The Ramsar Bulletin Board, 2 September 1998

Headline Story: Malaysian Foundation seeks aid.  The Malaysian Wetlands Foundation is seeking resource materials and you can probably help.  Peruse this appeal to the Ramsar Forum. [2/9/98]

An update: National Reports. With the September 1^st deadline all but upon us, National Reports are arriving at the Bureau by trains and boats and planes, and also mostly by electronic mail. Out of 112 Contracting Parties, we have received 17 Reports, and others are promised "in the mail". Many thanks to the following countries: Algeria, Botswana, Egypt, Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Namibia, China, Indonesia, Armenia, Denmark (draft version), Estonia, Liechtenstein, Turkey, Bahamas, Nicaragua, Suriname. [28/8/98]  

Vacancy Notice: Wetlands International has asked the Bureau to post a notice of the position opening for Executive Director of Wetlands International - Africa, Europe, Middle East, and hastening to oblige, here it is. [28/8/98] [This position has been filled.]

New on the Site:Diplomatic Notification 1998/7, in three languages, right here in front of your very eyes. An important notification for Standing Committee members, but possibly not for you. [31/7/98]

Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award. The Bureau has been delighted at the excellent response to the call for nominations for the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award. Over seventy nominations of individuals or groups from all over the world have been received, and so now the difficult process of assessment and selection must begin. The Standing Committee will choose the three winners of the 1999 award at its 21^st meeting in October 1998. [20/8/98]

Travel report: Bureau Visit to Czech Republic. At the invitation of the Czech Ramsar Committee, Tim Jones, the Bureau’s Regional Coordinator for Europe, visited the Czech Republic 6-11 August. Discussions were held with the Ministry of Environment (the authority responsible for Ramsar implementation), the Czech Agency for Nature Conservation and Landscape Protection, the Administration of Protected Landscape Areas of the Czech Republic, as well as with the managers and users of Ramsar sites.  Notable events in Czech implementation of the Ramsar Convention include:

• Passing of Czech National Council Act No. 114/92 on the Protection of Nature and the Landscape - entered into force in June 1992;
• Establishment, by Government Resolution, of the River System Revitalization Programme in 1992;
• Participation in COP5 & presentation of first National Report on Ramsar implementation, June 1993;
• Publication of the first inventory of Czech wetlands of international importance, plus English summary, 1993;
• Designation of 5 additional Ramsar sites in November 1993;
• Formal establishment, by Statute, of the Czech Ramsar Committee in May 1994;
• Participation in COP6 & presentation of second National Report;
• Designation of the 10^th Czech Ramsar site in November 1997;
• Adoption of State Programme for Nature and Landscape, June 1998

The mission included visits to two of the three Czech Ramsar sites included in the Montreux Record, namely Novozámecky & Brehynsky fishponds, and Litovelské Pomoraví. In both cases, the Czech authorities advise retaining the sites on the Montreux Record. However significant restoration and management efforts are under way at the two wetlands, and it is hoped that removal from the Montreux Record may be possible in the medium term. In the case of Litovelské Pomoraví, this will depend very much on how sensitively water abstraction and flood protection proposals for the area are implemented. A detailed report and photographs will be posted in the near future. [20/8/98]

Four new interns for the Ramsar Bureau. The Ramsar internship programme, after its first year of operation, has proved to be an enormous success. The four young interns, assisting the Regional Coordinators for Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Neotropics respectively, have contributed significantly to the work of the Convention, presumably learned a good deal about the operations of an international environmental treaty secretariat, and enlivened the office with their presence. But now it is time for a changing of the guard, as one by one the first generation of interns complete their duty tours and make way for their successors. Here is a little background on the four incoming interns. [29/7/98]

Brazilian Web site created with WFF assistance. Wetlands for the Future is a capacity-building funding programme for the Neotropical region administered by the Ramsar Bureau, the United States Department of State, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. One of its key objectives is encouraging modern mechanisms for disseminating information on wetland conservation and management, and so it's a notable event that what seems to be the first Web site created with Wetlands for the Future support has just come on line. The brainchild of Profa. Dra. Yara Schaeffer-Novelli, with webmaster assistance from Elena Carvalho and Adriana Brito, the site presents Portuguese-language material on the Bioma programme (Laboratório de Bioecologia de Manguezais) and on the Ramsar Convention in Brazil. It's an excellent site and we hope the first of many: http://www.io.usp.br/~bioma/index.html. [28/7/98]

More to follow. Watch this space. Feedback and suggestions to: the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ). Updated regularly by Dwight Peck, Ramsar.