Recommendations of the Brisbane Conference

Recommendation 6.16 on Bilateral and multilateral development cooperation programmes

6th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties
Brisbane, Australia
19-27 March 1996

Recommendation 6.16: Conservation and wise use of wetlands in bilateral and multilateral development cooperation programmes

1. RECOGNIZING that the loss of wetlands has reached alarming proportions, initially in developed countries over the last century but also, over the last forty years, in the tropics and sub-tropics, and that improved wetland conservation and management planning at the river basin scale and in coastal zones, will contribute significantly to increase water resource security;

2. RECALLING Recommendation 5.5 on the same subject which:

a) called on Multilateral Development Banks and Development Agencies to give even greater priority to the formulation and adoption of coherent wetland development policies, procedures and practices directed at sustainable utilization, wise management, and conservation of wetlands; and

b) further called on Contracting Parties in developed countries to review their development cooperation policies, in the light of the obligations and opportunities presented by Ramsar, to support country-driven projects with a view to assisting developing countries to fulfil their Ramsar obligations;

3. WELCOMING the presentation by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) at the present meeting of its Guidelines for Aid Agencies for Improved Conservation and Sustainable Use of Tropical and Sub-Tropical Wetlands, prepared for OECD by IUCN - The World Conservation Union, with input from a large number of development assistance agencies, the European Union, the World Bank and non-governmental organizations with expertise on wetland policies and management;

4. RECORDING the generous support from the Finnish International Development Agency (FINNIDA) which has provided the funds for the production of these Guidelines; and

5. NOTING that, according to the Guidelines, these are designed for policy makers, to address national, regional and international environmental issues in the field of conservation and sustainable use of wetlands;

THE CONFERENCE OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES

6. INVITES the Contracting Parties to present their comments on these Guidelines to the Standing Committee by a date to be fixed by the Standing Committee; and

7. REQUESTS the Standing Committee to study the Guidelines based on these comments, and to report the results of such study for consideration by the 7th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties.

For further information about the Ramsar Convention, 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 26 December 1996, updated 24 March 2000, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.