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GEF - Niger Basin Regional Workshop, Niamey, April 2002

GEF - Niger Basin Regional Workshop in Niamey (15-18th April 2002) : "Reversing land and water degradation trends in the Niger River Basin"

Ramsar letter to the meeting

8 April 2002

Dear Mr. Bello Tuga,

I wish to thank you for the invitation to attend the NBA-GEF- Regional Workshop, to be held in Niamey, Niger, from 15 to 18 April 2002. It is a pity I cannot be away from the Ramsar office on these dates because of urgent matters and I wish to apologize for not being able to attend this important meeting.

However, I can reassure you that I feel some relief concerning the Ramsar presence in this meeting, since Mr. Denis Landenbergue, from WWF International is attending the meeting. In this regard, I would like to inform you that Mr. Denis Landenbergue has the mandate from the Ramsar Bureau to represent the Ramsar Convention, in his double capacity as an officer in the WWF Living Waters Programme and as a delegate from one of the official Ramsar partner, WWF International.

We are confident that he will provide a valuable contribution on behalf of Ramsar to this meeting.

Mr. Denis Landenbergue will convey the Ramsar support to any pilot project that upholds the conservation and wise use of wetlands, especially those projects that integrate wetland conservation and wise use into the overall Niger River Basin Management. We are also encouraging the selection of suitable projects that will enable the sustainable management of existing Ramsar sites for the benefit of local stakeholders as well as the management of any potential Ramsar sites, especially where the WWF Living Waters Programme is providing financial support for the designation of new wetlands of international importance.

The Ramsar Convention will be concerned about any actions that will affect the hydrology of floodplains and destroy their ecological functioning that is providing suitable ground for a better biodiversity productivity and sustainable productions from agriculture, livestock, wildlife, and fisheries.

We are also concerned about pollution and any actions that can increase the deterioration of water quality . Should projects that are likely to have these effects be considered, we would recommend a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before the implementation in order to prevent, or at least reduce, any adverse impact on the functioning of the river systems.

A detailed and relevant EIA guidance pertaining to wetland and river basin management is under development by the Ramsar Convention. Further guidelines on these issues will be adopted by the 8th Conference of the Ramsar Contracting Parties to be held in Valencia, Spain, 18-26 November 2002. These guidelines will be available to your institution and the NBA Member States as soon as they are adopted.

I thank you again for your cooperation and I wish you a fruitful meeting in Niamey.

Anada Tiéga

Anada Tiéga Regional Coordinator for Africa Bureau of the Ramsar Convention Rue Mauverney 28 CH1196 Gland Suisse Tel 41 22 999 0164 Fax 41 22 999 0169 Email tiega@ramsar.org <mailto:tiega@ramsar.org>

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.