The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

News from WLI - Australia

WLI - Australia was launched in March 2003 - it's a complex story but worth the telling before I get on to the main purpose of this page (the leaflet pictured on the left). It all starts with the Ramsar CEPA Resolution VII.9 (now superseded of course by VIII.31!) which encouraged Contracting Parties to use education and community involvement to promote wise use of wetlands. In Australia this gave rise to the Australian Wetlands Information Network (AWIN), which in turn initiated the establishment of WLI -Australia as a specialist group under the AWIN umbrella - read more here about the launch of WLI - Australia, their inaugural meeting and the development of their communication strategy.

And now on to the leaflet - Leanne Cherry, Project Officer at the Wetlands Centre, has sent the Ramsar Secretariat copies of a new leaflet from AWIN that covers 18 of the main centres that make up WLI - Australia. With the theme "Wetland centres offer something for everyone" this leaflet is just packed with information under headings such as So what is a Wetland Centre?, Discover the Magic, Explore the Wonders, Be Amazed. It's intended to encourage people to visit centres and at the same time includes all the relevant information needed to organise a trip.

The map of Australia on the inside pages identifies the location of 18 wetland centres from all over the country - all part of the WLI Australia network - and a neat table below this gives potential visitors everything they need to know: phone contact, web site, opening hours, admission costs as well as details of what's available at the site in terms of boardwalks, bird hides, canoe availability etc.

For further information please contact Leanne at project@wetlands.org.au.

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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 26 February 2004, Sandra Hails, Ramsar.