The Ramsar Convention Manual.pdf

The Ramsar Convention Manual, 3" edition
□ The creation of the Prespa Lakes Transboundary Park by Albania, Greece, and The Former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, inaugurated on World Wetlands Day, 2 February 2000.
□ The momentum towards collaboration in the management of the Polesie wetlands shared by Belarus, Poland, and
Ukraine, begun in May 2002.
□ The efforts of the member States of both the Lake Chad Basin Commission and the Niger Basin Authority, with
assistance from the WWF Living Waters Programme and financial support from the Global Environment Facility, to
designate each of their parts of these large catchments as Wetlands of International Importance and work toward their
collaborative management, especially in the framework of memoranda of cooperation signed between the Ramsar
Secretariat and both the LCBC and the NBA in November 2002.
□ The "Trilateral Ramsar Platform" for the Morava-Dyje Floodplains, signed by Austria and the Czech and Slovak
Republics in August 2001 - for their assistance in this project, the NGOs Daphne in the Slovak Republic, Distelverein in
Austria, and Veronica in the Czech Republic jointly received the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Award in 2002.
4.4.3 Transboundary species conservation
Article 5 of the Convention states that "Contracting Parties shall endeavour to coordinate present and future policies and
regulations concerning the conservation of wetlands and their flora and fauna". Many species of migratory birds follow flyways
(migratory routes) along which are situated wetlands which they use as resting and feeding areas. To achieve the effective
conservation of such species requires cooperation between States sharing wetland systems or situated along a flyway. The
Secretariat works to facilitate such cooperation.
Recommendation 4.12 of the Conference of the Contracting Parties recognizes the flyway concept for the conservation of
wetland bird species, and encourages Contracting Parties to:
□ participate in internationally coordinated waterfowl surveys, and undertake special surveys within their territories to
identify wetlands of international importance for waterfowl at any time in the annual cycles of these species;
□ enter into bilateral or multilateral agreements for the conservation of migratory waterfowl;
□ cooperate with other Contracting Parties situated along the same fly-way with regard to financial assistance and the
sharing of expertise.
Several cooperative flyway programmes have been developed for the management of shared wetland species or the
conservation of individual species. Leading examples are:
□ the North American Waterfowl Management Plan (1986) between Canada, the United States and Mexico;
□ the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network established along the east and west coasts of North and South
America in 1985;
□ the African Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (1996), established under the aegis of the Convention on Migratory
Species;
□ Asia-Pacific Migratory Waterbird Conservation Strategy (1996); and
□ the East Atlantic Flyway initiative launched by Friends of the Earth-Spain (1997).
The Secretariats of the Ramsar Convention and the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals
(CMS) have signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with a view to enhancing synergy between the two treaties. A three-way
joint work plan between Ramsar, CMS, and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) was signed in
April 2004.
4.4.4 The twinning of Ramsar Sites
Resolution 4.4 of the Conference of the Contracting Parties calls upon the Secretariat to encourage bilateral and multilateral
agreements for the twinning of wetland sites, within the framework of the Ramsar Convention. The agreement signed in 1992
between the Governments of France and Romania, concerning the twinning of the Camargue and the Danube Delta, was one of
the first of its kind involving sites on the Ramsar List.
The text of such an agreement leading to improved conservation of twinned wetland ecosystems and wise use of their resources
might include the following:
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