The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

4th European regional meeting on the Ramsar Convention, Bled, Slovenia, 13-18 October 2001

Invitation to the meeting

REPUBLIC OF SLOVENIA
MINISTRY OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND SPATIAL PLANNING
Dunajska c. 48, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Phone: (+386) 1/47 87 400 · Fax: (+386) 1/47 87 422

Ljubljana, 23 April, 2001

Dear Madam / Sir,

The Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of Slovenia is pleased to invite you to participate in the forthcoming 4^th European Regional Meeting on the Ramsar Convention that will be held in Bled, from 13-18 October 2001. This meeting will serve as an important opportunity to provide inputs concerning the 8^th Conference of the Parties to be held in Valencia, Spain, 18-26 November 2002. The European Regional Meeting will have the opportunity to review and debate progress with the current Convention Work Plan, National Reports for COP8, the new Ramsar Strategic Plan for the period 2003-2008, the themes of the five Technical Sessions of COP8 and the current work on specific themes by twelve working groups of the Convention’s Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP).

We do hope that all Contracting Parties in Europe will register for the Meeting. The intention is to ensure participation of two delegates from each Party. These should be one delegate from the Ramsar Administrative Authority and one additional delegate, preferably from another sector in the government, such as the water management agency or the agency responsible for other relevant international environmental treaties. Therefore, we would kindly invite you to copy this invitation to suitable candidates in these agencies.

We are also inviting the European members and national focal points of the STRP, and the focal points for wetland communication, education and public awareness (CEPA – Ramsar Outreach Programme). The Secretariats of the conventions and the other institutions with which Ramsar has formal agreements and joint work plans and the donor community, both multilateral and bilateral, are invited to send representatives. Ramsar’s International Organisation Partners and other national, regional or international NGOs with which the Ramsar Bureau maintains working relationships are invited. An observer will be invited also from European countries that are not yet Contracting Parties to the Convention.

Together with the Ramsar Bureau, we are seeking funding to enable the participation of all countries included in the OECD Development Assistance Committee’s list of aid recipients (according to Standing Committee Decision 25-28). However, delegates from these countries who are in a position to seek their own funding are encouraged to do so, in order that we can target the scarce Ramsar resources where the need is greatest.

Please fill in the relevant forms attached and send in the required information and documents by the deadline indicated. This will allow us to prepare the Meeting in the best possible way. Further information about the Meeting, including a hotel reservation form, updated programme, excursion briefing and other documents will be provided directly to individuals who have registered before 31 May 2001.

We are looking forward to meeting you in Bled this autumn.

Sincerely yours,

Janez Kopac
The Minister

Encl.: Provisional programme
Overview report on National Wetland Policies
Registration (Form 1)
National Ramsar Work Plan and Draft Report (Form 2)

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 1 May 2001, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.