The Ramsar Convention on WetlandsThe Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
Ramsar COP8 - Brief report and photos: Demonstrations
| "Wetlands:
water, life, and culture" 8th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971) Valencia, Spain, 18-26 November 2002 |
Peaceful demonstrations inside and outside of the venue
Demonstrations are something new for Ramsar. NGO participation in Convention processes over the past 30-odd years have usually been confined to solid policy work in committees, vast expert practical work on the ground, and earnest and heartfelt interventions at the COPs. At COP8, for the first time, a large number of peaceful demonstrations took place, both outside the venue and in the streets of Valencia and within the venue itself as well by NGOs accredited to participate.
. . . . Leading to some anomalous situations from time to time, for example, when WWF demonstrators were outside protesting against policy at the same time that WWF officers were inside participating as equals in crafting policy.
Naturally, the Spanish Hydrological Plan drew the largest numbers and most attention.
For
further information about the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, please contact
the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland
(tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ramsar@ramsar.org).
Photos by D. Peck and Artero Fotografos, Valencia. Posted 13 March 2003, Dwight
Peck, Ramsar.
