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Culture and Wetlands: a Ramsar guidance document (30/03/09)

Good morning CEPA people:

Formally launched at COP10, the publication Culture and Wetlands: a Ramsar guidance document has been prepared by Ramsar’s Culture Working Group based on preparatory work carried out for COP8 by Thymio Papayannis. The Convention has been addressing cultural aspects of wetlands and their management for almost 10 years, resulting in Resolutions VIII.19 and IX.21 on incorporating cultural aspects in the management of wetlands, although in both cases this generated quite some controversy within the Convention. 

The new guidance document takes readers through the recent history of culture within the Convention addressing the key areas of contention and identifying the origins and role of the Culture Working Group. Chapter one documents the work done at the nature-culture interface by the multilateral environmental agreements. Chapter 2 looks in more depth at the two Resolutions on cultural aspects of wetlands and provides suggested actions for their implementation. Chapter 3 presents practical activities for wetlands and related cultural values. Providing a topology of activities and values under the headings Habitation, Primary uses of wetland resources, Secondary use of wetland resources, and Knowledge, belief systems and social practices, it assigns cultural objectives to most of these activities. For a number of these objectives Chapter 4 provides more detailed guidance including proposed actions for their implementation.

Culture and Wetlands: a Ramsar guidance document is available in low resolution PDF formats in English, French and Spanish here:

http://www...ramsar.org/cop10/cop10_culture_group_e.pdf

http://www...ramsar.org/cop10/cop10_culture_group_f.pdf

http://www...ramsar.org/cop10/cop10_culture_group_s.pdf

Hard copies of the document as well as high and low resolution versions in all three languages on CD are available from Irini Lyratzaki, at ilyratzaki@med-ina.org. PLEASE DO NOT WRITE TO THE SECRETARIAT FOR THE CD OR HARD COPY SINCE WE DO NOT HAVE ANY FOR DISTRIBUTION.

If you would like more information on case studies you can re-visit Action for culture in Mediterranean Wetlands, coordinated and written by Thymio Papayannis and published in 2008. This well-illustrated publications presents information on culture-related activities relating to 22 wetland sites in the Mediterranean. It’s available for download here in English and French (scroll to the bottom of the page):

http://www.med-ina.org/mava01/04_progress/index.html.

With best wishes, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat