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Ramsar and WWF at Ciénaga de Zapata

Workshop on Ramsar implementation in Cuba. As part of the "III Congress on Environment and Development: 10 years after Rio" in Havana, Cuba, Ramsar’s Margarita Astrálaga, Denis Landenbergue of WWF’s Living Waters Campaign, and Julia Langer of WWF Cuba are collaborating in a special session for Cuban professionals on "Wetland Conservation and Implementation of the Ramsar Convention in Cuba", 21 June 2001. The primary objective of the session is to discuss future actions and management activities in the Ciénaga de Zapata (452,000 ha) in Matanzas province, Cuba’s first Ramsar site recently designated with assistance from WWF’s Living Waters Campaign and WWF Canada. The second objective is to advance the process of Ramsar designation for the five other Cuban wetlands that are part of the Living Waters Campaign’s project and, if possible, coordinate their designation with 12 August 2001 ceremonies to celebrate the Convention’s entry into force for Cuba. The third objective is to sketch out priority needs beyond those six designations.

On 22 June 2001, Denis Landenbergue and Margarita Astrálaga undertook an informative study tour of the Ciénaga de Zapata, and here are some photos.

Four people in Cuba (including WWF's Denis Landenbergue, second from left, and Margarita Astrálaga, Ramsar, right), eat fruit, probably for health reasons.

The Ramsar Bureau's Margarita Astrálaga leads people into a jacuzzi or boat, Cuba, 22 June 2001.

A leisurely boat ride through the Cienaga de Zapata, 22 June 2001

Wreaking ruthless havoc upon a native species of turtle, to general merriment, Ciénaga de Zapata, June 2001.

WWF and Ramsar and somebody else collaborating in the conservation and wise use of wetlands in Cuba, June 2001.

The representative of the Ramsar Bureau displaying cute Tommy Hilfiger leisure shoes and rather nice patterned red socks, and WWF still in basic functional khakis, Ciénaga de Zapata (Bay of Pigs), Cuba. (Cuban official, center, dressed normally.)

Blue water welling up in an indistinct manner from underground karst systems, Ciénaga de Zapata, Cuba, June 2001

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 5 July 2001, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.