministerial Environment Forum has been taking place in Jeju, Republic of Korea, in recent days, and Ramsar's Secretary General, Peter Bridgewater, made a number of contributions to the discussions, including this intervention on Ramsar and emerging water issues. [01/04/04]

From the Ramsar Forum, 31 March 2004:Preliminary results of the WWF waterbird survey of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China, from Mark Barter; The third "Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration" training workshop will be held in Florida, USA, 21-24 February 2005, from R. R. Lewis. [01/04//04]

Ramsar visit to Uganda to scope out COP9 preparations. In mid-March 2004, a Ramsar team of three -- Peter Bridgewater, the Secretary General, Abou Bamba, the Senior Advisor for Africa, and Sebastià Semene -- visited Kampala in order to liaison with Ugandan government officials and wetlands staff on the progress of the preparations for the 9th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, scheduled for mid-November 2005, and to assess the planned facilities in light of the past COP exigencies, which are many and varied. The Ramsar team came away profoundly cheered by the level of COP-enthusiasm in all the people they met and confident that suitable facilities will be readied for the occasion. With the help and prior planning of Paul Mafabi, Assistant Commissioner for Wetlands and for many years our 'daily contact' in the Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment, Dr Bridgewater's team had the opportunity to view the prospective facilities, take part in delayed World Wetlands Day celebrations, meet ministers, hold press conferences, and liaison with the in-country COP team, and promulgate a "media release". It's all here. [31/03/04]

Spotlight on the Evian Project. Since early 1998, the private-sector Danone Group has devoted considerable sums of money to assisting the Ramsar Convention in achieving our common goals for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands and water resources. Dedicated principally to capacity-building and outreach activities, Evian Project funds have been instrumental in holding training and awareness workshops all over the world, facilitating the setting up of Ramsar information centres, producing communications and CEPA materials for the Convention (including our leaflets, our magnificent exhibition, and most of our World Wetlands Day materials provided free to the public), and ... and ... and too many more things to mention here. An additional protocol signed in Paris on 22 March 2004 will provide matching funds for the WWF Living Waters Programme in the pursuit of Ramsar objectives in the Andean paramos region, the Niger River Basin, the wetlands of the Himalayas, and the Mekong River Basin. For the occasion of that ceremonial signing, Christophe Lefebvre produced a succinct PowerPoint summarizing the achievements of the Evian Project over the past six years, and you may view that here (in French, English to follow) as a Web page. And further to honor the occasion, we've revised our introductory page on the Evian Project to gather as much of our disparate material into one place as can conveniently be done without having to hire a consultant. [30/03/04]

Now available. Mangroves and the Ramsar Convention. In the burgeoning series of indexes -- "burgeoning" is not too strong a word! -- to Ramsar and other materials on "under-represented wetland types in the Ramsar List", another bud, leaf, or sprout has newly emerged, to wit, mangroves. Mangrove swamps are forested intertidal ecosystems that occupy sediment-rich sheltered tropical coastal environments, occurring from about 32ºN (Bermuda) to almost 39ºS (Victoria, Australia), and are represented in the Ramsar Classification Scheme chiefly by Wetland Type I ("Intertidal forested wetlands; includes mangrove swamps, nipah swamps and tidal freshwater swamp forests"). Mangroves join coral reefs and peatlands in our under-represented indexes, and may soon be followed by wet grasslands, seagrasses, mountain wetlands, temporary pools, and what not else. Each index page provides links to 1) relevant Ramsar Resolutions, Recommendations, and guidance documents; 2) pertinent and up-to-date external Web resources; 3) related news stories and background materials on the Ramsar Web site; 4) up-to-date lists of Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance that have that wetland type as its dominant wetland type or significantly present within the site (in PDF format, exported from the Ramsar Sites Database at Wetlands International); and 5) related Ramsar background documents on our Web site. These index pages are meant to be dynamic and we earnestly solicit readers' suggestions for additional links, especially to high-quality external Web resources. Here is the new mangrove page and here is the general under-represented wetland types index. [28/03/04]

Now available and more soon.New Zealand symposium on wetland restoration - results are coming in. In early February, Dr Philippe Gerbeaux (pgerbeaux@doc.govt.nz), New Zealand's Ramsar STRP National Focal Point based in the West Coast Conservancy, Department of Conservation, in Hokitika, informed us of the forthcoming the National Wetland Symposium "Restoring Wetlands - a practical forum", Wellington, New Zealand, 27-28 February 2004. The Symposium was "intended to be a highly practical, participant driven, forum for knowledge exchange, training and networking for landowners, iwi, people committed to wetland biodiversity, local government staff and wetland scientists", with details here. Now Philippe writes: "Melanie Dixon from Greater Wellington Regional Council, one of the organisers, has just sent me a notice that information on presentations made at the Forum had started to be loaded on http://www.biocommunity.org.nz/detail.php?ar_id=197. More will be loaded in the near future but for those interested they can already open the link and read a few interesting items. It would be great to put another article on your Ramsar News (with the link) when you can." [29/03/04]

Now available."NigerWet" recommendations from the Mopti workshop.A Ramsar Network for Niger River Basin: "Atelier sur l'Établissement d'un Réseau de Sites Ramsar dans le Bassin du fleuve Niger", a workshop supported by local and national authorities of Mali, the Ramsar Convention, WWF's Living Waters Programme, and the Danone Evian Project, took place in late January 2004 in Mopti, Mali, on the shores of the Niger River. Amongst the significant conclusions of the meeting was a recommendation to begin work on creating a NigerWet regional wetland initiative for the Niger Basin nations, modeled on the Ramsar Convention's MedWet regional initiative. Here you may see the Report of the workshop (in French only), the Recommendations (in French so far, but English to follow, we're told), the List of Participants (in PDF), and a page of photos of the participants with and without fish and stranded on the associated field trip with an overheated automobile engine. [26/03/04]

More to follow. Watch this space. Feedback and suggestions are welcome to: the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ramsar@ramsar.org). Updated regularly by Dwight Peck, Ramsar Secretariat.