The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands

Who was where, 2001?

Who was where, 2001?

A collection of travel news about Ramsar Bureau staff, in reverse chronological order, drawn from the Who's Where? feature of the Ramsar Bulletin Board.

For more old Ramsar Bureau travel news, see also 'Who Was Where', 2000

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is in Paris (France) for consultations with the private-sector Danone Group about the future of the Danone/Ramsar Evian Project. [19/12/01]

MedWet Coordination Unit: Spyros Kouvelis and Nejib Benessaiah of the Convention's MedWet Coordination Unit in Athens, Greece, will be in Cairo, Egypt, for discussions on the preparation and launching of the North African Network focal units to be established in each of the five countries (Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia), 17 to 22 December 2001. [16/12/01]

Alain Lambert, Senior Advisor, Environment and Development Cooperation, will also be in Cairo 17 to 22 December, discussing potential MedWet project financing and participating in the GWP-MedWet Regional Stakeholders Conference on Effective Water Governance. [16/12/01]

Najam Khurshid, Regional Coordinator for Asia, is in India 11-14 December as part of the 49th Ramsar Advisory Mission, this one intended to the process of removing Chilika Lake from the Montreux Record. [11/12/01]

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, is in Tanzania, 11-18 December, for technical discussions with that Party's National Wetland Working Group. [11/12/01]

MedWet Coordination Unit. Nejib Benessaiah, MedWet Policy Advisor, is in Bonn, Germany, 30 November to 6 December, participating in the Global Water Partnership meeting on "Water, Food, and Environment Dialogue". MedWet is a member of the GWP-Mediterranean. Spyros Kouvelis, the MedWet Coordinator, is here with us, of course, in Gland for the Standing Committee receptions, parties, and aperitifs. [04/12/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, and Sandra Hails, Senior Communications Assistant, are in Wageningen, The Netherlands, 29 November, to participate in the 3rd Board of Members Meeting of Wetlands International. Later today, Mr Blasco will travel on to Montreal, Canada, to participate in the 4th Meeting of the UNEP Open-ended Group of Ministers or Their Representatives on International Environmental Governance. [29/11/01]

Marco Flores, Ramsar Intern/Assistant to the Regional Coordinator for the Americas, reports that he is "in Venezuela to participate at a Symposium on Sustainable Development of the Andes mountain range", 24-30 November 2001. (23/11/01)

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is participating in the 2nd International Experts Meeting on the Hydrological Regeneration of Doñana, 24-28 November, in Huelva, Spain, to review the progress of the Doñana 2005 project, perhaps the most important wetland restoration project currently under way in Europe. He will be chairing a session on Ecological Restoration of Wetlands, which will feature presentations by Ramsar STRP members Dr Max Finlayson of Australia and Dr George Zalidis of Greece. [25/11/01]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Frascati, Rome, 22 November, to participate in a brainstorming user needs workshop as part of the European Space Agency's TESEO (Treaty Enforcement Services using Earth Observation) programme. The TESEO programme comprises four projects in support of multilateral enviromental treaties (one each for Ramsar, UNCCD, Kyoto Protocol, and MARPOL). Each project is reviewing current and future remote sensing datasets and their applicability and availability for assessment and monitoring, and developing novel methods for using remote sensing in the implementation of the treaties. The workshop is bringing together the consultants, treaty secretariats, and representative end-users for all four projects for the first time, so there is an opportunity to identify areas of common ground. For Ramsar this may be particularly significant in relation to our developing areas of joint work with the Convention to Combat Desertification. [21/11/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is in Greece for the 10th anniversary celebration of the Greek Wetland/Biotope Centre (EKBY) and the official opening of Ramsar's Medwet Coordination Unit in Athens. He's expected back in the Bureau late Wednesday, 21 November. [19/11/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, and Simon Rafanomezantsoa, Assistant to the Regional Coordinator, are in Lusaka, Zambia, for the Ramsar Subregional Meeting for Eastern and Southern Africa, 12-14 November. Following the meeting Anada and Simon will undertake a field visit with WWF officers to discuss the ongoing management plan of the Kafue Flat Ramsar site, as well as potential new Ramsar sites and a planned extension of the Kafue Flat boundaries. They are expected back in the Bureau on 18 November. [08/11/01]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Montreal, Canada, for the 7th session of the Convention of Biological Diversity's Subsidiary Body for Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA7), in the context of Ramsar's 2nd Joint Work Plan with the CBD. Though the main focus of the meeting is upon forest biodiversity, many issues of vital interest to the Ramsar Convention will also be under discussion, including impact assessment and environmental indicators. He will also be discussing the planned 3rd Joint Work Plan with the Secretariat of the CBD, following which he will be discussing the Ramsar-oriented wetland components of the TESEO project with representatives of the European Space Agency. [12/11/01]

Margarita Astralaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, reports that she is attending a "CCD synergies meeting in Caracas, Venezuela, 12-17 November; Panama - Harmonisation report 18-19 November; CCD synergies meeting in Havana, Cuba; Workshop on Ramsar, Barranquilla, Colombia, 26-28 November". [12/11/01]

Alain Lambert, Senior Policy Advisor on Environment and Development Cooperation and . . . well, perhaps that's enough . . . is in Brussels, 13-14 November, meeting with European Partners for the Environment and the EU Rio+10 coalition. [14/11/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, Najam Khurshid, Regional Coordinator for Asia, Sandra Hails, Senior Communications Assistant, and Alain Lambert, Senior Development Advisor, are spending all or part of the week of 5-9 November -- within sight of the Bureau, virtually, on the far side of Lake Geneva in Evian, France -- at the 4th Evian Encounter. Previous Evian Encounters have focused upon the Latin American states and the English-speaking and French-speaking African states, and the fourth Evian Encounter is intended for Arab-speaking nations. After two days of briefing sessions about the wise use of wetlands and the Ramsar Convention's role, the participants will travel to the Camargue in southern France for hands-on experience with exemplary wetland management practices. The Evian Encounters for high-level officials is funded by the Evian Project of the private-sector Danone Group of food products. [05/11/01]

Margarita Astrálaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, is in Brazil for the UN Regional PrepCom meeting in Rio de Janeiro, 23-24 October, and will then lead a Ramsar Advisory Mission to the Llancalelo Ramsar site in Argentina, with participation by invited experts Terry Boyle and John Agard as well as relevant authorities of the Government of Argentina. [22/10/01]

Carlos Villalba, COP8 Technical Officer, is attending an OECD Expert Meeting on agri-biodiversity indicators in Zurich, Switzerland, 5-8 November.

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, newly returned from a World Heritage/IUCN/ OMPO/Wetlands International workshop on alien invasive species in Dakar, Senegal, has now flown off again to Johannesburg, South Africa, for BirdLife International's "International Seminar on Conservation and Development: Priority Sites for Conservation", 21-22 October, with 200-300 participants expected. Thence onward to Malawi for a 23-26 October meeting on Lake Malawi/Nyassa/Niassa (LMNN), organized by the WWF Regional Office in Harare, Zimbabwe, and financially assisted by the Ramsar Bureau through the Swiss Grant Fund for Africa, the purpose of which is to identify mechanisms of cooperation among the riparian states Mozambique, Malawi, and Tanzania. As he returns to the Bureau, Anada will pause in Lusaka, Zambia, to discuss planning for the forthcoming Ramsar Subregional Meeting. [12/10/01]

Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, is en route for a Ramsar Advisory Mission to the Ouse Washes in the United Kingdom, 4-9 November 2001, and a meeting of the UK Ramsar Committee. [01/11/01]

Margarita Astrálaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, is in Brazil for the UN Regional PrepCom meeting in Rio de Janeiro, 23-24 October, and will then lead a Ramsar Advisory Mission to the Llancalelo Ramsar site in Argentina, with participation by invited experts Terry Boyle and John Agard as well as relevant authorities of the Government of Argentina. [22/10/01]

Delmar Blasco, Nick Davidson, Tobias Salathé, Inga Racinska, and Carlos Villalba from the Bureau are in Bled, Slovenia, for the European Ramsar Regional Meeting, 13-18 October, 2001. [14/10/01] Update: The meeting continues but the Deputy Secretary General has returned to the Bureau to resume work on Standing Committee documentation. [17/10/01]

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, is in Saint-Louis, Senegal, for a 15-17 October workshop on invasive species jointly sponsored by the Ramsar Bureau, the Direction des Parcs Nationaux of Senegal, IUCN Senegal and the IUCN East Africa Office, Wetlands International Dakar, OMPO, and UNESCO’s World Heritage Center. The 50 participants will examine what is needed to solve the invasive species problem in the Djoudj National Park and surrounding areas, and a special emphasis will be given to the work of river and lake organizations to encourage them to integrate invasive species issues into their planning and daily operations. [12/10/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is in Geneva, Switzerland, 10 October, participating in the UN Environmental Management Group's workshop, sponsored by UNEP, on harmonization of national reporting for environmental conventions. [10/10/01]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Cape Town, South Africa, for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's 2nd Technical Design Workshop, 5-12 October. The workshop follows up on the 1st one, held in Bilthoven, The Netherlands, in April 2001, and is intended to finalize the design of both the global assessment process and that for the sub-global assessments. Nick then moves on to assist at the European Regional Meeting in Bled, 13-16 October. [08/10/01]

Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, presently en route by auto over the Alpine passes for the European Regional Meeting in Bled, Slovenia, is pausing 8-10 October 2001 in Mallnitz, Carinthia, Austria, to participate in the River-Watch Project workshop "From the glacier to the Danube Delta", hosted by the Nationalpark Hohe Tauern's Wasserschule, or "Water School". The River-Watch Project is intended to set 13-17 year old students to investigating and collecting data on ecological, economic, and historical parameters of the Rivers Salzach-Inn-Danube and Isel/Möll-Drava-Danube. [08/10/01]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, newly returned from the Central America/Caribbean/North America Ramsar subregional meeting, is presently in Lelystad, The Netherlands, to chair the Board meeting of the RIZA wetland management training course and participate in its closing session, following which he will have discussions with Wetlands International colleagues in Wageningen. He will then go on to Cape Town, South Africa, for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's 2nd Technical Design Workshop, 5-12 October, and thence to Bled, Slovenia, to participate in the Ramsar European Regional Meeting, 13-16 October. [3/10/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, Najam Khurshid, Regional Coordinator for Asia, and Najam's assitant "Tug" Sirisampan are in Bangkok, Thailand, for the Southeast Asia Ramsar subregional meeting, 1-3 October. [01/10/01]

Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, is participating in a joint Ramsar / IUCN / World Heritage Ramsar Advisory Mission to Lake Srebarna in Bulgaria, 1-4 October 2001, with a view to assisting in the removal of this Ramsar site from the Montreux Record. [01/10/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is at the World Meteorological Organization's headquarters in Geneva during the week of 24-28 September for the 22nd Session of the UN Administrative Committee on Coordination, Subcommittee on Water Resources. [23/09/01]

Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, is leading a Ramsar Advisory Mission to Mühlenberger Loch in Germany, 24-26 September 2001. [26/09/01]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, Margarita Astrálaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, and Margarita's assitant Marco Flores are in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, for the Central America/Caribbean/North America Ramsar subregional meeting, 26-29 September 2001. [23/09/01]

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator, has been in Guinea, 19-23 September, to attend the regional workshop on the ongoing GEF PDF-B project on the Niger River Basin, in collaboration with the World Bank, UNDP, the Niger Basin Authority, WWF International, and Wetlands International. He will also have discussions with WWF, Wetlands International, and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation on development of the "Niger Basin Initiative" aimed at integrating conservation and food security objectives in river basin planning in the region, in the context of the Ramsar/CBD River Basin Initiative. From 24 to 28 September, Anada is Senegal for the last steering committee meeting of the GEF/UNEP "African Eurasian Waterbird Flyways" PDF-B project and plans, whilst there, to advance discussions with the Administrative Authority, the IUCN country office, and the Wetlands International regional office in Dakar, especially about the forthcoming workshop on invasive species to be held in the Djoudj National Park in mid-October. [20/09/01]

Dr Taej Mundker, Wetlands International -- Asia Pacific, is representing the Ramsar Convention at  the "International Workshop on Climate Change and Wetland Conservation", Kushiro, Japan, 20-21 September 2001; in addition to his own contributions to the meeting, Taej is making a PowerPoint presentation on behalf of Ramsar and promulgating this statement from the Secretary General to the high-level part of the meeting.  [20/09/01]

Mohamed El Ayadi, of the SEHUMED institute at the University of Valencia, Spain, is representing the Ramsar Convention at the "Séminaire sur l'écotourisme pour la conservation de la biodiversité et le développment rural", presently taking place in Moulay Bousselham, Morocco, 19-20 September 2001. This informational meeting is being held with the financial support of WWF and the French GEF. We'd like to note that SEHUMED, Valencia's institute for the study of Mediterranean wetlands, is collaborating with the Ramsar Convention on a broad range of issues, most notably on MedWet initiatives and on the cultural heritage of wetlands. [20/09/01]

Ammar Boumezbeur, Sous Directeur of the Direction Générale des Forêts in Algeria's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, is representing the Ramsar Convention at the Third Meeting of the Open-Ended Intergovernmental Group of Ministers or Their Representatives on International Environmental Governance, Algiers, 9-10 September 2001. Mr Boumezbeur represents Algeria on the Ramsar Standing Committee. [10/09/01]

Delmar Blasco, the Secretary General, but newly returned from Japan, has darted off for Argentina, where he will attend the Ramsar Regional Meeting for South America, following which he will then travel to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, for ceremonies to celebrate the designation of three new Ramsar sites, one of which includes the Bolivian portion of the great Pantanal, in designations supported by WWF's Living Waters Campaign. He is expected back in the Bureau on 19 September. [08/09/01]

Margarita Astrálaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, and Marco Flores, her assistant, are in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 10-12 September, for the Regional Ramsar meeting there, the agenda of which is available here. [10/09/01]

Delmar Blasco, the Secretary General, is in Japan for meetings with Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, the Minister of Environment, and Mr. Shigeo Uetake, Senior Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, as well as further discussions with JICA, the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, and with the Secretary General of the World Water Forum 3 (2003), Mr. Hideaki Oda. He will also have a meeting with the Mayor of Nagoya city, a visit to the Fujimae tidal flats, a visit to the Sanbanze wetlands in Tokyo Bay (all organized by the Japan Action Wetlands Network, JAWAN), and a meeting with the Governor of Chiba Prefecture, Ms Akiko Domoto. Finally he will chair one of the working groups at the "World Summit for Sustainable Development - International Eminent Persons Meeting on Inter-linkages", organized by the United Nations University and the Government of Japan. He will return to the Bureau on 5 September before departing for consultations in Argentina and Boliva on the 7^th – more on that later. [28/08/01]

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, says, "I am leaving tomorrow for a trip to Burundi and Sudan. In both countries, I will attend a national workshop on Ramsar and wetlands. Both countries are taking steps for accession to the Ramsar Convention and all relevant national institutions will participate in the national workshop which is intended to accelerate the process of accession and to set the grounds for the implementation of the Convention. The workshops are organised thanks to the financial assistance from the Swiss Grant Fund for 2001. I will be in Burundi from 29 August to 2 September and Sudan from 4 to 7 September. On my way to Sudan, I will make a stop in Nairobi where I will visit our Administrative Authority and the IUCN Regional Office for Eastern Africa on Monday 3 September. I will be back in the office on September 10. Thanks. Anada." [29/08/01]

Najam Khurshid, Regional Coordinator for Asia, is in Uzbekistan 17-22 August for a Central Asian-India Flyway workshop. He then travels to Penang, Malaysia, for the Asian Wetland Symposium, 25-30 August, and will stop in Bangkok, Thailand, 31 August-1 September, for discussions in preparation for the Ramsar East Asian subregional meeting. [22/08/01]

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, departed on 13 August for Togo to conduct a Ramsar Advisory Mission concerning the "Parc National de la Keran" Ramsar site in response to a request from the Togo government. The mission will assess the threats that have been reported by the Administrative Authority in order to make recommendations to the government. En route to Togo he will make a stop to Accra, Ghana, in order to discuss possible avenues for partnership between the Center for African Wetlands (CAW) and the Bureau. Following the RAM in Togo, Anada will make a stop in Lelystad, The Netherlands, to address the opening session of the International Course on Wetland Management, and will be back in the Bureau on 27 August. [18/08/01]

The Deputy Secretary General, Nick Davidson, is visiting the European Space Agency in Frascati, Rome, for discussions to explore potential areas of collaboration between Ramsar and ESA and, in particular, to participate in the kick-off meeting for the ESA TESEO study that will seek to develop remote-sensing tools for wetland assessment and monitoring, and which is being designed to provide assistance to Ramsar and its Contracting Parties. (An announcement of the ESA TESEO programme, which aims to develop remote sensing support for the implementation of four intergovernmental environmental agreements, including Ramsar, was reprinted on this Web site in April 2001.) [08/08/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, will in Bonn early this week for the Second Meeting of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Group of Ministers, or their representatives, on International Environmental Governance, which, inter alia, is considering future synergies among Multilateral Environmental Agreements. Thereafter he will be in the United States for conferences and the signing on 21 July of an important Memorandum of Cooperation with Ducks Unlimited. More to follow. [17/07/01]

Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, is in Bled and Llubljana, Slovenia, 14-22 July, assisting with preparations for the European Regional Meeting in October and scoping a potential future Ramsar site in the lower Sava river floodplain. From 27 July to 4 August, Tobias will be participating at the 6th Living Lakes Conference "Water Quality and Traditions in Lake Areas", to be held at Ulan Ude, Lake Baikal, Russian Federation, local costs to be supplied by the Global Nature Fund. [15/07/01]

 Margarita Astralaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, is attending the "III Congress on Environment and Development: 10 years after Rio" in Havana, Cuba. On 21 June she will be involved in a special session, a joint WWF/Ramsar training workshop for Cuban professionals on Ramsar implementation. [19/06/01]

 Alain Lambert, Senior Adviser for Environment and  Development Cooperation, is in Washington, D.C. (USA) for meetings with the conservation finance directors of The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, as well as with the GEF Secretariat and the World Bank, on the Ramsar trust fund and other matters. [12/06/01]

 Dr Tracy Hart, World Bank, is visiting the Ramsar Bureau, WWF International, and IUCN in Gland, 11-12 June 2001, for discussions on a number of GEF pilot projects involving the Lake Chad Basin and Niger River Basin. [11/06/01

 Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, is leading a Ramsar Advisory Mission to the Czech Republic. See related headline story on this page and background information document. [06/06/01

 Najam Khurshid, Regional Coordinator for Asia, is in Korla City, Xinjing Province, China, for a workshop, 5 to 9 June, on "Conservation of Wetlands and their Wise Use", jointly organized by Wetlands International (China, Oceania, and Asia Pacific) and Chinese Government agencies. From there he moves on to Beijing for discussions with the Ramsar Administrative Authority, the State Forestry Administration. [05/06/01]

 Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is in Torino, Italy, for a pre-launch press conference with UNEP on the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment launch slated for UN HQ on World Environment Day. [04/06/01]

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, is in Botswana, in Maun and at the Okavango Delta for a donors meeting on implementation of the Okavango Management Plan. More detail about objectives and participants are available here. [28/05/01]

 Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, Anada Tiéga and Najam Khurshid, Regional Coordinators for Africa and Asia, and Mireille Katz, Executive Assistant, are on their way to Sesimbra for the 4th MedWet Committee meeting, to the 23rd of May. [20/05/01]

 Margarita Astrálaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, is in London for a meeting on harmonization of biodiversity-related multilateral agreements, organized by FIELD (the Foundation for International Environmental Law and Development). [22/05/01]

 Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Sesimbra, Portugal, for a "pre-meeting" of the MedWet Inventory Working Group, Saturday 19 May, in advance of the MedWet Committee's grand 4th meeting to commence on Sunday. [18/05/01]

 Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Wageningen, The Netherlands, 14-16 May 2001, for the River Basin Initiative's Design Workshop and Partners' Meeting. More details here. [14/05/01]

 Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, and Alain Lambert, Senior Advisor on Development, are en route to Brussels to participate in "Europe and the World Summit on Sustainable Development -- tackling poverty through sustainable agriculture, energy, water management, finance, trade, and peoples' empowerment", the second annual progress conference of the European Rio+10 Coalition, 10-11 May 2001. [09/05/01]

 Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, is visiting Madagascar for a series of meetings, 9-16 May 2001, to provide technical support for the development of a National Wetlands Policy or Strategy and for the elaboration of a management plan for Madagascar's Manambolomaty Ramsar site. [09/05/01]

 Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, is presently on leave and participating in the launch of a conservation project in Morocco, and will then participate in the Council meeting of the Pan-European Biological and Landscape Diversity Strategy in Strasbourg, 10-11 May 2001. [09/05/01]

 Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, following discussions in Argentina for discussions with the Administrative Authority and some leave time, is in Brazil for a Ramsar Workshop for government officials in a number of agencies, 25-28 April, and will travel thence to New York, USA, to attend the first preparatory meeting of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, 30 April-2 May 2001. [09/04/01]

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, left Mauritius long ago, where he was assisting in the accession process of that country, and passed fleetingly through Kenya for the 1st Annual Meeting of the Network of African Environmental Lawyers (NAEL) in Nairobi, 22-25 April. [The Network of Environment and Sustainable Development in Africa (NESDA), in collaboration with UNDP and other institutions, seeks to develop capacities of members of Parliament in the interpretation and execution of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and other environmental laws in Africa.] Now he's in Zimbabwe, 26-30 April, for a workshop hosted by the Biodiversity Support Program (BSP) in cooperation with Zim Trust on "Transboundary Natural Resource Management in Subsaharan Africa". [26/04/01]

 Margarita Astrálaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, is in Ottawa, Canada, for a meeting of the Trilateral Committee for Wildlife and Ecosystem Conservation (Canada, USA, and Mexico).

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, has left Mauritius, where he has been assisting in the accession process of that country, and is now in Kenya for the 1st Annual Meeting of the Network of African Environmental Lawyers (NAEL) in Nairobi, 22-25 April. The Network of Environment and Sustainable Development in Afrcia (NESDA), in collaboration with UNDP and other institutions, seek to develop capacities of members of Parliament in the interpretation and execution of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and other environmental laws in Africa. This meeting gathers African experts to consider the best ways to implement the NAEL work programme. [22/04/01]

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, is in Mauritius, 17 to 21 April, to assist in the accession process and participate in a workshop on the preparation of a framework for the implementation of the Convention, with an emphasis on the establishment of a National Coordinating Mechanism, and discussion on policy development, wetland inventory, and Ramsar site management. Thence to Kenya, 22-25 April, and Zimbabwe, 26-30 April -- more details to follow in due course. [17/04/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is in Argentina for discussions with the Administrative Authority and some leave time. Later in the month he will be traveling to Brazil and the USA for meetings; more on that later. [09/04/01]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Bilthoven, The Netherlands, for the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment's first Technical Design Workshop, 8-11 April. He will also be visiting the offices of Wetlands International in Wageningen whilst in the neighborhood. [09/04/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is in Madrid, Spain, for discussions about the preparations for Ramsar COP8, set for Valencia in November 2002. [02/04/01]

Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, is in Doñana, Spain, for a meeting of the WWF European Freshwater Team. Thereafter he travels to Ramsar sites Ringkobing, Denmark, and Lake Horborga, Sweden, for meetings of the Wetlands in Spatial Planning (WISP) EU Interreg project, till 6 April 2001. [02/04/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is in Evian, France, for the "Mountain Living Waters" symposium. [26/03/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is in Lelystad, The Netherlands, for a meeting of the Board of International Courses on Wetland Management and Wetland Restoration. [23/03/01]

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, is visiting Dakar and the Djoudj National Park in Senegal to attend a workshop on the management of the Senegal River Basin with a focus on invasive species. He will also meet with the Administrative Authority, Wetlands International, and the IUCN offices in Dakar to discuss joint work on invasive species, joint action on a project to the submitted to the European Union, and a possible project on Black Storks. He returns to the Bureau on 29 March. [23/03/01]

Dr Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Strasbourg, France, 21-23 March, to participate in the European Archaeological Council Board meeting and 2nd EAC Heritage Management Symposium on Cultural Landscapes and Sustainable Development. [21/03/01]

Margarita Astrálaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, is in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for discussions with the Administrative Authority there and with the CBD SBSTTA member responsible for the Marine Protected Areas technical group. From 24-28 March, she will be in Mendoza, where she will attend the Hemispheric Conference on Vulnerability Reduction of Trade Corridors to Socio-natural Disasters and participate in the Environmental Management Working Group, at the invitation of the Organization of American States (OEA). On 29 March she will visit the Administrative Authority in Ascunción, Paraguay, and hold discussions with the newly-created National Wetland Committee. Margarita returns to the Bureau on 2 April. [22/03/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is attending WWF Gifts to the Earth ceremonies in Mauritania, Senegal, and Guinea Bissau, 14 to18 March. Get some more detail here. [13/03/01]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, is in Montreal for the Millennium Assessment Executive Committee meeting, 10 March, and the 6th meeting of the CBD's Subsidiary Body for Scientific, Technical, and Technological Advice (SBSTTA6), 12 to16 March.  [15/03/01]

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, is in Niger, 10-13 March, for discussions with the Niger River Authority; the Ramsar Administrative Authority (the Direction de la Faune, de la Pêche et de la Pisciculture, Ministère de l’Hydraulique et de l’Environnement); the IUCN Country Office in Niger; and the Swiss Development Cooperation. Thereafter he travels on to Côte d'Ivoire. [12/03/01]

Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, is attending the 4th meeting of the working group on wetland restoration of PIANC (International Navigation Association) in London. [12/03/01]

Margarita Astralaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, is in Geneva, 16 March 2001, for GRULAC CITES/Ramsar meetings. [16/03/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is in Valencia and Madrid, Spain, 5-8 March 2001, for discussions on preparations for the 8th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, the results of which will probably be revealed in the fullness of time.  [06/03/01]

Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, is in Budapest, Hungary, for the first meeting of the Ecology Experts Group of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), 26-28 February. [16/02/01]

Najam Khurshid, Regional Coordinator for Asia, is on his way to Myanmar to participate in a workshop on Wetland Management and the Development of an Action Plan for that country. Thereafter he will be on mission in Thailand and Cambodia, returning to the Bureau on 10 March. [18/02/01]

Margarita Astrálaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, is at the Palais des Nations in Geneva for discussions, organized by the Commission on Sustainable Development, on the role and participation of non-governmental organizations and the civil society in the Rio+10 process. [09/02/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is in Uganda for Ramsar 30th anniversary ceremonies and the launching of Uganda's Wetlands Sector Strategic Plan 2001-2010, 1 to 4 February, and will then be traveling on to Nairobi, Kenya, to participate in meetings of the UNEP Governing Council and chat with the Ramsar Administrative Authority in that country, the Kenya Wildlife Service.  [01/02/01]

Alain Lambert, Senior Adviser for Environment and Development Cooperation, is in The Netherlands for visits with the Director of Environment and Development in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Head of the Biodiversity Unit, with the IUCN Netherlands Committee, and with Wetlands International AEME. [06/02/01]

Anada Tiéga, Regional Coordinator for Africa, is in Algeria, with Denis Landenbergue of WWF's Living Waters Campaign, to participate in World Wetlands Day ceremonies and celebrate the designation of ten important new arid-land Ramsar sites in that country. [01/02/01]

Tobias Salathé, Regional Coordinator for Europe, is in Skopje (FYR of Macedonia), for the first meeting of the Prespa Park Coordination Committee, 29-31 January. [27/01/01]

Margarita Astrálaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, has gone to Chile for meetings with FAO and other bodies, 29 January to 3 February 2001. [27/01/01]

Delmar Blasco, Secretary General, is in Athens, Greece, Thursday and Friday, to discuss the proposed MOU with the Barcelona Convention and conclude discussions with the Greek Government for the establishment of the MedWet Coordination Unit in that city. [25/01/01]

Faizal Parish, of the Global Environment Centre in Selangor, is visiting the Ramsar Bureau for discussions of the River Basin Initiative. [25/01/01]

Nick Davidson, Deputy Secretary General, and Sandra Hails, Senior Communications Assistant, are attending the UNEP Environmental Group meeting in Geneva  and meeting with Dr Peter Bridgewater of UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere programme. [22/01/01]

Margarita Astralaga, Regional Coordinator for the Americas, is in Geneva for meetings with the UNEP Coral Reef Unit and the South Centre. [22/01/01]

Scott Frazier and Doug Taylor, Wetlands International, are visiting the Ramsar Bureau for several days of talks about the Ramsar Sites Database and related issues. [9/1/01]

Najjam Khurshid, Regional Coordinator for Asia, is on mission to Nepal and Sri Lanka. More details may follow soon. [21/12/00]

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 ). Most recently updated 12 January 2002, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.