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GEF - Niger Basin Regional Workshop, Niamey, April 2002 -- letter to the United Nations

Mr Kofi A. Annan
Secretary-General
United Nations
P.O. Box 20
10017 New York
USA

19th April 2002

Your Excellency,

Re: Freshwater ecosystem conservation in the Futa Djallon: a significant contribution to the spirit of the UN International Year of Mountains - 2002

The 7th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Niger Basin Authority took place in the Conference Hall of the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria, on February 16, 2002, under the chairmanship of His Excellency Alpha Oumar Konaré, President of the Republic of Mali, Chairman of the Summit of Heads of State and Government of the NBA.

In attendance were:

- His Excellency, Alpha Oumar KONARE, President of the Republic of Mali
- His Excellency Mathieu KEREKOU, President of the Republic of Benin
- His Excellency Mamadou TANDJA, President of the Republic of Niger
- His Excellency Chief Olusegun OBASANJO, President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
- His Excellency Lamine SIDIME, Prime Minister, representing the President of the Republic of Guinea
- His Excellency Oumar Kadjallami BOUKAR, Minister of Environment and Water Resources, representing the President of the Republic of Chad
- His Excellency Youssoufou MILLOGO, Ambassador of Burkina Faso to Nigeria, representing the President of Burkina Faso
- His Excellency Cavaye YEGUE DJIBRIL, President of the National Assembly representing the President of Cameroon
- His Excellency, Angele BOKA, Minister of Water and Forests representing the President of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire.

The Heads of State and Government and the Representatives of their Peers who could not attend the Summit meeting took decisions on eleven issues, including the registration by the Republic of Guinea, the Water Tower of West Africa, of six new sites as "Wetlands of International Importance" under the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971).

The announcement of this major conservation commitment of utmost value for the entire West Africa Sub-region was made by His Excellency Lamine SIDIME, Prime Minister of the Republic of Guinea.

The total wetland area designated covers over 4.5 million hectares and includes the source and major headwaters of one of the world's largest rivers, the Niger River. This was achieved with the support of WWF International, in partnership with the NBA, the Ramsar Bureau and the Government of Guinea.

Recognizing the utmost importance of hydrological systems for the satisfaction of biological, social and economical needs of the people in the nine riparian countries of the Niger River, we believe that the designation of these new "Ramsar Sites" in the Guinean highlands is a significant contribution to the spirit of the UN International Year of Mountains - 2002.

We are confident that the Government of Guinea and the NBA -- with the support of the international community -- will do their best to take the necessary measures to integrate the conservation and sustainable use of this hydrological system to promote the vital role of the Niger basin as an asset for sustainable development at a global level.

The Niger Basin Authority, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Ramsar Convention Bureau are delighted to inform the U.N. Secretariat of this initiative and to confirm their commitment to the conservation of freshwater ecosystems, in mountains as well as on a more global scale.

Mohammed Bello Tuga, Executive Secretary of the Niger Basin Authority, signs the NBA's letter to Secretary General Kofi Annan, Denis Landenbergue of WWF's Living Waters Programme looking on.

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 30 April 2002, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.