A global review of disaster reduction initiatives - Welcome to the ...

Related international commitments and the UN role in disaster risk reduction6The Ramsar Convention on Wetland Preservation and disaster reductionAmong the many values and functions of wetlands some of the most important involve flood reduction,coastal protection, mitigation of climate change and desertification effects. These considerationsare at the heart of the Convention's guidance on management planning for wetlands. In additionto the revised management planning guidelines currently under development for adoption bythe Conference of the Parties, additional guidance is also being developed on integrated coastalzone management which stresses these values very strongly.Ramsar, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and the Niger Basin Authority are presentlyworking on a project financed by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to designate wetlandsthroughout the Niger River Basin as Ramsar sites and develop management plans for them whichwill help to mitigate the effects of seasonal climate variations. A similar initiative also financed byGEF is currently underway with Ramsar, WWF, and the Lake Chad Basin Commission to bringthe entire basin under a cooperative management plan following Ramsar guidelines.Similarly, Ramsar staff is working with local officials and NGOs on a number of projects inEurope to develop sound management regimes for transboundary wetlands such as the NeretvaRiver delta, the trilateral Prespa Park, the Danube Delta and the Dyje Morava floodplain.Although the main purpose of these activities is sustainable use of resources, all have a componentthat is relevant to disaster prevention.Source: Ramsar Secretariat, and G. Bergkamp, B.Orlando, IUCNRAMSAR secretariat and G. Bergkamp, B.t Orlando, IUCN, 1999the world." Some of the main activities of theConvention are the development of NationalWetlands Policy and inventories of Wetlands.The Convention deals with all wetlands issuesfrom surface water to groundwater (salty,freshwater, etc). Wetlands and flood controlwas mentioned in the initial Convention.Nevertheless this has not been a priority untilvery recently. For the Strategic Work Plan2003-2008, this topic is included.The Ramsar Convention Bodies are theConference of the Contracting Parties, theStanding Committee (regional representativesof Ramsar's six regions), the Scientific andTechnical Review Panel and the RamsarBureau (Secretariat), in Gland, Switzerland.Main partners for the implementation of policiesare the non-governmental organizationsIUCN-World Conservation Union, WetlandsInternational, World Wide Fund for Nature(WWF) and Birdlife International.The Ramsar Convention shares headquarterswith IUCN, and has a joint Work Plan withthe Convention on Biological Diversity and aMemorandum of Cooperation with UNCCD,Convention on Migratory Species and WorldHeritage Programme of UNESCOFor more information see www.ramsar.orgThe Fresh water agendaSome 1.3 billion people worldwide lack accessto safe drinking water and close to 2.5 billionare not provided with adequate sanitation.Water is becoming scarce due to increasingdemands for food production and growingpopulations. Pollution is also on the increase,threatening water supplies.There are two intrinsic links between disastersrisk reduction and the water agenda. Theimpact resulting from climate change on thenatural surface and ground water systems isincreasingly having an adverse affect on socialand economic development patterns. Freshwaterinfrastructures are vulnerable to naturalhazards, such as floods, earthquakes, landslidesand volcanic eruptions.There are many political documents thatmention risk and water related hazards, formingthe so-called fresh water agenda. Prior to295