Tropical Marine Symposium, Cozumel, October 2006
Ramsar represented at Tropical Marine Symposium in Cozumel, Mexico
Margarita Astrálaga and Adrián Ruiz from the Ramsar Americas team represented the Convention at the III International Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management Symposium (ITMEMS3), held in Cozumel, Mexico on the 16-20 October 2006. Intended to serve as a forum where marine protected area managers could learn and share their experiences, some of the main events within the Symposium were the regional workshops and caucuses. Together with the US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, Ramsar co-chaired the Disaster & Restoration workshop, which had as its major outcomes:
- On the role of coastal restoration following natural disasters: it was agreed that restoration efforts, especially for coral reefs and mangroves, should favour a preventive approach rather than one based on "destroy & restore". In addition, emphasis on prevention should be made whenever restoration professionals are trained in the future. The full report of the workshop will be posted in our coral reef Web site http://www.ramsar.org/types_coral.htm as soon as is finalised.
- On the progress made on previous recommendations: a network of all the participants in the workshop (and other interested parties) was declared as established. This follows the ITMEMS2 recommendation to share information and develop guidelines on appropriate restoration and rehabilitation practices.
- On providing practical guidance on restoration: in order to facilitate the sharing of technical information on case studies and provide a "systematic review" of the current state of knowledge in the topic, Ramsar volunteered to include in its restoration mini-website all the case studies related to tropical marine ecosystems restoration provided by participants. The case studies are expected to go online soon - stay tuned!
Adrián
Ruiz from Ramsar, during a presentation on mangrove restoration
For
further information about the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, please contact
the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Rue Mauverney 28,
CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169,
e-mail 
).
Posted 14 November 2006, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.
