Standing Committee 21 -- The Photo Gallery

The 21st meeting of the Ramsar Convention Standing Committee, 19-24 October 1998, though a model of precision and economy in many other ways, was pretty much catch-as-catch-can in terms of photography.   Here are some JPGs of all the photos in which any humans were recognizable.   The Bureau extends its apologies to any participants who were left out or who wish they had been.

Two views of the plenary, very like every other plenary.

And the head table, with from right to left: Hungary, the chair (Louise Lakos), the Secretary General (Delmar Blasco), the Deputy Secretary General (Bill Phillips), and the rapporteur and assistant on the left.

The delegation of the United Kingdom, David Stroud and Linda Smith.

The Oceania region (Brendan Edgar of Australia and Navu Kwapena of PNG) have a good hearty laugh at the amount of documentation they'd been expected to read before the opening of the meeting.

The Western European region, with smiles on: Gerold Schenkel of Germany, then Christophe Lefebvre (Conservatoire du Littoral) and Michèle Ruzé of the Ministry of Environment of France.

The North American region in contemplative mode: Herbert Raffaele of the Fish and Wildlife Service of the United States of America and Clayton Rubec, then of the Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada, now of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

And more USA people: (above) Roberta Chew (right), US State Department, and (below) Gilberto Cintron and Herb Raffaele, US FWS.

Marco Solano of Costa Rica, coordinator for the Costa Rican side of the 7th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, San José, 10-18 May 1999.

The Russian delegation: Oleg Chamanov and the Bureau's old friend Sergei Tveritinov.

BirdLife and Hungary: from left, Louise Lakos (Hungary), David Pritchard (BirdLife International), Andras Böhm (Hungary), and John O'Sullivan (BirdLife International).

The Secretary General, Delmar Blasco, worrying over the agenda with Panama (Elia Guerra de Quijano)

Mike Moser, director of Wetlands International - AEME, spoke of his unbroken record of attendance at all Standing Committee meetings since the beginning.  Dr Moser is now leaving Wetlands International and going into private consultancy, with the hope of continuing his work on the Convention's behalf by other means.

The Iranian delegation discusses stuff with Rebecca D'Cruz of the Ramsar Bureau . . . . .

While Joao Carlos Farinha of Portugal discusses more stuff with Scott Frazier, Ramsar/Wetland Sites Officer at Wetlands International . . . . .

. . . only to be interrupted by the agitated rapporteur, for some reason now forgotten.

The madcap Reception

Scott Frazier, far left (as usual), Reinhold Turk in the foreground

David Stroud (UK) doesn't want his photograph publicly available for comparison with Public Broadcasting Service fugitive programmes, but Reinhold Turk (Austria) and Herb Raffaele (USA) are amused by his discomfiture.

Edgar Cubero Gómez with Montserrat Riera of the Ramsar Bureau.

Clayton Rubec of Canada, with Paulette Kennedy of the Ramsar Bureau.

Reinhold Turk of Austria, with Ana di Giorgio, formerly of the Ramsar Bureau, and assisting the Bureau for the SC21 meeting as a simultaneous interpreter.

Emília Paula Silva (right), representing Portugal as an Observer State, with the Ramsar Bureau's Anett Zellei.

And now I'm sorry about having missed so many others.