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Background on the Asian Wetland Inventory

Asian Wetland Inventory

The AWI is a long-term, regional initiative that aims to provide information on wetlands for its biodiversity conservation, development decision-making and priority planning. AWI identify where wetlands sites are, and which of those are the priority sites for conservation; identify the function and values of each, including ecological, social and cultural values; establish a baseline for measuring future change in wetlands, their functions and values; provide a tool for planning and management at both practical and/or political levels; and permit comparisons at all levels (local, national and international) .

The broad objectives of the AWI will be to:

A) To revise and update information on wetlands of national and international importance in Asia.

B) To provide core data / information on Asian wetlands to support International Conventions and Treaties on Wetlands, Climate Change, Biodiversity, Migratory Species and Desertification, and their implementation by Governments.

C) To analyse trends of wetland status in Asia.

D) To disseminate these analyses for wider consideration and use in conservation and sustainable development

E) To implement integrated training courses for wetland data collection with standardised format

The AWI will produce the following outcomes:

- Increased capacity of government agencies to implement wise use management principles with respect to wetlands and other land management units, particularly with respect to their obligations to the international Conventions relating to wetlands and biodiversity.

- Strengthened conservation status of wetlands, the biodiversity and the human communities they support.

- Strengthened subregional coordinating offices in Cambodia, China, India and Indonesia with responsibility for data gathering, collation and dissemination.

- Better planning for development and conservation of wetlands on national and subregional (trans-boundary) levels throughout the region.

- Regular reviews of priority regions and wetland types for conservation in the form of a published "Status and Trends Overview for Asian Wetlands". This will provide the focus for prioritizing the International Conventions and donor initiatives regionally.

For more information, please kindly have a look our web site (www.wetland.org/awi) or directly contact to me.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Koji Tagi, AWI coordinator, Technical Officer, Wetlands International-Japan

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 ). Posted 14 March 2001, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.