The Ramsar Bulletin Board, 5 September 2007

Now available. "Waterfowl in the Neotropical Region". A new 64-page publication from Ducks Unlimited, Anátidas de la Región Neotropical = Waterfowl of the Neotropical Region, by Montserrat Carbonell, Ken Kriese, and Karen Alexander, is available in PDF format from the Ducks Unlimited Web site, here. The text is bilingual in English and Spanish and beautifully illustrated, with helpful identification notes as well. [05/09/07]

Position announcement. WWF Representative - Western Melanesia. WWF, the global conservation organization, is seeking to recruit a WWF Representative - Western Melanesia, for Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. "We are looking for a highly skilled professional who will lead dynamic and dedicated teams in achieving success in our exciting programme initiatives and manage effective and efficient operating systems so to ensure conservation delivery for our Programme Office based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea." [04/09/07]

Now available. Photos from Standing Committee 35. At long last, some photographs from the 35th meeting of the Ramsar Standing Committee, which was held 14-16 February 2007 ("a long time ago"), can be seen here, and still more from the gala dinner in the evening. Photos by Ramsar's Mila Llorens. [03/09/07]

Who's Where?

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Brisbane, Australia, 2-6 September 2007, to participate in the 10th RiverSymposium and Environmental Flows Conference; then in Townsville, 7-10 September, for a forum in the series "EP3 - the third wave of Environmental Practice", celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand, and participating in an Australian government workshop on "Regional ecological character descriptions for Australia"; and then in Perth, 10-12 September, for discussions on wetlands and human health with the STRP's coordinating author consultant, Prof Phil Weinstein. [31/08/07]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is participating in a UNESCO workshop on Ramsar, World Heritage and Man and the Biosphere sites in southeastern Europe, in Ohrid, The FYR of Macedonia, 2-5 September 2007. [03/09/07]

For more old Ramsar Secretariat travel news, see also 'Who Was Where', 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007

Yesterday's News!

Former Secretary General goes to JNCC. Former Ramsar Secretary General Peter Bridgewater has been appointed as Chairman of the UK and international nature conservation advisory body the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), to begin on 1 October 2007 for a three-year tenure. [03/09/07]

Implementation of Ramsar Convention on High Andean wetlands. "We are pleased to announce the first results of our participatory monitoring programme that started in 2006 in Lake Fúquene. This monitoring team was formed with local community representatives last year to evaluate the state of this Andean ecosystem (which is also part of the HumedAndes initiative). Results of the monitoring programme will be used to propose management actions and for the development of the Management Plan of this wetland complex. Please see news about this group and its legal recognition by the Agriculture Ministry. The whole process, creation of the committee with local people, development of the participatory monitoring programme, etc. are steps in the implementaion of Ramsar Resolution IX.1 dealing with monitoring and also towards the implementation of the Ecosystem Approach for management of the CBD. The monitoring programme, and the Committee itself, have the support of national and local government." -- Lorena Franco Vidal, Fundación Humedales, Bogotá, Colombia. [30/08/07]

World Water Monitoring Day, 18 September 2007. On September 18th 2007, tens of thousands of people in an anticipated 50 countries will celebrate World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD). The event, which is organized jointly by the Water Environment Federation (www.wef.org) and the International Water Association (www.iwahq.org) aims to bring public attention to the role that the world's citizens must play in ensuring a sustainable supply of clean, usable water in each and every country. Participants will test the quality of rivers, lakes and other water bodies using a simple monitoring kit. All the water quality data from around the world is collected in the WWMD database, which provides a unique snapshot of the state of the world's water. You can take part by registering one or more monitoring sites in your area on the World Water Monitoring Day web site. Here is the announcement from the International Water Association. [29/08/07]

Position announcement. UNEP-WCMC vacancy in Biodiversity Indicators and Assessment. "Dear friends and colleagues, please see attached vacancy at UNEP-WCMC for a Senior Programme Officer to contribute to our expanding work programme on biodiversity indicators and assessment. I would welcome your assistance in forwarding these details to any high-calibre potential applicant." - from Neville Ash. Here is the announcement in PDF. [28/08/07]

Now available.Poster on Wetlands, Biodiversity, and Climate Change. Many Ramsar Contracting Parties are taking steps to cope with climate change. Ramsar's Resolution VIII.3 recognizes "the potentially important role of wetlands in adapting and mitigating climate change". The Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) is actively working again on that issue, and we look forward to sharing with you the results of this important work. As part of the STRP's work, the Secretariat in March of this year was pleased to host a joint Ramsar/CBD expert workshop on "Wetlands, Water, Biodiversity, and Climate change" in the framework of the 4th CBD/Ramsar Joint Work Plan.

One recent output of this work is an attractive and informative poster summarizing the importance and role of wetlands in climate change mitigation and adaptation. This is available in PDF format on the Ramsar Web site here, and we hope that it will be helpful to you in reinforcing partnerships on water-wetlands-biodiversity and climate change issues. Further materials developed from this workshop and the work of the STRP will become available between now and the 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in late 2008. [24/08/07]

Position announcement.BirdLife International seeks Fundraising Officer. The Fundraising Officer's job will predominately be to work with the Programme Development Manager to help identify and secure funding for the BirdLife Secretariat (both UK and overseas) and NGO Partners (as appropriate). The job will involve working with, and helping to meet, the funding needs of the BirdLife Secretariat's science and conservation work in every region of the world and working with very large and very small BirdLife Partners. There is considerable scope within this job to learn new skills and for career development. Based at BirdLife International Global Secretariat, Cambridge, UK. Closing date: 21 September 2007. Here is the announcement. [24/08/07]

Position announcement. AEWA Secretariat invites applications for a vacant post. The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat is inviting applications for the short-term post of "Consultancy: Coordinator for the Lesser White-fronted Goose Single Species Action Plan" to be based in the Agreement's Secretariat in Bonn, Germany. The closing date for submission of applications by interested candidates is 30 September 2007. For more information please go to http://www.unep-aewa.org/news/vacancy_aewa.htm. This post is being kindly sponsored by the Norwegian Directorate for Nature Management. (Sergey DERELIEV (Mr.), Technical Officer, UNEP/AEWA Secretariat, African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement, UN Campus, Bonn, Germany (sdereliev@unep.de)). [22/08/07]

WWD 2008 : Healthy Wetlands, Healthy People. The Convention's suggested theme for World Wetlands Day, 2 February 2008, is Healthy Wetlands, Healthy People, and this will also be the theme for Ramsar's 10th meeting of the Conference of the Parties in October-November 2008 in the Republic of Korea. As we approach World Wetlands Day, we have taken an opportunity to introduce to the Ramsar community, and the people you reach out to, a few key topics that exemplify both the direct, positive effects on human health of maintaining healthy wetlands - such as the provision of food, clean water, pharmaceutical products, etc. - and the direct negative effects of mismanaging wetlands that result in the impairment of our health and even the loss of life - such as through the effects of water-related diseases, burning peatlands, floods, and water pollution. Read more here about the materials that the Secretariat is preparing on these themes for you to use, free of charge, in your WWD activities.[21/08/07]

WPE4 data now available for download. The latest edition of Waterbird Population Estimates data is now available for download. Wetlands International's periodic global publication Waterbird Population Estimates (WPE) not only provides the best current knowledge of the population sizes and trends of the world's waterbirds, it is also recognised, through decisions of Ramsar COPs, as the authoritative source of 1% waterbird population thresholds for the application of Ramsar site designation Criterion 6. Ramsar's Nick Davidson explains the importance of this data and provides the links for downloading it. [20/08/07]

Job Vacancy Announcement. WWF International, Director, Freshwater.
WWF International has a new opening for an experienced Director, Freshwater for its Programme Division. The Director, Freshwater will act as a "hub" for Network conservation expertise and develop common policy positions, programmatic approaches and technical messaging. He/she will also engage with key institutions to ensure that WWF is known, respected and influential in key fora. See the announcement and job description here. Deadline 07 September 2007. [17/08/07]

From the Ramsar Forum.Australia's Fivebough & Tuckerbil Ramsar site. Mr Jamie Pittock writes: "Ramsar afficionados may recall the wonderful story of the Fivebough & Tuckerbil wetlands in New South Wales, Australia. They were designated as a Ramsar site in 2002 in place of a proposal to flood Fivebough Swamp under a recreational lake. Since then local community, industry and government agencies have formed the Fivebough & Tuckerbil Wetlands Trust, uniting the Leeton community, and undertaken one of the most exemplary cases of management and restoration and provision of visitor facilities we are likely to find with the Register of Wetlands of International Importance." Read Jamie's news of the 2007 Inland NSW Tourism Award recently given to Fivebough & Tuckerbil, and the upcoming 2nd Australian Birdfair in November. [16/08/07]

Grant opportunities. IUCN NL Ecosystem Grants Programme. "IUCN NL is happy to announce that new small grants funding deadlines are planned for 2007. Organizations will be selected on the basis of their pre-proposals to submit a full proposal. Only proposals using the IUCN NL format will be considered. On 1 September 2007 there will be a deadline for pre-proposals for South America (the Parana-Paraguay river basin). Please visit our website (http://www.iucn.nl/english/funds/egp/index.htm) on 15 July 2007 for all the detailed information, and to download formats for pre-proposals." [15/08/07]

Joint Danube Survey 2 under way. (14. August, Vienna, Austria) "The world's biggest river expedition of its kind in 2007 was launched today from Regensburg, Germany. Three ships will travel down the length (2,375 km) of the Danube River and its main tributaries to test pollution and water quality. Costing over one million euros, the entire expedition will last until late September. Known as the 'Joint Danube Survey 2 (JDS2)', the expedition has attracted the international cooperation of all Danube countries from Germany to Ukraine. Teams of national scientists will help with sampling and testing on board the ships. Many countries provided large in-kind contributions to the survey such as making available ships from Serbia (Argus) and Hungary (Széchényi)." Here is the rest of the press release from the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), the organization that is coordinating JDS2. [15/08/07]

Handbooks for the wise use of wetlands, 3rd edition. The third edition of the 17 volumes of the Ramsar Handbooks for the conservation and wise use of wetlands, incorporating all of the Convention's technical and policy guidance through to the recent COP9 in 2005, is now available here in PDF format in English, French, and Spanish versions. A CD-ROM that has all of the handbooks in all three languages is being produced now and should be ready near the first of September -- they will be available free of charge from the Secretariat, and we'll announce that when we've got them in hand. Go here. [14/08/07]

Position announcement.Consultancy: Assessment of transboundary coordination for ecosystem management and sustainable development in the Prespa Lakes Basin. The UNDP GEF Project on Transboundary Ecosystem Management of the Prespa Lakes Basin is seeking an international consultant for the above position. From the background: "The Prespa Park, established on 2 February 2000 by the Prime Ministers of Albania, Greece and the FYR of Macedonia, has been the first transboundary 'protected area' in a politically sensitive region of the Balkans. It covers the hydrological basin of Micro and Macro Prespa Lakes. Besides this trilateral designation, the effectiveness and adequacy of which is the subject of the present consultancy, the Prespa basin includes two Ramsar sites, as well as other nationally protected areas in all three countries. With the support of the Ramsar Convention and its MedWet Initiative, the trilateral Prespa Park Coordination Committee (PPCC) was established in 2001. Members of the PPCC are the representatives of the Ministries for Environment, Mayors or the Local Municipalities, and one NGO from the three countries (with strong local involvement). MedWet/Ramsar participates as an ex officio member of the PPCC with a non-voting status. The PPCC is supported by a trilateral Secretariat, consisting of the NGOs represented in the PPCC, with a seat in the office of the Society for the Protection of Prespa in Aghios Germanos, Greece."

More details are contained in the full announcement and in the Terms of Reference (PDF), as well as from the UNDP Jobs Web site. [10/08/07]

Support for the Ramsar CEPA Programme from UNEP-DELC. The United Nation's Environment Programme - Division of Environmental Law and Conventions has signed an MOU with the Ramsar Secretariat that will fund the development of a CEPA Action Planning toolkit. While this will be primarily of use to Ramsar's National CEPA Focal Points and others in Ramsar's Administrative Authorities engaged in implementing the Convention's CEPA Programme, the toolkit is intended to be of broader use for other CEPA professionals as well. The toolkit will be developed by IUCN's Learning and Leadership unit in collaboration with the Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) and through consultation with a number of Ramsar's CEPA Focal Points. The toolkit, which should be ready by December and available online, will complement a CEPA toolkit developed by CEC for the Convention on Biological Diversity earlier this year. [08/08/07]

Reminder.Applications invited for MedWet Coordinator. Applications are invited for the position of Coordinator, Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative (MedWet), to be based in the MedWet Secretariat in Kifissia, Athens, Greece. It is initially a three-year position, renewable, to begin as soon as possible after 1 October 2007, and the deadline for applications is 15 August 2007. The full announcement is available here in PDF format. [06/08/07]

Message from the new Secretary General. Mr Anada Tiéga is officially taking up his post as Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention, and in his first message to the Ramsar community he presents the challenges and opportunities ahead and expresses his belief that through openness, teamwork, and good will we can achieve some remarkable things in the years ahead. A native of Niger, Anada first came to Ramsar in the late 1990s from his post as IUCN's Regional Coordinator for West Africa, and he served for nearly six years as our "Regional Coordinator" for Africa (now called Senior Advisor for Africa). He went on to serve as Project Manager for the GEF project "Reversal of Land and Water Degradation Trends in the Lake Chad Basin Ecosystem", and has now come back to us in the role of the Convention's fourth Secretary General. Anada's message is here, and the Chair of the Standing Committee's announcement of Anada's appointment, 7 May 2007, is here. [03/08/07]

Colloque International "Tourbe et tourbières 2007" / International Conference "Peat and Peatlands 2007". The French Mire Resource Centre is collaborating with the University of Franche-Comté, the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG), the International Peat Society (IPS) and the Groupe d'Etude des Tourbières (GET) to gather scientists, technicians producers and distributors, public bodies and charities for an international conference on peat and peatlands in the French Upper Jura, 8-11 October 2007, in Lamoura, France. The conference will analyse the situation in Europe, thinking about possible scenarios for the future and the way to a better protection of peatlands: the specific theme will be "Peat in horticulture and the rehabilitation of mires after peat extraction" ("La tourbe en horticulture et la réhabilitation des tourbières après exploitation"). Interpretation in French and English will be offered. The brochure can be found here, and the programme of the conference and excursions can be downloaded from: http://www.pole-tourbieres.org. [06/08/07]

Vacancy announcement. HOORC Okavango Research Centre in Botswana. The Harry Oppenheimer Okavango Research Centre (HOORC) in Maun is seeking applications for the positions of Director and Deputy Directory. The closing date for applications is 31 August 2007. Both position announcements can be found here (PDF). [06/08/07]

Swiss Grant for Africa.Inventory of wetlands in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Ramsar Convention, under the Swiss Grants for Africa programme financed by the government of Switzerland, is helping to coordinate and fund projects aimed at sustainable use and management of wetland resources in the Congo basin. A new project just beginning involves the inventory and mapping of wetlands in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the main project executors are the WWF-DRC office, a team from WWF-US, the DRC Ministry of Environment and Nature Conservation, and the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation, supported with technical input from the European Space Agency (ESA) and OSFAC (Satellite Observatories for Central African Forests) for the production of maps. Ramsar's Evelyn Moloko Parh provides more detail here. [01/08/07]

Message from departing Secretary General. As Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General of the Convention for the past four years, hands off to his successor, Mr Anada Tiéga, at the end of July 2007, he provides this valedictory message, reflecting briefly on the recent past and the way forward. [02/08/07]

Now available.IV Pan American Regional Meeting of the Convention on Wetlands. The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and the Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) are organizing the IV Pan American Regional Meeting of the Convention on Wetlands to take place in Merida, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela from 18-21 September 2007. The meeting will be held in preparation for the 10th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP10), which will take place in Changwon, Republic of Korea, in 2008. Descriptive information and forms are available here in Spanish and English. [26/07/07]

Lessons learnt from recent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. New guidance from the Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza has summarised practical lessons learnt from outbreaks of infection by highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. A recent workshop brought together a wide range of international experience in dealing with different aspects of H5N1 infections. The conclusions and recommendations (PDF) from that meeting contain much useful guidance, as called for by Ramsar COP9's Resolution IX.23 on avian influenza. The meeting condemned the continued misplaced practice of actively killing wild birds and destroying their nest sites and wetland habitats in response to, or in avoidance of, infection within a country, a practice which is contrary to the recommendations of many international bodies including the Ramsar Convention. Such approaches to the prevention or control of avian influenza are wasteful, damaging to conservation, and have no scientific basis. They may also exacerbate the problem by causing further dispersion of infected birds. The STRP's David Stroud provides further details here. [25/07/07]

Wetlands, poverty reduction and sustainable tourism development. Tourism is a principal source of income for 83% of the developing countries; wetlands like coasts, rivers and lakes play a vital part in this success. The development of tourism is increasingly considered as a solution to poverty in wetland areas, but there are threats as well as opportunities. To address these issues, Wetlands International is launching the brochure 'Wetlands, poverty reduction and sustainable tourism development' in English, French and Spanish, developed through cooperation between Wetlands International, IUCN Netherlands Committee (IUCN NL), the Dutch development organisation Cordaid, the travel organization TUI Nederland, the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention, and the Tourism & Environment Group of the Wageningen University and Research Centre. Together these organisations, along with many others, support the wise use and conservation of wetlands and the alleviation of poverty, through - among other means - the development of tourism.

Wetlands International's press release, and links to download the pdf files, can be found here. [24/07/07]

White Gold - the Salt of the Langobards. Ms Lucilla Previati, director of the Po Delta Park (Parco del Delta del Po) in Italy (Emilia-Romagna Region), informs that they have launched a new product, historically known as "white gold", i.e. finest sea salt produced according to traditional processes (using essentially solar energy) in the near-natural salt pans of Comacchio at the Adriatic Sea. The brand name "Salt of the Langobards" harbours proudly the Ramsar logo, based on the fact that the saltworks are part of the Ramsar site "Valli residue del comprensorio di Comacchio", i.e. the remnants of an extensive complex of coastal lagoons and marshes drained in the 19th century for agriculture. Ramsar's Tobias Salathé provides the details. [23/07/07]

National wetlands strategy for Benin. The Benin government, through the Benin Environmental Agency of the Ministry of Environment, Habitat and Town Planning, has updated her National Strategy for Wetlands Management (NSWM) in Benin, aimed at the wise use of wetlands towards the reduction of poverty. The vision of Benin's NSWM is to ensure that by the year 2025, wetlands are habitable environments, endowed with natural resources necessary to fight against poverty at national level and contributing towards biodiversity conservation at the global level. Abou Bamba and Evelyn Moloko Parh, Ramsar's regional team for Africa, provide the details here. [23/07/07]

Database on Mali's wetlands. The Department of Nature Conservation of the Ministry of Equipment, Land-Use and Environment (the Ramsar Administrative Authority in Mali) recently developed the first version of the database on Mali's wetlands, in accordance Resolution VII.20 (1999) which encouraged Contracting Parties to give high priority to the compilation of comprehensive national wetlands inventories which would provide sufficient data for related activities such as policy development and wetland designations.This first version is up and running but will continue to be developed further for some time. Ramsar's Evelyn Moloko Parh provides the background, further details, and the link to the new Web site. [18/07/07]

Gratitude.STRP questionnaire on Ramsar guidance. The Ramsar Secretariat and the Chair of Ramsar's Scientific and Technical Review Panel express their thanks to the many people who have taken the time to complete the questionnaire on "Ramsar guidance: an evaluation of use and utility". All questionnaires received by 18th July 2007 will be included in the analysis by our consultant, and a final report will be sent to all respondents and made broadly available via the Ramsar Web site and mailing lists. [18/07/07]

Peru names high-altitude lagoons. The government of Peru has designated a complex of high Andean lagoons and ponds as its 12th Wetland of International Importance. As summarized by Ramsar's Mila Llorens,Lagunas Las Arreviatadas(1,250 hectares, 05°14'S 79°17'W) is a Santuario Nacional in Cajamarca Department, a paramo wetland complex, located in the austral region of the Northern Andes Ecoregional Complex and Northwest Peru. It contains 4 main high Andean lagoons of glacial origin and a series of small lagoons and minor ponds, surrounded by peaks of more than 4,000 m of altitude. It is habitat for many vulnerable or endangered species, such as the Andean tapir (Tapirus pinchaque), the little red brocket deer (Mazama rufina) and the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus), an emblematic species of the Andes, as well as the golden-plumed parakeet (Leptosittaca branickii) and the red-faced parrot (Hapalopsittaca pyrrhops). Two endemic botanical species Calceolaria rhododendroides and Halenia bella have been found in the site, as well as 23 species of endemic birds for the country, 4 for the region, and a new bird species for the country: Anas andinum. The site assists in regulation of the local climate and promotes other hydrological processes, including aquifer recharge, capture and storage of pluvial water and permanent water supply for the water courses that go down to the floor of the valleys of the region. To date, there are no threats affecting this area. It is considered under category III (Natural Monument) of IUCN Protected Area categories.

Ramsar capacity building for francophone Africa. The Ramsar Convention, in collaboration with the French Government through ATEN ("Ateliers Techniques des Espaces Naturels", a department in the French Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development), has completed the first draft of the training module for Ramsar National Focal Points (NFPs, "Administrative Authorities") and National Wetland Committees (NWCs) in French, entitled Programme de Renforcement des Capacités des Pays Francophones d'Afrique pour la mise en œuvre de la Convention Ramsar. This module targets Ramsar Contracting Parties in French-speaking Africa (Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Morocco, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Togo, and Tunisia) but would be extendable to other countries, regions and conventions. Ramsar's Assistant Advisor for Africa, Evelyn Moloko, explains the purpose and progress of the venture and gives due credit to our collaborators. [17/07/07]

Applications invited for MedWet Coordinator. Applications are invited for the position of Coordinator, Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative (MedWet), to be based in the MedWet Secretariat in Kifissia, Athens, Greece. MedWet is guided by the Mediterranean Wetlands Committee (MedWet/Com), which brings together 26 governments from the region, the Palestinian Authority, the European Commission, the Barcelona and Berne Conventions, as well as international NGOs and Mediterranean wetland centres, and the Coordinator is responsible to the MedWet/Com and the Steering Group. It is initially a three-year position, renewable, to begin as soon as possible after 1 October 2007, and the deadline for applications is 15 August 2007. The full announcement is available here in PDF format. [11/07/07]

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 ).