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Agenda for the Okavango Management Plan Donor Meeting and field trip

Okavango Management Plan Donor Meeting and field trip

Anada Tiéga, Ramsar Regional Coordinator for Africa, reports:

I am leaving today (Saturday 26 May) for a trip to Botswana from 27 to 31 May 2001. I will work in Maun and in the Okavango Delta (largest Ramsar site in the world) with the representatives of the following institutions:

• The Ramsar Administrative Authority, National Conservation Strategy Agency, Ministry of Lands Housing and Environment, Government of Botswana, Gaborone
• IUCN Wetland Programme, HQ (Jean-Yves Pirot)
• IUCN country office in Botswana (Ruud Jansen, IUCN, Country Representative Botswana, Gaborone))
• IUCN Regional office for Southern Africa (Misael Kokwe, IUCN, Head Ecosystems Management Programme, Harare Zimbabwe)
• National Forest and Nature Agency (Hanne Jensen, Chief Programme Officer, Copenhagen, Denmark)
• DANCED (Peter Jens Christensen, DANCED, Chief Programme Coordinator (Southern Africa), Copenhagen, Denmark)
• Harry Oppenheimer, Okavango Research Centre, Maun (Lars Ramberg Director)

Objectives of the mission;

1. discuss the technical and operational details of the Okavango Management Plan -Design Mission Report with key donors who have expressed an interest in supporting the activity;

2. consider various options on the way forward towards implementing the suggested Okavango management planning exercise taking into consideration GoB process, donor interests and requirements, and time frame;

3. undertake a reconnaissance trip into the Okavango Delta (including a reconnaissance flight over the delta) with the aim of reconciling the planning / implementation requirements of the Okavango Delta with the proposed methodology and scope of work as suggested in the Design Mission Report; and

4. discuss and agree on the steps required and the actions needed to start the process of implementing the management planning exercise including donor interests, pledges and commitments.

Anticipated outputs:

a) additional comments on Design Mission Report

b) suggestions / recommendation for operationalising the management planning exercise

c) list of actions required (by whom) to set implementation process in motion

_________________________ My contact details in Maun and the Okavango Delta: Stay at Riley's Hotel Maun - tel: ++ 267 660320 on 27 May and 30 May 2001; Stay at Okuti Camp (contact: Okuti Safaris, Maun - tel: ++ 267 660570) on 29 May 2001. I will be back on June 1. Thanks, Anada.

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). Posted 29 May 2001, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.