From the Ramsar Forum

Inquiry on transboundary site planning, Namibia and South Africa

(posted to the Ramsar Forum, 10 February 2000)

Subject: Transboundary Ramsar site planning

Dear Forum

The mouth of the Orange River forms part of the boundary between South Africa and Namibia, with both countries having designated their respective parts as Ramsar sites. Both countries are now hard at work planning the integration of these two sites into a single jointly-managed transboundary site.

We are interested in finding out how this kind of planning has been tackled by other Contracting Parties who have designated transboundary sites. Any information would be appreciated, and in particular:

• How have issues such as the harmonisation of legislation, institutional arrangements for management and coordination, and day-to-day management been addressed?
• Are there management plans that have been developed for such sites that can be made available to guide us in our planning?
• Does the Bureau have guidelines or case studies which may be of use?

We accept that the form of any agreement between two countries to jointly manage a site will be specific to the circumstances in those countries, but would nevertheless be interested in the experiences of other CPs to assist our planning.

Looking forward to a full mailbox...

Best regards, John Dini, Nat#032#Jd@ozone.pwv.gov.za

Wetlands Conservation Programme, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Private Bag X447 Pretoria 0001, South Africa, Tel: +27 12 310-3789 Fax: +27 12 322-6287, http://www.ccwr.ac.za/wetlands/

See also Ramsar's Guidelines on international cooperation under the Ramsar Convention, section 2.1

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To join the Ramsar Forum, send this message: <join ramsar-forum>, without the < >, to ramsar-mgr@indaba.iucn.org. For more information on 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 ). Posted 11 February 2000, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.