The Ramsar Bulletin Board, 10 January 2007

Headline story.Start of 40th annual worldwide waterbird count.Next weekend, 15,000 voluntary expert observers in more than 100 countries around the world go into the field to count waterbirds. The fieldwork that starts this weekend is known as the International Waterbird Census (IWC). It has been running since 1967 and is coordinated by the NGO Wetlands International. The count is the source of information about the global status of waterbirds and possible changes in populations. Today's press release from Wetlands International has all the details. [10/01/07]

Now available. Agenda papers for Standing Committee 35. The Ramsar Standing Committee will be meeting in Gland, Switzerland, 14 to 16 February 2007, with Subgroup meetings beginning on the 12th. About half of the agenda documentation is now available and can be seen here, and the remaining papers will be posted in early January. [20/12/06]

Reminders: Applications are invited until 12 January 2007 for the position of Secretary General of the Convention on Wetlands. Full details of the position vacancy and the application procedures are available here in and.

Reminders: Applications are invited until 12 January 2007 for the Ramsar position of Senior Regional Advisor for the Americas. Full details of the position vacancy and the application procedures are available at: http://www.ramsar.org/wn/w.n.vacancy_ramsar_americas.htm.

Reminders: Applications are invited until 19 January 2007 for the Ramsar position of Scientific and Technical Support Officer. Full details of the position vacancy and the application procedures are available here.

Who's Where?

The Secretary General, Peter Bridgewater, is visiting the CBD Secretariat in Montreal, Canada; the Smithsonian Institution and the GEF Secretariat in Washington, D.C., USA; and UNDESA in New York, 8-12 January 2008. [08/01/07]

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

Yesterday's News!

New Year's message from the Secretary General. The Secretary General of the Convention, Peter Bridgewater, reflects upon some of the big issues and events of 2006 and looks forward to the issues in wetland conservation that will be at the top of the agenda in 2007. With photographs. [03/01/07]

Signing of MoC with the Carpathian Convention. On 13 December, at the occasion of the high-level segment of the First meeting of the Carpathians Convention (www.carpathianconvention.org), Kyiv, Ukraine, the Secretary General and the Director of UNEP’s Regional Office for Europe, Frits Schlingemann, signed a memorandum of co-operation between the Convention and the Ramsar convention. The secretary general was also able to make a short Intervention to the High level segment, reproduced here. The text of the MOC is available here, and the photographs show the signature by the SG and Frits Schlingemann. The moC is a direct follow-on from the Evian Encounter held in November to establish a regional wetlands network of the Carpathians. [03/01/07]

Now available.Fourth edition of the Ramsar Manual. The Ramsar Manual was first prepared by Tim Davis in 1994 and has been thoroughly revised to account for subsequent developments in editions of 1997 and 2004. The 4th edition, current as of December 2006, is now available in English in PDF format (2.9MB) -- French and Spanish versions will be along in due course. This 116-page overview of the Ramsar Convention describes its history and present structures, the services it provides, the workings of the Conference of the Parties, the Standing Committee, the Scientific and Technical Review Panel, and the Secretariat, and relations with other environmental institutions, along with brief descriptions to the guidance documents adopted by the Parties through COP9 in 2005, and a list of all the Resolutions and Recommendations of the COP. And of course the text of the Convention itself. HTML version / PDF version. [02/01/07]

News from the SGF. Slovenian project for awareness-raising in young people. The project "Young people acting for the wise use of wetlands" focused on building public awareness about the importance of water in Slovenian karst wetlands. It was implemented by the Škocjan Caves Park in cooperation with the Notranjska Regional Park (comprising the Ramsar site Lake Cerknica), which are both Ramsar site management authorities. The educational programme that was developed, and which has been included in regular activities by both Parks, is unique at the Slovenian level and offers an example both to schools and other institutions. Active cooperation involved eight primary schools on the issues of biodiversity and sustainable development, including extensive meetings with the project team and teachers as well as local excursions to the Cerknica lake. This brief report prepared by Dorothea August provides further details about the project, photographs of the various stages in the work, and some of the key outcome materials. [20/12/06]

From the Wetlands Forum.No-take zones in freshwaters. "Dear Colleagues, As part of the development of the management plan for the Ramsar site ‘Lac Alaotra’ (Madagascar) we are proposing to have parts of the lake set aside as no-take/no-catch zones. Working with the local fishermen they have proposed 11 areas around the lake that they believe are important as spawning zones and they propose that these should be classed as permanent (all the year round) no-catch zones. The actual lake is approximately 20,000 ha and the communities and fisheries authorities are proposing to make 11 no-catch zones totaling approximately 3,000 (ranging in size from 78ha to 500ha, with on average around the 200ha size). While trawling the literature I found numerous examples in the marine domain but haven’t found much in the freshwater domain. Could anyone point me in the direction of who/what/where this is being done, or has been done in fresh waters? Sincerely, Richard Lewis, Conservation Coordinator, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (richard.lewis@durrell.org)". [21/12/06]

Vacancy announcement.IUCN EARO seeks wetlands and water programme team leader. IUCN's Eastern Africa Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya, is seeking a Team Leader, Water and Wetlands Programme for IUCN Eastern Africa, with an application deadline of 19 January 2007. IUCN EARO's position announcement has been reproduced here (PDF). [21/12/06]

Vacancy announcement.IUCN water-related positions. "Can you mobilize people and action for sustainable water management? Water is the most precious resource on this planet, yet we continue to both overuse it and misuse it. Nearly 2 billion people experience water shortages, and 1.4 billion people live in areas where the use of water has serious impacts on the environment and poor communities. The question is how we can meet the needs of growing populations, whilst conserving the environment and sharing the benefits of water use between rich and poor. The World Conservation Union (IUCN) is working with its member organizations – 83 States, 110 Government agencies and more than 800 non-governmental organizations – and networks of 10,000 scientists to tackle this challenge. IUCN seeks two dedicated professionals to improve water management worldwide: 1) Water Programme Coordinator Middle-East (Amman, Jordan), and 2) Water Programme Coordinator Asia (Bangkok, Thailand). Visit www.iucn.org/en/about/vacancies.htm for more information about these exciting job opportunities, and www.iucn.org/water to learn more about our worldwide efforts to conserve nature and promote sustainable water management in policy and practice." [20/12/06]

Vacancy announcement.New position at the Ramsar Secretariat. The Ramsar Secretariat is seeking to appoint a Scientific and Technical Support Officer. This is a full time position based in Gland, Switzerland, and applications are invited from all interested and suitably qualified persons. A major focus of the work will be to provide technical support to the work of the Convention's Scientific & Technical Review Panel (STRP) in its work plan implementation. The deadline for applications is 19 January 2007. Full details of the position vacancy and the application procedures are available here. [13/12/06]

Paraguayan Wetland and Important Bird Area Receives Protection. Guyra Paraguay (BirdLife in Paraguay) is celebrating news of the complete protection of over 9,500 hectares of seasonal wetland in the Paraguayan Pantanal, an area which forms part of one of the country’s 57 Important Bird Areas (IBAs). The declaration represents years of hard work by Guyra Paraguay and the World Land Trust, which contributed most of the funds required for the purchase of the land through the negotiation of a number of donations from private trusts, as well as the IUCN National Committee for the Netherlands. Five key areas have been purchased and set aside for the Nature Reserve, equating in all to a US $250,000 investment. The Pantanal is one of South America’s key ecosystems, being flooded seasonally by freshwater from the central Brazilian highlands. Situated in the upper watershed of the Paraguay river, to the south of the Amazon basin and east of the Andes, the area represents the most extensive freshwater wetland in the world. As well as being important for birds, the Pantanal IBA also represents crucial habitat for a number of other species. Over 300 species of fish, 40 amphibians, 55 reptiles, 120 mammals and 2,000 species of plant are known to exist there. All will be protected within the boundaries of the site. More information at http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2006/12/pantanal.html. [11/12/06]

Vacancy announcement.Ramsar Secretariat: Senior Regional Advisor, Americas. The Ramsar Convention is seeking to appoint a new Senior Regional Advisor for the Americas. Applications are invited from all interested and suitably qualified persons. The deadline for applications is 12 January 2007. Full details of the position vacancy and the application procedures are available at: http://www.ramsar.org/wn/w.n.vacancy_ramsar_americas.htm.

Vacante a la La Secretaría de Ramsar: Consejero (a) Principal para las Américas. La Convención de Ramsar busca nombrar a un nuevo (a) Consejero (a) para las Américas. Se invita a todas las personas interesadas y debidamente calificadas a que presenten sus candidaturas. La fecha límite para la presentación de las mismas es el 12 de enero de 2007. Sírvase encontrar más información sobre esta vacante y el procedimiento de presentación de candidaturas a: http://www.ramsar.org/wn/w.n.vacancy_ramsar_americas_s.htm. [07/12/06]

Announcement.II Simposio Taller Red 406RT0285: "Efecto de los cambios globales sobre los humedales", 25 al 27 de Julio 2007, Universidad Nacional, Costa Rica. ¨Metodologías para la cuantificación de secuestro de carbono en diferentes tipos de ecosistemas". [08/12/06]

News from the SGF. Culmina Exitosamente Proyecto del FPS de Ramsar en Chile. El Centro de Estudios para el Desarrollo (CED) de Chile ha finalizado recientemente el proyecto "Conservación de la Biodiversidad y Manejo Sustentable del Salar del Huasco", financiado por el Fondo para el Medio Ambiente Mundial (FMAM) e implementado por el Programa de Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD). Un componente clave de este proyecto fue la realización de un sub-proyecto financiado por el Fondo de Pequeñas Subvenciones de Ramsar titulado "Difusión y promoción de la conservación y uso racional del Salar del Huasco" (SGF/02/CHL/1), el cual tuvo como finalidad promover la difusión y sensibilización de los resultados entre los actores locales, y producir materiales que apoyaran dicha difusión. Más. [07/1206]

News from the SGF. Workshop on the Bardaca Wetlands. In the framework of the Ramsar 2005 Small Grants Fund project "restoration and rehabilitation of the Wetland Region Bardaca", in Bosnia & Herzegovina, a workshop was held on 24-25 November 2006 in the middle of the Bardaca area, where the Sava river forms the border between Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia. About 35 representatives from ministries and the University of the Serb Republic in Banja Luka, natural museums, agencies, local authorities, NGOs and individual land-owners participated in the two-day event. The main target of the SGF project is the designation of the area as a Ramsar site and to elaborate a draft management plan, but it was also intended to develop materials for public awareness work and local education. Dorothea August's brief illustrated report of the workshop can be found here. [06/12/06]

Vacancy announcement.Ramsar Secretary General. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is seeking to appoint a new Secretary General. Applications are invited from all interested and suitably qualified persons. The deadline for applications is 12 January 2007. The position is currently occupied by Peter Bridgewater, whose contract finishes on 31 July 2007. Dr Bridgewater has indicated that, as he wishes to pursue other activities, he will not be seeking a further contract. Full details of the position vacancy and the application procedures are available here in and. [29/11/06]

Swiss Grant for Africa approved for 2006. The Secretariat's Africa team is pleased to announce that the Federal Government of Switzerland (the Federal Office for the Environment - FOEN) has agreed to fund the Convention's activities in Africa for another year through the Swiss Grant for Africa. The 2006 Swiss Grant for Africa will allow the Secretariat to support five projects on the continent and address the implementation of COP9 Resolution IX.14 on Wetlands and Poverty Reduction - this will make an important contribution to the team's strategic objectives for Africa. Abou Bamba describes the selected projects in this brief report. [01/12/06]

Evian Encounter on the Carpathian Wetland Initiative. Evian Encounters are an important component of the Ramsar Convention project financed by the Danone group, owner of the Evian mineral waters company. The Encounters, of which this was the sixth since 1998, are designed to bring together senior officials of the Ramsar Contracting Parties and other relevant organizations in order to discuss in an informal atmosphere current approaches to and challenges of the implementation of the Ramsar Convention. The Evian Encounter 2006 focused on the Carpathian Wetland Initiative, building on the outcomes of the project "Network of Carpathian Protected Areas and Ramsar Sites" coordinated by the Slovak State Nature Conservancy with support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 15-17 November 2006, nineteen wetland and water experts gathered in Evian, France, including ministerial focal points of all seven Carpathian countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Ukraine) to define the fields of activities for 2007-2008 to be addressed by the Carpathian Wetland Initiative. Here is a brief report from Tobias Salathé, with photographs, and with the formal conclusions (PDF). [01/12/06]

Preserving World Heritage in Southeastern Europe. An occasion to further substantiate Ramsar cooperation with the World Heritage Convention was a recent expert symposium, held in Osnabrück, Germany, 16-18 October 2006, focusing on establishing and improving management capacities for natural World Heritage sites and cultural landscapes in Southeast Europe, organized by the World Heritage Centre, the Bellagio Forum and the Italian SiTi Institute. Through a series of presentations and discussions the 30 expert participants tackled key questions on how management needs of SE European World Heritage sites can best be addressed. Ramsar's input to this symposium was provided by Thymio Papayannis, secretary of the Culture Working Group, and Tobias Salathé, who stressed that Ramsar's toolkit (2006 edition), consisting of 17 Handbooks on Wise Use of Wetlands, can contribute many solutions to the seminar's theme. Tobias' brief report of the meeting can be found here. [01/12/06]

New Intern for the Americas region chosen for Ramsar Secretariat. The Secretariat is pleased to announce that Mila Llorens from Guatemala has been selected as the next Intern/Assistant Advisor for the Americas, following on from Adrián Ruiz Carvajal from Mexico. Mila is a graduate of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala where she earned a B.A. in Botany and Forestry. While studying for an M.S. in Environmental Studies at the same university, Mila worked as a teacher of Math and Science to 4th - 9th graders. Currently Mila is in Washington, D.C., working as an environmental consultant for the Organization of American States, Department of Sustainable Development. Before that she gained experience in working with GIS software as a researcher at the Centre for Environmental Studies GIS laboratory at her university in Guatemala. The Ramsar Secretariat looks forward to welcoming Mila in January 2007. [01/12/06]

Announcement.The Canon National Parks Science Scholars Program. "The Canon National Parks Science Scholars Program is pleased to announce its 2007 competition. The program is a collaboration among Canon, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the US National Park Service. Thanks to a generous commitment by Canon, the program will be awarding eight US$80,000 scholarships to Ph.D. students throughout the Americas to conduct research critical to conserving the national parks of the region. Research projects in the biological, physical, social and cultural sciences are eligible, as well as projects in technology innovation in support of conservation science. Applications must be received by 3 May 2007. For information about the Canon National Parks Science Scholars Program and a copy of the application guide, please visit the website http://www.nature.nps.gov/canonscholarships/." Sent by Randy Milton. [01/12/06]

Now available.Valuing wetlands - a Ramsar Technical Report. The Ramsar Convention has long recognized the importance of wetland economic valuation in contributing to well-informed planning and decision-making, and in 1997 the Secretariat published Economic valuation of wetlands: A guide for policy makers and planners by Barbier, Acreman, and Knowler. But economic valuation of ecosystems is a rapidly developing discipline, and there are now many different methods available for undertaking different aspects and purposes of wetland valuation. In order to assist Contracting Parties in having economic valuation information better available for decision-making on wetlands, Ramsar's COP8 (Valencia, 2002) requested the STRP to prepare guidance on practical methods for wetland valuation. The resulting report, the preparation of which has been led by Rudolf de Groot and Mishka Stuip of Wageningen University and the Foundation for Sustainable Development (FSD) in the Netherlands, provides this guidance and updates information on available methodologies from those in the 1997 book. Valuing wetlands: Guidance for valuing the benefits derived from wetland ecosystem services is now available in PDF format (1.6MB), published jointly as Ramsar Technical Report No. 3 and as No. 27 in the Convention on Biological Diversity's CBD Technical Series. [28/11/06]

Vacancy announcement. Wetlands International WOW Project. Wetlands International is looking for a Site Network Technical Officer at its Headquarters in Wageningen, the Netherlands. The job holder will play an instrumental role in the implementation of the Site Network Component of the Wings Over Wetlands Project. The project aims to identify and protect the most important sites for migratory waterbirds in 117 countries covered the Africa-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement area. The post holder will work in a multicultural environment and will be responsible for collecting, preparing, analysing and disseminating information about key sites based on the the databases held by Wetlands International and in collaboration with other data holders such as BirdLife International, the UNEP-WCMC and sub-regional subcontractors in Central-Asia, the Middle East, Western and Eastern Africa. Prospective candidates should have a university degree in biology or other subject relevant for waterbird conservation, at least five years working experience in waterbird conservation, good communication skills in English and preferably in either of Arabic, French or Russian. Ability to use databases and GIS effectively is necessary. Monthly gross salary: € 2,160.52 - € 2,925.31 for full time (36 hours) employment. Applications with a detailed curriculum vitae and a motivation letter to be sent to Szabolcs Nagy, Senior Biodiversity Officer, Wetlands International (PO Box 471, 6700 AL Wageningen, The Netherlands, Tel. +31 317 486040, Fax +31 317 478850, szabolcs.nagy@wetlands.org) before 8 December 2006. The Terms of Reference are reproduced here. [28/11/06]

Forum: The Fishing Industry, Tools for a Sustainable Future. Representatives from the Panamanian fishing industry, environmental NGOs and international organizations met on 20 November 2006 in Panama City to discuss new paths to improve the environmental and social performance of the fishing business in the Central American country. The Forum: The Fishing Industry, Tools for a sustainable future was organized by the Ramsar Regional Center for Training and Research on Wetlands in the Western Hemisphere (CREHO) with the support of the Global Compact-Panama. Here is the informative brief report from Carolina Hoyos of CREHO.

Representantes de la industria pesquera panameña, ONG ambientales y organizaciones internacionales se reunieron el 20 de noviembre en Ciudad de Panamá, para discutir nuevos caminos para mejorar el desempeño ambiental y social de los negocios dedicados a la pesca en este país centroamericano. El Foro: La Industria Pesquera, Herramientas para un Futuro Sostenible fue organizado por el Centro Regional Ramsar para la Capacitación e Investigación sobre Humedales para el Hemisferio Occidental (CREHO) con el apoyo de la Red del Pacto Global-Panamá. [PDF] [27/11/06]

Wetlands International begins first WPRP training sessions. The Anglophone Training of Trainers (ToT) for East and West Africa will be held in the Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute in Naivasha, Kenya, from the 27th of November until the 15th of December 2006. Wetlands International is a non-governmental organisation with 16 offices all over the world. Its aim is to sustain and restore wetlands, their resources and biodiversity for future generations. Their Wetlands and Poverty Reduction Project aims to reduce poverty in wetland areas, among others by improving the cooperation between development organisations and conservation organisations. By the end of 2007 the capacity building part of the project intends to have trained over 120 policy makers and over 150 practitioners of wetland management. [27/11/06]

Announcement. World Wetlands Day conference in London. The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) in London is organizing its sixth annual World Wetlands Day conference, to be held this year in London on 31 January and 1 February 2007. The title of this edition is "Developing Practice on the Ground", and there will be a very full schedule including sessions led by Ramsar STRP members David Stroud and Mike Acreman - the sponsors promise that "it will be an amazing opportunity to network, learn and share good practice." The programme, with further details, is reproduced here in PDF format. [27/11/06]

Two new Ramsar sites in Comoros. The Secretariat is delighted to be able to announce that the Direction nationale de l'Environnement et des Forêts (DNEF) of the government of Comoros has designated two volcanic mountain wetlands on the largest and second-largest islands. As described by Ramsar's Lucia Scodanibbio, based on the Ramsar Information Sheets, Le Karthala (13,000 hectares, 11°46'S 043°21'E), located in the southern part of Grande Comore (Ngazidja), is a well-known active volcano with its 3km-wide caldera. Le Mont Ntringui (3,000 hectares, 12°11'S 044°25'E), located on Anjouan, Comoros' second biggest island, comprises Mt. Ntringui, the island's highest point, and the crater lake Dzialandzé, which is the largest freshwater body on the island. Both sites are extraordinarily important as habitat for endangered and endemic species. Descriptions of both sites, an excellent photograph, and some maps can be seen here.

Comoros now has three Wetlands of International Importance, covering a surface area of 16,030 hectares. [24/11/06]

New Intern for Europe chosen for Ramsar Secretariat. The Secretariat is pleased to announce that Monica Zavagli from Italy has been selected as the next Intern/Assistant Advisor for Europe, to take over from Dorothea August from Germany. Monica graduated in Natural Sciences and Nature Conservation from the University of Bologna. She has recently concluded a one-year work project in Jordan sponsored by the European Community, which is aimed at promoting sustainable management of marine resources in the Gulf of Aqaba. Monica has also worked as an environmental educator for WWF Italy, has visited Ramsar sites in Senegal, and has volunteered in national parks in Costa Rica. In 2004, when she was working as an intern at the Italian Permanent Mission in Geneva, she had the opportunity to study international agreements and environmental policy issues - and also met some of the Ramsar Secretariat staff at one of our briefing sessions for Permanent Mission environmental attachés. The Ramsar Secretariat looks forward to welcoming Monica in February 2007. [24/11/06]

Reprinted here.Ramsar and the IOPs. The guest article from the IISD's MEA Bulletin 15 (6 November 2006), "Ramsar's unique 'partners' system keeps pace with the times" by Dave Pritchard of BirdLife International, provides an excellent overview of the Convention's fruitful relationship with its five International Organization Partners, or IOPs -- it's reprinted here with the kind permission of Dave and the IISD Reporting Services team. [24/11/06]

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 ).