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Proyecto de capacitación y vigilancia en Cayapas-Mataje [English]

News from Wetlands for the Future

Noticias de Ecuador del Fondo de Humedales para El Futuro

Proyecto de capacitación y vigilancia en Cayapas-Mataje

El más reciente sitio Ramsar de Ecuador, Reserva Ecológica Cayapas-Mataje, lleva el nombre de la Convención por toda su costa, pues un proyecto financiado por el Fondo Humedales para El Futuro (WFF/01/ECU/1) permitió adquirir un bote a motor llamado "Ramsar I" para llevar a cabo patrullaje y actividades de vigilancia. El proyecto, ejecutado por la Fundación Obra Maestra, capacitó a 30 líderes comunitarios acerca de los valores y funciones de los humedales, ecología y conservación de manglares, manejo de eventuales derrames de hidrocarburos, legislación ambiental en Ecuador, la Convención de Ramsar, y liderazgo comunitario y político. Se espera que estos 30 líderes se conviertan en multiplicadores en sus respectivas comunidades para llevar el mensaje del uso racional y frenar la utilización insostenible de los recursos del manglar. La Fase 2 del proyecto está en curso, también con aportes del FHF.

News from the Wetlands for the Future Fund in Ecuador

Training and patrolling in Cayapas-Mataje

The most recently designated Ramsar site in Ecuador, Reserva Ecológica Cayapas-Mataje, boosts the Convention's name all along its coast, as a Wetlands for the Future project (WFF/01/ECU/1) financed the purchase of a small motorboat, named "Ramsar I", to do patrolling and vigilance activities in the reserve. The project was carried out by Fundación Obra Maestra, and also trained 30 local leaders about values and functions of wetlands, mangrove ecology and conservation, response towards possible oil spills in the area, environmental law in Ecuador, the Ramsar Convention, and political and community leadership. It is expected that these 30 leaders will become multipliers in their respective communities in order to spread the wise use message and stop the unsustainable use of mangrove resources. Phase 2 of the project is underway, also with support of WFF.

-- reported by Iván Darío Valencia, Ramsar.

The Bureau of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971), the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service support the Wetlands for the Future Fund (WFF) training initiative for the Western Hemisphere, first begun in 1997. This activity promotes the implementation of the concept of "wise use" of wetlands through the strengthening of the capacity of countries to manage their wetland resources in perpetuity and by contributing to the integration of wetland conservation and management with the development process. All proposed activities must be in line with the principles, recommendations and guidelines of the Ramsar Convention. For more information about the WFF, see http://ramsar.org/key_wff_index.htm.

For further information about the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, please contact the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (tel +41 22 999 0170, fax +41 22 999 0169, e-mail ramsar@ramsar.org). Posted 18 November 2003, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.