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US National Ramsar Committee announces Small Grants awards

New Ramsar Small Grants benefit wetlands nationwide

Seven U.S. Ramsar sites – from Connecticut to California – received small grants in the first round of the U.S. National Ramsar Committee’s Small Grants Program, financed by the Committee with matching funds from the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Proposals concentrated on innovative education and outreach and included displays, kiosks, signs, field trips, films, pamphlets – even a boater identification program. Not only do the grants assist in the management of Ramsar sites in the USA, the program also raises awareness among wetland managers throughout the country of the Ramsar Convention and its principles.

Averaging a little over US$1,500 each, the grants were awarded to:

• Northern Neck Planning District Commission, Warsaw, Va. (Chesapeake Bay Ramsar site): to develop an informational brochure and portable display to control invasive weeds.
• Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries, Baton Rouge (Catahoula Lake Ramsar site): two grants – the first, to erect a wooden site identifying the Ramsar site; the second, to contribute to the production of a film about the site.
• Touch of Nature Environmental Center at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale (Cache River Ramsar site): to provide experiential wetlands education for financially disadvantaged schools.
• Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Long Island Sound Programs, Hartford (Connecticut River Ramsar site): to print an educational pamphlet.
• Marin County Department of Parks, San Rafael, California (Bolinas Lagoon Ramsar site): to produce decals to identify kayakers using the lagoon.
• Great Bend (Kansas) Convention & Visitors Bureau (Cheyenne Bottoms Ramsar site): to promote the site’s first Birding Festival (Wings ‘n Wetlands Weekend) in April 2000.
• Aberdeen (South Dakota) Convention & Visitors Bureau (Sand Lake Ramsar site): to develop a kiosk exhibit.

For more information, contact Don MacLauchlan, president of the Committee, at donmac@sso.org .

-- reported by Judy Taggart, Terrene Institute, on behalf of the US National Ramsar Committee

View the original programme announcement and terms of reference, August 2000

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 17 January 2001, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.