The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Regional, National, sub-National and Site CEPA Action Plans/ Strategies

The first Ramsar CEPA Resolution (VII.9) gave a call for the development and implementation of action plans for wetland CEPA. CEPA Resolution (VIII.31), adopted at COP8 in November 2002 and replacing Resolution VII.9,  reiterates this call for Contracting Parties to "Formulate, drawing upon the Additional Guidance on reviewing and action planning for wetland communication, education and public awareness (CEPA) developed for this purpose, a national (and, where appropriate, sub-national, catchment or local) action plan for wetland CEPA" (Action 2.1.3). Contracting Parties are also requested to provide copies of these Action Plans to the Bureau. The CEPA resolution is available as Handbook 4 in the 3rd Edition of the Ramsar Handbook Series.

Ten Action Plans (two Regional, four National, two sub-National and three Site) have so far been sent to the Secretariat and we are pleased to make them available to readers below.

While the CEPA Resolution calls for separate action plans, it also asks Parties to ensure that appropriate CEPA actions are included in site management plans. Efforts are being made to identify such plans. One such plan is available below.

At Ramsar's COP9, held in November 2005, a side event entitled Models for CEPA Action Planning took place with presentations from 6 Contracting Parties. Read the full report here.

Regional Action Plan

MedWet, the first out-posted regional unit of the Ramsar Secretariat, published its MedWet Strategy for Communication, Education and Public Awareness (MedWet CEPA Strategy) 2003-2005, in June 2003. MedWet was set up as a regional initiative for the conservation of Mediterranean wetlands and as a regional implementation mechanism of the Ramsar Convention in the Mediterranean, so the CEPA Strategy is based firmly upon Ramsar's CEPA Resolution VIII.31 and MedWet's work plan for 2003-2005. The Strategy sets clear actions, target groups and specific targets to be achieved within given time frames under five general objectives. You can view the Strategy on-line here.

Wetlands International’s West Africa Programme has produced the first wetland CEPA strategy at the supra-national (regional) level. Their “Stratégie régionale en Éducation et Sensibilisation du public sur les zones humides” was published in March 2003 and effectively integrates the major elements of the Ramsar CEPA Resolution with the CEPA components of the Wetlands International Strategy, 2003-2005. Available for download (in French only at the moment) in PDF format here (527KB).

National Action Plans

Australia officially launched its National Action Plan 2001 - 2005 on World Wetlands Day, 2 February 2001, and an updated version became available in 2002. You can download the latest version here as a PDF file. Read about the development of the Action Plan here.

Germany published a 47-page German Action Plan for Communication, Education and Public Awareness on Wetlands under the Ramsar Convention, on 31 August, 2001.   The German Ramsar Administrative Authority has very kindly been made this available to the Convention in Adobe PDF format (486KB).

Hungary published its National Strategy for Communication, Education and Awareness in Support of Wetland Conservation in Hungary on 2nd May 2002. The Hungarian Ramsar Administrative Authority, the Authority for Nature Conservation of the Ministry of Environment, has made the strategy available as a Word document which you can download and the Bureau has reproduced it in  HTML.

Spain published its Guidance for CEPA plans (Communication, Education, Participation and Awareness) in Spanish Wetlands in September 2005. The Spanish Ramsar Administrative Authority, the Ministry of Environment, has kindly made the publication available to the Convention in PDF format in both English and Spanish (950KB)

Sub-National Action Plans

The first to produce its National Action Plan, Australia now takes the number one spot again having produced a Wetlands Communication Strategy for the 22,000 km² Hunter region in the southeast of the country. This work was spearheaded by The Wetlands Centre Australia (Chair of the Centre is Chris Prietto, CEPA NGO Focal Point). The Plan is reproduced here in HTML.

And another from Australia. Shorebird Education was an initiative identified in the Australian CEPA Action Plan (see top of this page) and The Wetlands Centre has taken this initiative one step further by developing a Shorebird Communication Strategy to deliver targeted education programs to site managers, educators and children along the East-Asian Australasian flyway. Reproduced here in HTML

Site Action Plans

Slovenia has developed a CEPA strategy for a network of Karst wetlands established in the karst area in the south west part of the country. The Strategy, published in 2006, will primarily focus on bringing together and strengthening cooperation between schools, local people, other stakeholders and management authorities of the protected areas. View as a PDF file here.

A CEPA Action Plan for for the Malagarasi-Muyovozi Wetland, Tanzania's first Ramsar Site, has been developed by the Tanzanian Ramsar Administrative Authority to complement a project on the sustainable and integrated management of the site. Published in 2004, this proposed strategy can be viewed as a PDF file here. Read here a status report on implementation of this plan, March 2007.

A three-year awareness-raising strategy developed by the Ramsar Administrative Authority for Tanzania to prepare local stakeholders for their future role in the management of the Lake Jipe Ramsar Site. Published in 2004, this can be viewed as a PDF file here.

CEPA actions in site management plans

This integrated wetland management plan for Thailand's Nong Bong Kai Ramsar Site, prepared in 2004, was developed through a participatory process involving local stakeholders, local government, local communities, NGOs and the private sector. CEPA activities, including training, awareness-raising and active participation of local communities, are an integral part of the plan. Available as a PDF file here.

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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 24 September 2001, updated 15 September, 2007, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat.