The Ramsar Convention Manual.pdf

A Guide to the Convention on Wetlands, (Ramsar, Iran, 1971)
3.5 The Scientific and Technical Review Panel
The Scientific and Technical Review Panel of the Ramsar Convention was established by Resolution 5.5 (1993) as a subsidiary
body of the Convention to provide scientific and technical guidance to the Conference of the Parties, the Standing Committee,
and the Ramsar Secretariat. Its individual members, who are not paid for their services, are elected by the Standing Committee
based upon nominations from the Parties on the same regionally proportionate basis that is used for electing the Standing
Committee itself, but they serve in their own capacities as experts in the scientific areas required by the STRP's Work Plan and
not as representatives of their countries. Resolution VII.2 (1999) modified the composition of the STRP, and Resolution VIII.28
(2002) established the present modus operandi and terms of reference of the STRP.
In addition to the 15 individual STRP members, delegates from the four International Organization Partners - BirdLife
International, IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Wetlands International, and WWF International - represent their
organizations as full members of the Panel. In addition, representatives of the 18 subsidiary bodies of other Multilateral
Environment Agreements and non-governmental organizations and associations specified in Resolution VIII.28 are also invited
to participate as permanent observers during each triennium, and representatives of other organizations are invited to participate
in the work of the STRP as required by the nature of the tasks under study.
The STRP's Work Plan for each triennium is built around the priority tasks determined by the Standing Committee, which are
based upon requests from the Conference of the Parties by means of its Strategic Plan and COP Resolutions and
Recommendations. The STRP members and observers are assisted in their work by a network of STRP National Focal Points
who advise them directly on STRP matters and provide a liaison between the STRP and the networks of other relevant experts
within each of their countries. The STRP's Working Groups and the STRP National Focal Points communicate by means of
electronic mail and Internet discussion groups.
The work of the STRP is further assisted by the STRP Support Service, which is operated by Wetlands International under
contract with the Convention. The purpose of the Support Service is to provide the STRP Working Groups and National Focal
Points with additional contacts among the expert networks of the International Organization Partners and other groups, identify
gaps in needed expertise and endeavor to fill them, assemble a clearinghouse of additional information resources for the tasks of
the STRP's Work Plan, and facilitate communication amongst the Working Groups, the Focal Points, and other sources of
expertise.
3.6 The Ramsar Convention budget
The Conference of the Contracting Parties reviews the financial regulations of the Convention and adopts a core budget for the
next triennium at each of its ordinary meetings. The Convention uses the Swiss franc as its working currency. Draft budgets and
explanatory notes are prepared by the Secretariat and are submitted for endorsement to the Standing Committee prior to
ordinary meetings of the Conference. The core budget basically covers the following costs:
□ functioning of the Convention Secretariat (see list of activities in §3.3);
□ some of the costs of the meetings of the Standing Committee and STRP, including the cost of participation of members
from developing countries and countries with economies in transition;
□ a contribution for the management of the Ramsar Sites Database and for the STRP Support Service (both provided by
Wetlands International); □ a contribution to IUCN for costs incurred in hosting
the Secretariat offices;
□ a contribution towards the Secretariat costs related to the meetings of the COP; and
□ a contribution to support regional initiatives under the Convention.
Until recently the core budget has not covered any of the costs involved in the organization and running of meetings of the
Conference of the Parties, which have chiefly been met by the host country of each meeting, but for the triennium 2003-2005 a
small sum has been earmarked each year to contribute to the Secretariat's costs for the next COP. Travel costs of COP delegates
from developing countries and countries with economies in transition are normally met by voluntary contributions from other
Contracting Parties.
The budget is approved by consensus among the Contracting Parties present and voting at an ordinary meeting of the
Conference (if a formal vote is required, Article 6.5 stipulates that a two-thirds majority is needed for adoption). Each
Contracting Party contributes to the core budget the same percentage that it contributes to the United Nations budget, on
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