Argentina designates its 20th Wetland of International Importance

Palmar Yatay (21,450 ha; 31°52'S 58°19'W) is mainly composed of permanent and seasonal rivers, streams and creeks, permanent and seasonal freshwater marshes and pools and their surrounding lands. Located in the border between the Pampa and Espinal ecoregions, this site contains characteristic communities and habitats of both areas. More | Español [04/07/11]

Hungary names its 29th Ramsar Site during the European Union Presidency

The Ramsar Secretariat is pleased to announce that the Government of Hungary has designated Fishponds and Marshlands south of Lake Balaton (Dél-balatoni halastavak és berkek), located in the County of Somog. This Ramsar Site (9,483 ha; 46°42’N 017°36’E) is also listed as a Protected Area, Special Protection Area (SPA), and Site of Community Importance (SCI). More [01/07/11]

Bulgaria names its 11th Wetland of International Importance

The Ramsar Secretariat is pleased to announce that the Government of Bulgaria adds Dragoman Marsh Karst Complex (14,967 ha; 42º56'N 023º01'E) to the Ramsar List. The site is also registered as a Protected area and a Natura 2000 site. The area is situated in west Bulgaria, Sofia district. It consists of marshes, wet meadows, several karst springs, two artificial lakes, including the Petarch Fishponds, and the Blato River. Dragoman marsh itself is the biggest limestone marsh in Bulgaria and is particularly rich in biodiversity. More [01/07/2011]

Mediterranean Water Means Wetlands

Twenty years after the signing in Ramsar city of the first modern global environmental treaty, about 300 concerned individuals gathered at the northern end of the Adriatic Sea, in the Italian town of Grado, in February 1991 and agreed on a strategy for joint actions for Mediterranean wetlands. More [30/06/11]

Conference on the Sustainable Use of Wetland Resources in Astana, Kazakhstan (11-14 May, 2011)

The sustainable use of wetlands in Kazakhstan is a critical issue because of the country’s limited water resources. As a result, a UNDP/GEF/RoK Government project was initiated in 2004 entitled “Integrated Conservation of Globally Significant Wetland Habitat: a Demonstration on Three Sites”, to promote the integrated conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in the delta of the Ural River, the Alakol-Sasykkol lakes and the Tengiz-Korgalzhyn lakes. More [29/06/11]

Les Grangettes – now Switzerland’s largest Ramsar Site

The Ramsar Secretariat is pleased to announce that Switzerland has extended “Les Grangettes” Ramsar Site from 330 ha to 6,342 ha. More [28/06/11]

 Who's Where? 


Maria Rivera, Senior Advisor for the Americas and Sofia Mendez, Assistant Advisor for the Americas, are in Kralendijk, Bonaire from 4 to 9 July to attend the meeting of the Caribbean regional initiative.

From 11 to 16 July, Maria Rivera will be visiting Jamaica's AA to discuss the organisation of the Pan-American meeting that will take place from 5-10 July in Kingston, Jamaica. She will then be in Bahamas to discuss the implementation of the Ramsar Convention. [04/07/11] 

Kati Wenzel and Tobias Salathé will be at a UNECE Workshop in Geneva on 'Payments for Ecosystem Services: What role for a green economy' from 4 to 5 July. This workshop is part of the UNECE Forest and Water Week (4-8 July 2011) and is organized by UNECE and FAO in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment BAFU and the Finnish Environment Institute SYKE. [01/07/11]

SG Anada Tiéga is in Paris from 3 to 5 July to attend the 1st meeting of the Advisory Board of the “livelihoods” Venture sponsored by the Danone Group and other business companies. He will also meet with UNESCO Senior Officers to discuss possibilities for a stronger and broader partnership with UNESCO. [01/07/11]

 For more old Ramsar Secretariat travel news, see also 'Who Was Where', 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 

Yesterday's News

RRC-EA publishes three documents on wetlands

The Ramsar Regional Center - East Asia (RRC-EA) informed the Ramsar Secretariat that they have produced three documents for the public on the Changwon Declaration (download PDF here), wetlands and culture (download PDF here), and rice paddies (PDF available here).

The goal of the RRC-EA is to enhance the implementation of the Ramsar Convention in the East and South-east Asia region through training, research, advocacy and public awareness programmes. [28/06/11]

Norway designates 14 new Ramsar Sites

The Ramsar Secretariat is pleased to announce that the Government of Norway has designated 14 new Wetlands of International Importance. Norway now has 51 sites on the Ramsar List, totaling 838,127 hectares. More [24/06/11]

Conserving mangrove forests in the Pacific

The meeting of the national coordinators of the IUCN Mangroves Ecosystem for Climate Change and Livelihoods (MESCAL) project took place from 6-8 June 2011 at the offices of IUCN Oceania in Fiji.The MESCAL project focuses on activities in 5 Pacific Island Countries (Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Vanuatu and Samoa) to address key challenges to mangrove management and conservation. More [23/06/11]

Second Meeting of the Regional Initiative for the Conservation and Wise Use of Mangroves and Coral Reefs in the Americas

The 2nd Meeting of the Regional Initiative for the Conservation and Wise Use of Mangroves and Corals, organised by the Ecuadorian and Mexican Governments in coordination with the Ramsar Secretariat, took place from 14 to 16 June in Guayaquil, Ecuador. More | Español [21/06/11]

New assistant advisor for Asia-Oceania at the Secretariat

The Ramsar Secretariat is pleased to announce that Mr Saber Masoomi from the Islamic Republic of Iran has arrived to work with the Ramsar Secretariat as the new Intern / Assistant Advisor for the Asia-Oceania region. He replaces Ms Marian Gwilliam who is returning to Fiji at the end of her one-year contract with the Secretariat. More [15/06/11]

Launch of InforMEA – the United Nations Information Portal on Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs)

The Multilateral Environmental Agreements Information and Knowledge Management Initiative (MEA IKM), launched today develops harmonized MEA information systems to assist Parties and the environment community at large. Supported by UNEP the initiative currently includes 17 MEAs from 12 Secretariats. It is open to observers involved in MEA information and data management. The Ramsar Convention is represented by DSG Nick Davidson. More [14/06/11]

Mozambique designates a part of the eighth largest lake in the world as its 2nd Ramsar Site

Lake Niassa and its Coastal Zone (Lago Niassa e Zona Costeira) is located in the Niassa Province in Mozambique (1,363,700 ha; 12º30’S 034º51’E). Lake Niassa is an important resource for the country and is part of Africa’s third largest lake – the other two parts being in Malawi (where the lake is referred to as Lake Malawi) and in Tanzania (where it is known as Lake Nyasa). As one of the African Rift Valley great lakes, it is also part of the Miombo Woodlands ecoregion. More [10/06/11].

Download [24.18MB]

Decision-makers across Africa are now able to benefit from an online interactive map, released by IUCN for each of the 7,079 river and lake sub-catchments across mainland Africa that reveals information on the distribution, conservation and ecological needs of 4,989 freshwater species, of which 21% are already threatened. This tool and the accompanying IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™ report ‘The Diversity of Life in African Freshwaters: Underwater, Under Threat’ provide vital information to help plan development in ways that minimize or avoid impacts to freshwater species. More [09/06/11]

Celebrations for the listing of Viet Nam’s 3rd Ramsar Site

On 5 June 2011, a ceremony was held in Bac Kan Provincial town, Viet Nam for the listing of Ba Be National Park as the country’s 3rd Ramsar Site. The event was organised as part of the celebrations for World Environmental Day and the International Year of Forest 2011. More [08/06/11]

Workshop on wetlands and the Ramsar Convention in West Asia

The ‘Workshop on Wetlands and the Ramsar Convention in West Asia’ was held in the Emirate of Fujairah, United Arab Emirates from 23 to 26 May 2011 with the aim of sharing case studies and best practices in order to identify ways to improve the conservation of wetlands and implementation of the Ramsar Conservation in West Asia. More [07/06/11]

Mangroves to receive huge boost from new carbon credit rules

Coastal mangroves have recently become increasingly recognized as playing a major role in mitigating climate change through trapping and storing large amounts of carbon, both above and below the ground, yet mangroves continue to be destroyed around the world. A new methodology for calculating mangrove carbon storage, prepared through the “Danone Fund for Nature (DFN)” partnership between the Danone Group, IUCN and the Ramsar Convention, has now been adopted under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Kyoto Protocol.

This will encourage large-scale restoration of degraded mangrove systems, which in addition to storing carbon provide a hugely valuable range of other benefits to people and nature. “It is very encouraging indeed to see this new methodology come into place, as part of better understanding that many wetlands, and not just forests, are vital carbon stores”, says Prof Nick Davidson, Ramsar’s Deputy Secretary General. For further information see IUCN’s press release here. [06/06/11]

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 ).