Denmark's newest Ramsar Site in Greenland

The Secretariat is very pleased to announce that Denmark has designated its 39th Wetland of International Importance, and its 12th in the territory of Greenland: Ørsted Dal, Pingel Dal and Enhjørningen Dal (218,000 hectares 71°40'N 023°24'W) on the eastern coast. Read more here. [08/02/2012]

The Norwegian Ministry of Environment launches a "Water and Wetlands" Initiative

Earlier this year, the Norwegian Government expressed deep concern on the loss and deterioration of wetlands such as lakes, marshes and rivers and suggested to dedicate more efforts to maintain and restore wetlands, for their environmental values and for the services they provide to people.

The overall goal of the Water and Wetlands initiative is to ensure maintenance and enhancement of wetland biodiversity and environmental goods and services for improved local livelihoods. The project objectives are to strengthen national and local capacity in ecosystem management and sustainable use of wetland biodiversity in developing countries. The project aims to achieve these objectives through promoting awareness of the values of wetlands and supporting the Ramsar Convention in its work. [08/02/12]

Source: Norwegian Ministry of Environment: www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/md/Selected-topics/biodiversity/wetlands.html?id=671072

Memorandum of Cooperation signed between the Ramsar Secretariat and the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER)

The Ramsar Secretariat is very pleased to announce the recent signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation designed to strengthen the developing linkages with SER’s global network of ecosystem and wetland restoration practitioners in supporting scientific and technical implementation of the Convention. More [07/02/12]

World Wetlands Day Celebration at the U.S. Mission, Geneva

To celebrate World Wetlands Day, the US Mission to the United Nations co-hosted an event with the Botswana Mission to the UN on 2 February in Geneva, Switzerland. US Ambassador Betty King welcomed the participants by saying that “World Wetlands Day gives... a unique opportunity to highlight and celebrate our diverse wetlands around the globe”. Ambassador Mothusi Palai of Botswana, Ramsar’s DSG Nick Davidson, and Poul Engberg-Pederson, Deputy Director General of IUCN were then invited to share their views on wetlands and tourism. More [06/02/12]

NorBalWet CEPA Focal Points meet in Helsinki, Finland from 23-26 January

Representatives from eight of the nine member countries of the NorBalWet Ramsar Regional Initiative worked together for three days to improve planning skills through hands-on activities. Participants used several tools in planning three key CEPA activities which will help implement the initiative’s agreed priority areas of cooperation. More [06/02/12]

Ramsar and Ducks Unlimited renew their partnership on World Wetlands Day (WWD)

This year's WWD celebration was made all the more momentous as Ducks Unlimited and Ramsar signed a renewed Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) in New York City. The MOC signing event was attended by approximately 100 people and took place prior to the start of DU's 75th anniversary kickoff event. Dale Hall, CEO of Ducks Unlimited, and Anada Tiéga, Secretary General for the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, presented and signed the MOC. More [02/02/12]

Who's Where?
 

Tobias Salathé, Senior Regional Advisor for Europe, is attending the International Symposium on Water and Wetlands in the Mediterranean ‘From Grado to Agadir: The next twenty years’ in Agadir, Morocco from 6 to 8 February 2012. [06/02/12]

SG Anada Tiéga will be in New York, USA from 31 January to 3 February 2012. He will sign an MOC with Ducks Unlimited on 2 February, celebrating at the same time World Wetlands Day and the 75th Anniversary of Ducks Unlimited. From 4 to 8 February, he will attend the International Symposium on Water and Wetlands in the Mediterranean “From Grado to Agadir: The Next 20 Years” in Morocco. [31/01/12]

Paul Ouédraogo, Senior Regional Advisor for Africa will be in Niger, from 27 January to 3 February 2012. He will follow up a Ramsar Project with UNWTO and attend the World Wetlands Day celebrations. From 5 to 10 February he will be attending the Francophone Preparatory Forum for Rio+20 in Lyon (France). [30/01/12]

Lew Young, Senior Regional Advisor for Asia-Oceania will be in Thailand, Myanmar and Bangladesh from 30 January to 11 February. In Myanmar, he will be attending the World Wetlands Day celebrations and a workshop to prepare for the designation of the country’s second Ramsar Site. In Bangladesh and Thailand, he will be meeting with the Ramsar Administrative Authority and other partners to update them on the preparations for COP11 and other national implementation issues. [26/01/12]

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

Beautiful photos related to wetlands and tourism were submitted to a World Wetlands Day photo celebration under this year’s theme “Wetlands Tourism: A Great Experience,” sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Here is their message with links to the winners’ pictures:

"World Wetlands Day is here! Please join us in congratulating our Wetlands Photo Celebration fan favorites—with images and photographers from around the globe in the four categories of favorites for the Wetlands and Tourism theme. Check out the lush silt village in Ghana, a peaceful river in West Virginia, a snorkeler in the gorgeous coastal wetlands of Mexico, and a beautiful damselfly in Cambodia. Many thanks to all who participated – we received nearly 900 hundred photo submissions. We salute the world’s wetlands for their many critical benefits to humankind and their incredible beauty. Happy World Wetlands Day 2012!! See the wonderful photos submitted through our Flickr site!" [02/02/12]

Today is World Wetlands Day!

We would like to thank our partners and friends for their incredible support for our campaign day. We at the Secretariat feel encouraged and empowered by the tremendous response from our many wetland friends around the world.

We highlight here our joint press release with UNWTO, a message by the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), and a press release from WWF on the designation of 15 new Ramsar Sites in Tunisia where WWF’s support has been instrumental.

Coming soon: News from the USA on the signing of a renewed Memorandum of Cooperation with Ducks Unlimited. See the Media Advisory out here. [02/02/12]

Tunisia names 15 sites for World Wetlands Day

Tunisia's Direction générale des Forêts, the Ramsar Convention's implementing authority in that country, is marking World Wetlands Day 2012 with ceremonies announcing the addition of 15 new Wetlands of International Importance and the launch of a new atlas of Tunisian Ramsar Sites. The new designations include six dams and reservoirs, four permanent or intermittent saline lakes, two marine areas (the Golfe de Boughrara and the Îles Kerkennah), the famous Gorges de Thelja, and two additional freshwater sources. Read more here. [01/02/2012]

Launch of our last photo mosaic for the end of Ramsar’s anniversary year

On 2 February 2011, the Ramsar Convention reached a special milestone in its history: 40 years of conserving wetlands. The numerous activities launched by the Secretariat during 2011 were an invitation to all those who care about wetlands to join in and contribute to the festivities. » Read more [31/01/12]

Kazakhstan names large inland delta

The government of Kazakhstan has designated as its ninth Wetland of International Importance the important Ili River Delta and South Lake Balkhash (976,630 hectares, 45°35'52"N 074°44'17"E) in the southern part of the country. Read more here. [27/01/12]

New Ramsar Sites on Corsica and Île de Mayotte

The government of France has designated its two latest Wetlands of International Importance, bringing that Party's total Ramsar Sites to 38, covering 3,289,306 hectares: La Vasière des Badamiers (Île de Mayotte - océan indien) (115 haectares, 12°47'S 045°16'E), on the Indian Ocean island of Mayotte, and Tourbière de Moltifao (33 hectares, 42°28'52"N 009°09'13"E), the largest active raised bog on the island of Corsica. Details and photos here. [27/01/2012]

“Bird watching instead of bird poaching” in the Hutovo Blato Nature Park (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

The Ramsar Secretariat is pleased to report that EuroNatur, a non-profit foundation for the conservation of European nature heritage, has set up a project with the managers of Hutovo Blato Nature Park, a site on the Ramsar List, to stop bird poaching on the site. More [26/01/12]

Welcome to Nury Furlán, our new Intern / Assistant Advisor for the Americas region

The Secretariat is pleased to announce that Ms Nury Furlán from Guatemala has arrived to work with the Secretariat team as the new Intern / Assistant Advisor for the Americas region. She replaces Ms Sofia Méndez who is returning to Honduras after two years at Ramsar.

Nury has a first degree in Forest Engineering and has recently completed a Masters degree in Geomatics and Natural Resource Evaluation at the Istituto Agronomico per l’Oltremare in Florence, Italy. She has worked most recently as a land cover photographic interpreter at the Global Land Cover Network division of FAO in Florence. As well as bringing these technical skills, Nury will be working in her mother tongue, Spanish, and in English to support the Americas region. Español [26/01/12]

Romania's newest Wetlands of International Importance

The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands is delighted to report that Romania, which is generously preparing to play host to the next meeting of the Ramsar Conference of the Contracting Parties in July 2012, has increased its number of Ramsar Sites to 8, covering a surface area of 824,897 hectares. Summary descriptions and photographs of Comana Natural Park (Parcul Natural Comana) (24,963 hectares, 44°09'N 026°09'E) and Poiana Stampei Peat Bog (Tinovul Poiana Stampei) (640 hectares, 47°17'28"N, 025°05'57"E) can be found here. [20/01/2012]

Estonia names three new Ramsar Sites

The Ramsar Secretariat is very pleased to announce that Estonia has designated three extensive mire complexes as its newest Wetlands of International Importance, bringing that country's Ramsar total to 16 sites covering an area of 262,998 hectares. The Convention presently lists a total of 1,974 Ramsar Sites, with an area of 190,763,717 hectares. Ramsar's Assistant Advisor for Europe, Kati Wenzel, has prepared brief summary descriptions of the new sites, based upon the Ramsar Information Sheets submitted with the designations, and the photographs are by Agu Leivits -- here. [20/01/2012]