Who was where, 2004?

A collection of travel news about Ramsar Secretariat staff, in reverse chronological order, drawn from the Who's Where? feature of the Ramsar Bulletin Board.

For more old Ramsar Bureau travel news, see also 'Who Was Where', 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, Sebastià Semene Guitart, and Michèle Stark from the Secretariat, as well as Spyros Kouvelis, MedWet Coordinator, and others from the MedWet team are in Algiers, Algeria, 13-16 December 2004, for the 6th meeting of the MedWet Committee. [13/12/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is attending the Seminar on the role of ecosystems as water suppliers, inGeneva, Switzerland, 13-14 December 2004, at the Palais des Nations. The seminar has been prepared by the Swiss Agency for the Environment, Forests and Landscape and the Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations (UNECE) secretariat of the Water Convention, in close cooperation with the Ramsar Convention and the UNECE Timber Committee. More info: http://www.unece.org/env/water/meetings/ecosystem/seminar.htm. [13/12/04]

Estelle Gironnet, Assistant Advisor for Europe, is in Vitoria-Gasteiz in the País Vasco, Spain, 13 December 2004, representing the Convention at the Centro Museo Vasco de Arte Contempoeraneo Artium on the occasion of the launch of a new book on the Salburua Ramsar site. She will be making her presentation on the Convention in Spanish. [13/12/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, and his assistant, Estelle Gironnet, and Sandra Hails, Ramsar CEPA Programme Officer, are all in Yerevan, Armenia, for the European Regional Meeting that will run from 4 to 8 December 2004. Many of the planned papers and presentations can be seen here. [04/12/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, is on mission in Angola, Zimbabwe, and Swaziland, 5-18 December 2004, consulting with authorities in those countries on preparations for accession to the Convention. [04/12/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, and Sebastià Semene Guitart, Convention Development Officer, are in Tokyo, Japan, for an IWRM meeting and World Water Forum preparatory meeting, 4-8 December 2004. [04/12/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, en route to the European regional meeting in Yerevan, has stopped off in Strasbourg, France, 30 November - 1 December 2004, for a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Bern Convention, which will be dealing with, among other matters, a number of issues affecting Ramsar sites in Europe. [30/11/04]

Lei Guangchun, Senior Advisor for Asia, is in Kushiro, Japan, 28 November to 3 December 2004, to participate in the UNITAR workshop for the Asia Pacific region on “Wetlands, Water and Biodiversity”, as a guest of UNITAR. [29/11/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, and Ahmed El-Sabban, Assistant Advisor, are in Montpellier, France, 29 November to 4 December 2004, for the workshop "Préparation des dispositifs de formation des gestionnaires de zones humides de 5 pays d'Afrique francophone" hosted by ATEN (the Atelier Technique des Espaces Naturelles). [29/11/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Bangkok, Thailand, following the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress, to participate in Wetlands International's Board of Directors and Board of Members meetings, 24-28 November 2004. [24/11/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, and Sebastià Semene Guitart are in Bangkok, Thailand, for the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress, 17-25 November 2004. [17/11/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Illmitz, Austria, 17-19 November 2004, for the workshop entitled Management of transboundary Ramsar Sites - Chances and Challenges. Thymio Papayannis, senior advisor to the MedWet Coordination Unit, will also be participating. [17/11/04]

Guangchun Lei, Senior Advisor for Asia, is in Seosan city, Republic of Korea, 15-19 November 2004, to participate in the Asia/Pacific Migratory Water Bird Conservation Committee meeting and then the WSSD Type II Partnership meeting in the same place. [15/11/04]

Margarita Astrálaga, Senior Advisor for the Americas, Assistant Advisor Iván Dario Valencia, and Peter Bridgewater, the Secretary General, are in Merida, Mexico, 7-12 November 2004, for the Third Panamerican Ramsar Regional Meeting, the first of the Ramsar regional meetings in preparation for COP9. Here is the index page. [08/11/04]

Valerie Higgins, Mireille Katz, and Dwight Peck are in Kampala, Uganda, for the week of 8-12 November 2004 for discussions with Paul Mafabi and his team in the Wetlands Inspection Division of the Ministry of Water, Lands and Environment about the progress of preparations for the 9th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, set for November 2005. [08/11/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 4-6 November 2004, for an African Pre-Conference to the FAO and Netherlands Conference Water for Food and Ecosystem that will take place in February next year. Further information here. [04/11/04]

Guangchun Lei, Senior Advisor for Asia, and Assistant Advisor Liazzat Rabbiosi, Peter Bridgewater and Nick Davidson, Secretary General and Deputy SG, are in Evian, France, during the week of 1-5 November 2004, for the 5th Evian Encounter. See related news item on this page. [01/11/04]

Dwight Peck, Communications Officer, is in Montreal, Canada, 1-5 November 2004, for the Convention on Biological Diversity's "Informal Meeting on Interoperability of Information among the Three Rio and Other Environmental Conventions", 2-3 November, and bilateral talks with the CBD Secretariat afterward. [01/11/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 29-31 October 2004, for the Third Meeting of the Coordinating Committee on Global Action for Peatlands. [29/10/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Montreal, Canada, 18-27 October 2004, at the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity to participate in Liaison Group and Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group meetings on "Indicators for assessing progress towards the 2010 biodiversity target", followed by a meeting on "Outcome-oriented targets for the implementation of the CBD programmes of work on inland waters and coastal and marine ecosystems", in the context of the CBD-Ramsar Joint Work Plan and in relation to the current work of the STRP's Working Group 6 on developing indicators of effectiveness of implementation of the Convention. [26/10/04]

Margarita Astrálaga, Senior Advisor for the Americas, has been attending the workshop "Protecting Wetlands of International Significance" in Great Bend, Kansas, USA, 17-21 October 2004. [19/10/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Huelva, Spain, 18-21 October 2004, for the 3rd international meeting on wetland restoration organized by Doñana 2005 and the Spanish government. [19/10/04]

Many of the Secretariat staff are in Geneva today, 15 October 2004, for a Ramsar briefing for the permanent missions to the United Nations, hosted by the mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Ramsar staff are bringing the diplomats up to date on the progress of preparations for Ramsar COP9 next year, on the lastest developments in the regions, and on a number of new initiatives. [15/10/04]

James Williams of JNCC in the UK is visiting the Secretariat, 14 October 2004, for discussions on national reporting for Ramsar and other environmental conventions. [14/10/04]

David Pritchard(RSPB/BirdLife International) is visiting the Secretariat 11/12 October to discuss progress on a variety of issues, including revising the Ramsar-MAB programme of joint work, and developing a survey of the arts dimension of cultural values of wetlands; and ecological indicators (STRP's ongoing work, and that of CBD in relation to the 2010 biodiversity target); preparation of the MA's Ramsar Synthesis Report; planning for COP9 and its global and regional preparatory meetings. [11/10/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Sticklestad, Norway, 8-10 October 2004, for a visit with the mayors of the Tautra Ramsar Site area, followed by the mid-Scandinavian meeting on the role of Trondheim fjord organised by BirdLife International (costs paid by hosts). [08/10/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Krakow, Poland, 4-7 October, for a meeting of the Emerald Network expert group and the Pan-European Ecological Network experts under the auspices of the Council of Europe. [04/10/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Orléans, France, 28-30 September 2004, for a seminar of the EUROWET project, as a member of the task force on legislation and policy, to provide a transfer of research results into laws and policies, notably the Water Framework Directive and its Common Implementation Strategy (costs paid by the hosts). [28/09/04]

Mr. Seiuli Vainuupo Jungblut, who was recently appointed Assistant Ramsar Officer at the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) in Apia, Samoa, a position supported by the governments of Australia and the USA, SPREP, and WWF International, is visiting the Ramsar Secretariat in Switzerland for the week of 27 September - 2 October for briefings on Ramsar issues and challenges. [27/09/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, is in Belgium for a UNEP-WCMC meeting on harmonizing national reports among the biodiversity-related conventions. [23/09/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for a one-day session of the MA Ramsar Synthesis Team to finalise the consultation draft of the MA's report for the Ramsar Convention, which will be circulated for review and comment to all Ramsar Parties and other experts in October. Following that, he will participate in the final meeting of the MA's Combined Working Groups, during which the chapter authors teams of the MA's full reports will be working to finalise their texts in the light of the many comments received through their second draft review process. He will be back in the office on 1 October. [23/09/04]

Anada Tiéga, Project Manager of the Lake Chad Basin GEF Project (and former Senior Advisor for Africa at the Ramsar Secretariat), is giving a presentation at the IUCN and Ramsar headquarters in Gland, entitled "Partnership between the Lake Chad Basin Commission, the GEF Project, Ramsar, IUCN and WWF". [22/09/04

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, for an international conference on the transboundary Dniestr River and discussions with the Administrative Authority in that country, 15-17 September 204. [15/09/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, and Sebastià Semene Guitart are in Andorra for the 5th International Congress of Andorra on the Environment, hosted by the Biodiversity Centre of the Andorran Studies Institute, 14-17 September 2004. [14/09/04]

Peter Bridgewater, the Secretary General, is visiting UNEP in Nairobi, Kenya, for a first meeting on international assessment of the impacts of agriculture and an Environmental Management Group meeting. He will then go on to Kampala, Uganda, 2-3 September 2004, to evaluate the progress there in preparing for COP9. [30/08/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Wageningen, The Netherlands, for discussions with Wetlands International staff on a number of collaborative issues. [23/08/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, is in Geneva, Switzerland, 16 August, for two meetings with UNEP and the CBD. On the 17th he will be in Frankfurt, Germany, for a meeting with the Star Alliance, and will then spend the rest of this week participating in the Stockholm Water Week in Sweden.[09/08/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Kuching (Sarawak), Malaysia for the meeting of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's Ramsar Synthesis Report Team (16-18 August) and will return to the office on the 20th. [16/08/04]

Margarita Astrálaga, Senior Advisor for the Americas, is in Costa Rica to participate in the first interim Steering Committee Meeting of the “Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Conference” organized by WWF, the Costa Rican Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MINAE), and the Secretariat to the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Marine Turtles, and sponsored by the US Government (Department of State & US Fish and Wildlife Service). She will also be visiting the Palo Verde Ramsar site and meeting with authorities of Ministry of Environment. [16/08/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, is in Dakar, Senegal, 17-22 August, to participate in Wetlands International's Strategic Planning Meeting for Africa, 19-21 August. [16/08/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, has left Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia, and is now in Freetown, Sierra Leone, 9-13 August 2004, to evaluate the progress of a Small Grants Fund project and assist in setting up a National Ramsar Committee. [09/08/04]

Ahmed El-Sabban, Assistant Advisor for Africa, is in Egypt for discussions with the Administrative Authority on the further implementation of the Convention in that country and to get married next Friday, the 13th. [09/08/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, has left Côte d'Ivoire, and is now in Monrovia, Liberia, 4-7 August 2004, in order to help in sorting out the various Ramsar responsibilities within the government of this new Party, discuss the implementation of a newly-approved Small Grants Fund project, and advise on the preparation of Liberia's National Report for Ramsar COP9. Then it's on to Sierra Leone on the 9th. [05/08/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, will be in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, from 29 July-August 1, to assist in the development of their National Ramsar Committee's Work Plan for 2004-2005, clarify the Convention's focal points, assist in the completion of their COP9 National Report, and assist in the development of an implementation plan for a Swiss Grant for Africa approved project for 2004.

 Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, and Lei Guangchun, Senior Advisor for Asia/Pacific, are attending an INTECOL meeting in the Netherlands from July 25-30 [26/07/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Cambridge, England, 6-7 July 2004, for a workshop on freshwater assessment and indicators, in relation to aspects of the World Water Development Report, hosted by UNEP's World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC). The discussions will be relevant to Ramsar STRP's work on developing ecological indicators of effectiveness of implementation of the Ramsar Convention, and David Pritchard (co-lead of STRP Working Group 6) will be participating as well. Nick will also be making a presentation on behalf of the CBD Secretariat on the current CBD processes for developing global targets and indicators for inland water ecosystems for assessing the 2010 biodiversity target, as a component of implementing the CBD-Ramsar Joint Work Plan. [05/07/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, is in Tokyo, Japan, 28-30 June 2004, to participate in a meeting of the screening committee for the Cosmos Prize (http://www.expo-cosmos.or.jp/menu_e.html); he’ll also meet with the Ramsar Administrative Authority in Japan and arrive back in the Secretariat on 2 July.
[29/06/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, is in Syrte, Libya, 26 June - 1 July 2004, for the AMCEN meeting (African Ministerial Committee for Environment) and discussions with the Libyan government on implementation of the Convention and designation of an Administrative Authority. [29/06/04]

Sandra Hails and Sebastià Semene Guitart are inParis, France, 24 June 2004, for discussions with Danone and UNESCO on collaborative education and public awareness activities. [24/06/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Berlin, Germany, 20-22 June 2004, for the UN-ECE Transboundary Waters Convention seminar on flood prevention, protection and mitigation. A report will follow as the night follows the day, and probably with wonderful pix. [21/06/04]

Sebastià Semene Guitart is in Paris, France, 21-24 June 2004, for "Danone, Star Alliance" [21/06/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is at UNESCO in Paris, France, 16-18 June 2004, for a working meeting concerning the establishment of a Polesia transboundary protected area and ecological network in Belarus, Poland, and Ukraine and for discussions with France's Administrative Authority. [17/06/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, is in Bonn, Germany, for the UNFCCC SBSTA/SBI, 16-22 June 2004. [15/06/04]

Sandra Hails, CEPA Programme Officer, is in Valsain, Spain, 12-16 June 2004, for a meeting of the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) for Europe. [15/06/04]

All of the Ramsar Secretariat staff are attending a "brainstorming" retreat, Monday 14 June 2004, in the nearby town of Rolle, Switzerland, and there will be no one in the offices for that day. [14/06/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Tampere, Finland, 7-9 June 2004, for a meeting of the Ramsar Coordinating Committee for Global Action on Peatlands, in conjunction with the IPS International Peat Congress. [07/06/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, is in Bujumbura, Burundi, 7-9 June 2004, to evaluate the implementation of the Convention in that country and some of the projects currently financed by Ramsar and WWF, and to discuss preparations for Ramsar COP 9 in November 2005 in Uganda. [07/06/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, is in Rhodes, Greece, 5 June 2004, for the awards ceremony for the Ramsar/MedWet wetland film competition at the Ecocinema Festival. [05/06/04]

Several Ramsar staff are participating in open house presentations for World Environment Day, 5 June 2004, sponsored by Ramsar, IUCN-The World Conservation Union, and WWF International in Gland Switzerland. [05/06/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, is in Zürich, Switzerland, 3-4 June 2004, to participate in a workshop of scientists and business executives on the impacts of climate change, organized by the Swiss Re re-insurance company. [03/06/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Geneva, Switzerland, 4 June 2004, to participate in a World Environment Day roundtable on water issues hosted by UNEP and the Government of Switzerland at International Environment House, and to inaugurate a new annex to the IEH. [04/06/04]

Guangchun Lei, Senior Advisor for Asia, is in Beijing, China, for discussions with the Administrative Authority, the State Forestry Administration, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, concerning the Himalayan Wetlands Initiative and possible hosting of its secretariat, planning for a subregional Ramsar meeting for East Asia, China's national plan for wetland restoration, and potential new Ramsar Site designations. [04/06/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, is in Kigali, Rwanda, 1-5 June 2004, to participate to the "National Workshop on the Ramsar Convention and the Management and Conservation of Wetlands". He will make a presentation on behalf of the Secretary General, and will lay down the foundations for the designation of Rwanda's first Ramsar site and the establishment of Rwanda's Ramsar National Committee, as well as discuss Rwanda's role in the preparation of COP9, November 2005, in Kampala. [01/06/04]

Estelle Gironnet, Assistant Advisor for Europe, is representing the Ramsar Convention at the 2nd Steering Committee meeting for the International Conference on Biodiversity, Paris, France, 1-2 June 2004. [01/06/04]

Sebastià Semene Guitart, Special Assistant, is in Rhodes, Greece, for the Ecocinema environmental film festival, 1-6 June 2004. [01/06/04]

Maria Anagnostopoulou, MedWet Communications Officer, is representing the Coordination Unit at the MedWet/Regions project technical seminar enitled “Inventory and mapping of wetlands”, in Ajaccio, Corsica, from 2 to 4 June 2004. Approximately 30 participants (3 from each partner region) involved in inventory issues will discuss the progress of the associated work of the project and will plan its final steps in view of the project’s closure at the end of October 2004. [01/06/04]

Alex de Sherbinin ofCIESIN is visiting the Ramsar Secretariat, 1 June 2004, to discuss further developments of Web-based mapping of information in relation to Ramsar Sites, the CIESIN Ramsar Data Gateway, and Wetlands International's Ramsar Sites Database Service. [01/06/04]

Dr Lei Guangchun, Senior Advisor for Asia, is attending the official launch of the Wetlands Ambassador Campaign, 28-30 May 2004, in Lijiang, China, a high mountain wetland and Ramsar candidate site. In the Wetlands Ambassador Campaign, ten selected university teams are to set up campaign centres to raise awareness amongst government officials, farmers and other stakeholders of the importance and benefits of conserving wetlands throughout the Mekong River Basin. The campaign is sponsored by WWF, the Ramsar Convention Bureau, and China's State Forestry Administration. Representatives from Mekong River Commission, the Government of China, students, and media will attend the launch ceremony. [27/05/04]

Spyros Kouvelis, MedWet Coordinator, and Nejib Benessaiah are in Tunis, Tunisia, for the first coordination meeting of the MedWet LIFE 3rd countries project for Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia. [26/05/04]

Spyros Kouvelis, MedWet Coordinator, is in Montpellier, France, to attend the International Workshop for the launching of the Mediterranean Irrigation Observatory. The workshop is organised by the Insitut Mediterraneen de l’Eau – IME, a partner of MedWet in GWP-Med. [25/05/04]

Mr. Levi Hiebert from theNGO Fundación DeSdelChaco in Paraguay is visiting the Secretariat, 17 March 2004, for discussions concerning Wetlands for the Future projects and assistance in preparing the designation of Paraguay's latest Ramsar Site. The Fundación DeSdelChaco have produced excellent Ramsar-related CEPA material and have substantially assisted Paraguay's implementation of the Convention. [17/05/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, and Sebastià Semene Guitart are in Cairns, Australia, for the "Global H2O Partnership Conference and Trade Fair", 10-14 May 2004, following which they will be talking with the Australian, New South Wales, and Tasmanian governments about developing some cultural case studies for COP9. Following that, they will be visiting the Japanese Ministries of Environment and Foreign Affairs, and returning to the office on 27 May. [10/05/04]

Margarita Astrálaga, Senior Advisor for the Americas, will be representing Ramsar at the Wetlands International "Vision" Workshop, 12-14 May 2004, at the Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat in the Camargue, France. [12/05/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, has gone to Niamey, Niger, to prepare for a workshop for west Africa, jointly sponsored by Ramsar and UNESCO, on wetland inventory methodologies, to begin next week. [12/05/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Ørlandet, Norway, for the "Nordic Wetland Conference & Ramsar Meeting", 4-7 May 2004. [04/05/04]

Nearly all of the Secretariat staff are at the UN Palais des Nations in Geneva today, 3 May, for a briefing session on Ramsar issues for representatives of the permanent missions to the United Nations. [03/05/04]

Spyros Kouvelis, the MedWet Coordinator, is in Brezovica, Slovakia, 28 April, at the invitation of the Carpathian Wetland Initiative project, to make two presentations on Thursday about Resolution VIII.30 on regional initiatives and the history and work of MedWet. On Monday, 3 May, he will be in Paris, France, to participate in the Regional Steering Committee meeting of the MedWet/Coast project. [28/04/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, has been in Vancouver, Canada, 24-25 April 2004, attending a two-day training meeting for developing country representatives and Steering Committee meeting of the International Association for Impact Assessment's (IAIA) Dutch-funded project on biodiversity in impact assessment, which is seeking to build capacity to implement the CBD/Ramsar guidelines on impact assessment. Today, 26 April, he is traveling to Montreal to provide input to the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's (MA) "Combined Working Group Meeting" until 29 April, which brings together the authors of each of the chapters of the MA's global assessment reports on Conditions & Trends, Scenarios, and Responses, to incorporate comments from the first round of peer review of the chapters. On Friday, 30 April, he will be at the CBD Secretariat, also in Montreal, to work with CBD colleagues on a range of issues in relation to the Ramsar-related decisions of CBD COP7 earlier this year and updating the CBD/Ramsar Joint Work Plan 2002-2006. [26/04/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, 26-30 April, is in Vilnius, Lithuania, for discussions with the Ramsar Administrative Authority there, and will travel on to Lida, Belarus, for a workshop on transboundary Ramsar Sites that grows out of a recent Ramsar Small Grants Fund Project. [26/04/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, is in Paris, France, for the conference "Partenariat international pour le Bassin du Niger: vision partagée, de la stratégie vers un plan d'action", sponsored by Président Chirac, 26-27 April 2004. [26/04/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, and Sebastià Semene are in New York, USA, for the 12th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, 14-30 April 2004. During the CSD12 sessions there will also be a Switzerland/Ramsar-sponsored side event on "Water for Birds, Water for People" and another Ramsar-related event on the role of the private sector in wetland conservation and water issues. For further information on CSD12, see http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd12/csd12.htm. [19/04/04]

Margarita Astrálaga, Senior Advisor for the Americas, is in Bogotá, Colombia , for meetings with the National Wetlands Committee, and will attend a workshop on "Conservation of High Altitude Wetlands in Central Andes" from 21 to 24 April to take place in the city of Armenia and Los Nevados National Park. [20/04/04]

Estelle Gironnet, Assistant Advisor for Europe, is representing the Ramsar Secretariat at the Réseau Ramsar Est Atlantique - Atelier, 21-23 avril 2004, at the Maison Ramsar Blanquetaque at the Baie de Somme Ramsar Site in France. [20/04/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Venice, Italy, 14-16 April 2004, for a promotional event for the designation of the main parts of the Venice Lagoon as a Ramsar Site, at the invitation of the Province of Venice. [15/04/04]

Lei Guangchun, Senior Advisor for Asia, is in Canada, 12-17 April 2004, for discussions with CIDA and WWF on integrated river basin management. [15/04/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Edinburgh, Scotland, for the Wetlands International/UK/Netherlands global flyways conference "Waterbirds Around the World", where he will make a plenary presentation on the African-Eurasian flyways. [05/04/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, is in Jeju, SouthKorea,for a seminar organised by UNEP on MEAs and Capacity Building, 25-28 March, followed by the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum, 29-31 March, and finally by discussions on Ramsar matters with Republic of Korea officials in Seoul. [26/03/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Glasgow, Scotland, for the 12th meeting of the Convention on Migratory Species' Scientific Council, after which, 2 April, he will go to Edinburgh for the Wetlands International Board of Directors meeting and the Wetlands International/UK/Netherlands global flyways conference "Waterbirds Around the World", where he will make a plenary presentation on the African-Eurasian flyways. [30/03/04]

Sandra Hails, CEPA Programme Officer, is in Edinburgh, Scotland, for discussions with Chris Prietto and members of the Wetlands International CEPA Specialist Group at the fringes of the Wetlands International Board meeting there, 1 April, and will then take a few days holiday in the old homeland. [01/04/04]

Margarita Astrálaga, Senior Advisor for the Americas, is in Quito, Ecuador, 27-30 March 2004, for a meeting, co-organized with IUCN South America, to works towards developing a strategy for the conservation and wise use of High Andean wetlands (as a follow-up to Resolution VIII.39 from COP8, 2002), with the participation of all relevant Parties in the region, the four partner organizations, some other NGOs, and a representative of the private sector. On 31 March Margarita will go to Bogotá, Colombia, for discussions with the Administrative Authority there, some national NGOs, and a conference on urban wetlands, 2 April. Following that she'll be on well-deserved leave until 17 April. [29/03/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is Valencia, Spain, 24-26 March 2004 for a MedWet Initiative Team meeting. The MedWet Team comprises the Coordination Unit and the four MedWet technical centres -- Tour du Valat (France), EKBY (Greece), SEHUMED (Spain), and ICN (Portugal). Amongst topics for discussion will be: revised and updated Terms of Reference for the MedWet Team; expanding the technical capacity of the Team with new centres; establishing MedWet Working Groups on CEPA and on culture; developing a 'status assessment' of Mediterranean wetlands; MedWet inventory developments; plans for MedWet/Com6; future arrangements for completing the MedWetCoast project; implementation of the new EU-funded North African Wetland Network (NAWN) project, and new MedWet project developments. Sebastia Semene will also attend, particularly in relation to cultural matters, and will stay on to participate in a workshop organized by SEHUMED on developing tools and methods for culture and wetlands. [24/03/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, is in Brussels, Belgium, for a seminar, 23 March, on "Europe joining forces to reach the 2010 biodiversity target - the need for coordinated monitoring", sponsored by the European Centre for Nature Conservation (ECNC) and the European Environment Agency in the European Parliament. [23/03/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, Sandra Hails, CEPA Programme Officer, and Sebastià Semene, are in Paris, France, 22 March 2004, for the signing of a memorandum of cooperation with the Danone Group and WWF for promoting awareness of water issues. [22/03/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Brno, Czech Republic, for a meeting of the Danube Commission ecology expert group, 20-23 March 2004, to discuss the EU horizontal guidance document on wetlands (linked to the Water Framework Directive) and an issue paper on this theme for the Danube Convention States. [22/03/04]

Margarita Astrálaga, Senior Advisor for the Americas, is in Miama, USA, for a meeting of the "White Water 2 Blue Water" partnership, 21-26 March 2004, an initiative aimed at fostering healthy, well-managed and productive marine and coastal ecosystems that support stable and secure economies in coastal countries of the Wider Caribbean Region. [22/03/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, and Sebastià Semene Guitart, are in Kampala, Uganda, 12-17 March 2004, for discussions with national focal point Paul Mafabi and other Uganda authorities about preparations for Ramsar COP9 in November 2005. [12/03/04]

Ahmed El-Sabban, Estelle Gironnet, Liazzat Rabbiosi, and Iván Dario Valencia, the four Assistant Regional Advisors, are visiting International Environment House in Geneva for a Geneva Environment Network seminar on "Human Rights and the Environment", 12 March 2004. [03/03/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, and Sebastià Semene Guitart, are in Nairobi, Kenya, for the board meeting of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 9-11 March 2004. [08/03/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Bali, Indonesia, 6-12 March 2004, for planning sessions on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's Synthesis Report on the Ramsar Convention. [08/03/04]

Clayton Rubec, Canadian Wildlife Service, is visiting the Secretariat to talk with Ramsar and IUCN about a planned major CIDA project which will contribute to the development of capacity in Iraq for wetland conservation and wise use, including a focus on restoration of the Mesopotamian marshes. Whilst here Clay is also discussing with the Secretariat Canada's interest in contributing to the developing Ramsar and water debate, and plans for national wetland policies symposium which will take place as part of the Intecol wetlands conference in the Netherlands in July. [04/03/04]

Thymio Papayannis, Advisor to the MedWet Coordination Unit, is visiting the Secretariat for discussions on conservation and cultural issues in the Mediterranean Basin. [04/03/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, is in Lelystad, The Netherlands, to chair the Board meeting of the RIZA Wetland Advisory Training Centre (WATC)'s international training courses. [03/03/04]

Rosa Montañez, Director of the Regional Ramsar Centre for Training and Research on Wetlands in the Western Hemisphere, based in Panama, is visiting the Ramsar Secretariat, 3-11 March 2004, for briefing sessions on the future work plan and regional priorities. [03/03/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is visiting the Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat (Camargue, France), 26-27 February, "to meet with TdV Director Jean Jalbert and Spyros Kouvelis to discuss furthering the MedWet Initiative and the working relationships between Tour du Valat as a MedWet Centre and the Athens-based Mediterranean Coordination Unit. As part of this dialogue we will be looking at the planning for the proposed MedWet/Com6 meeting late in 2004, and ideas for preparing a status assessment of Mediterranean wetlands, which would be anticipated to feed into the MedWet/Com meeting as a source of inspiration for identifying future MedWet Initiative priorities." [26/02/04]

David Pritchard, RSPB and BirdLife International, is visiting the Secretariat today, 18 February, to discuss plans for his sabbatical period later this year in which he will be looking at implementing elements of the Ramsar/MAB joint programme of work, progressing STRP's Working Group 6 work on indicators of convention effectiveness, and a number of other matters. [18/02/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Beirut, Lebanon, 15-19 February, for a meeting of the MedWet/Coast network. [17/02/04]

Lei Guangchun, Senior Advisor for Asia, is in China 12-21 February for a workshop on high mountain wetlands, together with WWF, ICIMOD, and the Government of China, intended to follow up on the Himalayan Initiative particularly with regard to developing the project proposal "Water Resources Management and Wise Use of Highland Lakes in Great Asian Mountains" and discussing the establishment of a Regional Wetland Centre in Great Asian Mountains. [13/02/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, and Sebastià Semene, are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for the CBD's COP7, 7-16 February 2004. [09/02/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, and Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, are in Geneva, 6 February, for a meeting of UNEP's Environment Management Group (EMG) at International Environment House. [06/02/04]

Margarita Astrálaga, Senior Advisor for the Americas, is in Geneva, 7 February, to participate in a World Bank meeting in the Palais des Nations. [06/02/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, is in Paris, France, 4-5 February 2004, for discussions with UNESCO and the Danone Groupe. [04/02/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, is in The Seychelles, 5-7 February 2004, for the "pre-accession workshop" to assist that nation in preparing to join the Ramsar Convention. Jean Paul Paddack, head of the WWF Madagascar and West Indian Ocean Programme Office, is participating as well, and financial support for the meeting is provided by the Ramsar Secretariat through the Swiss Grant for Africa. [04/02/04]

Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, is in Mexico, 2 February 2004, for World Wetlands Day ceremonies. [02/02/04]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Athens, Greece, 2 February 2004, for World Wetlands Day ceremonies sponsored by the Government of Greece and the MedWet Coordination Unit. [02/02/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Strasbourg, France, 2 February 2004, for World Wetlands Day activities sponsored by Alsace Nature and WWF-Auen-Institut. [02/02/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, is in Mopti, Mali, 27-31 January 2004, for the workshop "A Ramsar network for the Niger Basin -- Subregional Networking for Ramsar Sites in the Niger Basin". See the programme here, followed by World Wetlands Day ceremonies announcing the designation of the Ramsar Site "Delta Intérieur du Niger" [02/02/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is in Palencia, Spain, 27-31 January 2004, for the advisory board meeting of a Life project on two Ramsar Sites in Spain and Greece and a seminar on the management of protected areas, with his costs covered by Global Nature Fund (beneficiary of the Life project). [28/01/04]

Abou Bamba, Senior Advisor for Africa, is in Mopti, Mali, 27-31 January 2004, for the workshop "A Ramsar network for the Niger Basin -- Subregional Networking for Ramsar Sites in the Niger Basin". See the programme here. [28/01/04]

Luc Hoffmann, Jean-Paul Taris, and Jean Jalbert are visiting the Secretariat today for discussions about the Convention's ongoing work with the Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat in the Camargue, France. [23/01/04]

Tobias Salathé, Senior Advisor for Europe, is at Champ-Pittet Ramsar Site on lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, being interviewed by Radio Suisse Romande 1ère on the true meaning of World Wetlands Day. [21/01/04]

Peter Bridgewater, the Secretary General, is attending theGeneral Assembly of the International Union of Biological Sciencesand theInternational Conference on Biological Sciences, Development and Society,17-22 January 2004, in Cairo, Egypt. [20/01/04]

Everyone's here! The Ramsar Secretariat is bulging out along its seams as -- a very rare occurrence -- the entire staff is here at home base at the same time, and the members and observers of the Standing Committee's 30th meeting are pulling up at the front door in taxicabs at 3-minute intervals.[13/01/04]

Spyros Kouvelis, the MedWet Coordinator, is in Tunis, Tunisia, 8-9 January, where MedWet is holding the regional workshop on Agriculture, Water and Wetlands, in the context of the Mediterranean Dialogue on Water Food and Environment (of which MedWet is the leader) and funded by Inwent-Germany. [08/01/04]