World Wetlands Day 2003: index page

The suggested theme for World Wetlands Day 2003 is "No wetlands - no water" (the slogan taken from the title of our new poster), in honor of the UN's International Year of Freshwater. The Ramsar Standing Committee thought it fitting to urge celebrants of World Wetlands Day to associate their activities with the IYF in order both to strengthen that worthy effort and to raise the prominence of their own WWD efforts by being among the first International Year of Freshwater celebrations of the year.

The International Year of Freshwater. The United Nations General Assembly in resolution 55/196 proclaimed the year 2003 as the International Year of Freshwater. The resolution encourages governments, the United Nations system and all other actors to take advantage of the Year to increase awareness of the importance of sustainable freshwater use, management and protection. It also calls upon governments, national and international organizations, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to make voluntary contributions and to lend other forms of support to the Year. The Web site of the IYF is hosted by UNESCO at http://www.wateryear2003.org, and more information can be sought from wateryear2003@unesco.org.

Here is what the Ramsar Bureau offers the Wetland Celebrants for February 2003

Steal these logos. Use them. Sew them onto your school uniform. Steal all this other stuff, too -- plagiarize it freely, tell everybody about World Wetlands Day.

Pas de zones humides - pas d'eau?	An introductory letter -- No wetlands, no water!	¡Sin humedales, no hay agua!
[Aussi disponible en français]	New Posters for 2003 No wetlands - No water!	[Disponible también en español]

The design of this poster is also available in Quark XPress on CD-ROM for parties who wish to make use of the design and insert translations of the text in their own languages. Make inquiries at ramsar@ramsar.org.
français	No wetlands - no water! A background paper to accompany the poster	español
A 3-ply foldout that explains succinctly and persuasively . . . . . . [Aussi disponible en français]	Ramsar sites brochure	. . . why it's a good thing to designate wetlands for the Ramsar List. [Disponible también en español]
The design of this brochure is also available in Quark XPress on CD-ROM for parties who wish to make use of the design and insert translations of the text in their own languages. Make inquiries at ramsar@ramsar.org.
[Aussi disponible en français]	New Ramsar video (for reasons of cost, intended for large group and multiple uses only) available in Pal, Secam, & NTSC	[Disponible también en español]
The master of the new Ramsar video is also available to qualified parties without text audio, so that they can insert spoken text in their own languages into the audio track. The text of the video script is available in English, French, and Spanish. Make inquiries to ramsar@ramsar.org.
*still available from previous years*
An executable e-mail card on culture and wetlands (for both download and playing on this Web site) (Windows and Mac versions)	Posters from WWD 2002	A screensaver on the same themes, both Windows and Macintosh versions
	The Cultural Heritage of Wetlands (hardcopy) The Cultural Heritage of Wetlands (PDF format)
*from WWD2001 . . .* Les zones humides, valeurs et fonctions	Values and Functions of Wetlands (hardcopy) Values and Functions of Wetlands (Web)	*still available . . .* Los humedales, valores y funciones

Ramsar Bureau staff are thoroughly preoccupied with COP8 activities throughout November, but if you will send your requests to ramsar@ramsar.org, they will be logged in and attended to as soon as possible when we return in early December.

Choose amongst these products to specify in your order, noting quantities, language, and your postal address:

World Wetlands Day 2003 posters and background papers
The Ramsar sites brochure

All of these excellent products for World Wetlands Day have been financially supported by the Evian Project funded by the Danone Group.

For further information about World Wetlands Day or the 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 15 November 2002, updated 20 February 2003, Dwight Peck, Ramsar.