What's New at Ramsar

Update on the planned Millennium Wetland Event

[News item]

The Millennium Wetland Event scheduled for August 6-12, 2000 at Quebec City, Canada is well on track. This Event will bring together major global wetland and peatland meetings including the INTECOL VI Wetlands Conference, the 21st Meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists, the 9th Symposium of the International Mire Conservation Group, and the 11th Congress of the International Peat Society. The Ramsar Convention, Wetlands International, Ducks Unlimited and many other national, regional and international wetland partners are now involved in this Millennium project. Over 1000 papers and up to 2000 participants are expected.

The Co-Chair of the Organizing Committee, Clayton Rubec of Environment Canada, noted that over 60 proposals for Symposia have now been received. Hotel rooms in a wide range of prices and the facilities are in place. A full description of the whole Event is included on their Web site: www.cqvb.qc.ca/wetland2000/ This includes details on the objectives of the meetings in all aspects of wetland science, management and policy. The Event is now supported by the Government of Canada as an official Millennium Project, and many NGO, corporate and provincial (Governments of Quebec, New Brunswick and Ontario) donors. An exciting week-long program has been developed. Instructions on how to submit abstracts and symposia proposals, a delegate travel support initiative with corporate donors, hotel booking procedures, and much more are available on the site. Clayton Rubec can be contacted at clay.rubec@ec.gc.ca  or fax 1-819-994-4445.

The planning for the Millennium Wetland Event at Québec City, Canada from August 6-12, 2000 is well advanced. It will bring together under the same roof the 6th INTECOL Global wetlands Conference of the International Association of Ecology, in conjunction with the 21st Annual Meeting of the Society of Wetland Scientists, the 11th World Congress of the International Peat Society, and Symposia of the International Mire Conservation Group, Wetlands International and many other wetland and peatland organizations. The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands and the IUCN Ecosystem Management Commission have offered to assist in implementation of the program.

This Event has been recognized and supported by the Millennium Partnership Fund as an official Government of Canada Millennium Event. Environment Canada staff involved in the National Ramsar Program in Ottawa and Ste-Foy are involved in the Organizing Committee for this major undertaking.

The Organizing Committee, comprised of representatives of international partners, and Canadian and universities, federal, provincial and several foreign governments and industry, invite your participation and presentation of papers or posters. Currently over 60 proposals for Invited Paper Symposia and Short Courses are being considered in addition to many Contributed Paper and Poster Sessions. It is expected that over 1000 papers from 2000 participants from all parts of the World will be presented. The Organizers are hoping to establish a support fund to assist travellers from developing and disadvantaged regions.

Symposia topics proposed to date (September 1999) include:

• Wetlands and Greenhouse Gases (Don Adams, USA);
• Biogeochemistry and Microbiological Ecology of Wetlands (Richard Robarts, Canada);
• Politics and Legal Experience in Wetland Development (A. Shukla, India)
• Integrating Wetlands, Biodiversity and Water (Wetlands International);
• Characterizing Properties of Peat and Peat-based Substrates (Ron Walden, USA);
• Biodiversity in Wetland (J. Dagar, India);
• Waterfowl Habitat Conservation (Ducks Unlimited);
• Wetland Response to Changes Water Quantity and Quality (Carolyn Oldham, USA);
• Wetland Plants of the USA (Porter Reid, USA);
• Neotropical wetlands: Building Links Among Scientists (Eduardo da Silva, Brazil);
• Restoration of Sphagnum Peatlands (Line Rochefort, Canada);
• Pond Landscapes Survival and Protection (Andrew Hull, United Kingdom);
• Coastal Conservation in South East Asia (A. Saxena, India);
• Wetland Education (Irene Wais de Badgen, Argentina);
• Peat Therapy Worldwide (Gerd Luttig, Germany);
• Tropical and Subtropical wetlands (Eliska Rejmankova, USA);
• Salt Marshes and Mangroves (Jean Claude Lefeuvre, France);
• Floodplain Forests (Wolfgang Junk, Germany);
• Constructed Wetlands for Wastewater (John Pries, Canada);
• Decomposition in Wetlands (Jos Verhoeven, Netherlands);
• Species Diversity, Biogeochemistry and Hydrology of Fens (Barbara Bedford, USA);
• Use of Stable Isotope Analysis in Wetlands (Janet Keough, USA);
• Peat Soil Quality Assessment (Léon-Etienne Parent, Canada);
• Constructed Wetlands for Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems (Wolfgang Grosse, Germany);
• Wetland Restoration (Kevin Erwin, USA);
• Public Water Supply Wellfields (John Emery, USA);
• Carbon Balance in Peatlands (Tim Moore, Canada);
• Freshwater and Coastal Fish Habitat Conservation (Robert Bailey, Canada);
• Wetlands Image Interpretation (John Anderson, USA);
• Wetland Data Bases and Conservation Planning (Ed Wiken, Canada)
• Wetland Classification and Inventory (Barry Warner, Canada);
• Succession and Wetland Development (Yangyong Xing, P.R. China);
• Wetlands as Carbon Sinks in Climate Change (Jon Kusler, USA);
• Wetlands and Migratory Birds Programs (Ken Cox, Canada);
• Wetlands and the Great Lakes Basin (Nancy Patterson, Canada);
• Northern Wetlands (Najat Bhiry, Canada);
• Disease and Wetlands (Pat Dale, USA);
• Tropical Forested Wetlands (Katherine Ewel, USA);
• Beyond Wetland Policy on the Ground (Pauline Lynch-Stewart, Canada);
• Plants and Organisms in Stressed Wetland Environments (Abad Chabbi, Germany);
• Flood Pulsing and Restoration of Wetlands (Beth Middleton, USA);
• Wetland Identification and Classification for International Practitioners (Ralph Tiner, USA);
• Floodplain Restoration (Gerry Quinn, Australia);
• Rice Agroecosystems and Maintenance of Biodiversity (Ahyaudin Ali, Malaysia);
• The Global Action Plan for Peatlands (Richard Lindsay, United Kingdom);
• Peatland Conservation (Claude Lavoie, Canada);
• Wetland Habitat Monitoring anDAssessment (Luc Belanger, Canada);
• Wetlands and protection of Endangered Species (Laurie Maynard, Canada);
• Wetland Biological Assessment (USEPA)

and the list of special meetings and symposia keeps growing.

An exciting week of meetings and social and cultural events for participants are being organized. Full details on the scope of these meetings and their draft program, field trips, registration, hotels and additional information can be viewed at the Web site: http://www/cqvb.qc.ca/wetland2000/  

or by contact with:

Millennium Wetland Event Secretariat
Attention: Ms. Elizabeth MacKay
Bureau 620, Le Delta II,
2875, boulevard Laurier
Ste-Foy, Québec
Canada G1V 2M2
Phone: (418) 657-3853/Fax: (418) 657-7934
E-mail: cqvb@cqvb.qc.ca

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 ). Posted 8 August 1999, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.