Pacific encouraged to step up and be recognised - Ramsar Wetland Conservation Awards

One of the founding fathers of the treaty, Dr Luc Hoffman, awarded.
Photo courtesy of IISD

7 July 2012, Bucharest, Romania - The 11^th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands opened in Romania awarding five winners of the Ramsar Wetland Conservation Awards.

Established in 1996, the awards recognize and honor the contributions of individuals, organizations and governments around the world in promoting the conservation and wise use of wetlands.

Presented at COP events since 1999, this year’s edition were given in three categories:  Education to the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, Management to Ms. August Henriques and Science to Prof. Tatsuichi Tsujii.

The jury also conferred a Recognition of Achievement Award to Mr Thymio Papayannis for his inspired leadership in the field of wetland conservation, wise use and the cultural value of wetlands in Greece, the Mediterranean and globally.

As 2011 marked the 40^th anniversary of the signing of the Convention, the Standing Committee decided to honour one of the founding fathers of the treaty, Dr Luc Hoffman, with a 40^th Anniversary Honorary Ramsar Award.

“Congratulations to these award winners for their hard work to conserve global wetlands,” said Vainuupo Jungblut the Oceania Ramsar Officer at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

“I think this is a really good opportunity and example to encourage the people of our region, those who have been working towards the wise use of our wetlands for many many years to step up and be recognised.  There is a lot of expertise in the Pacific at the local level, many people that have done a lot of work on wetlands conservation for the past 40 years.”

A call for nominations is made in anticipation of the Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention which is held every three years.  These nominations are then analysed by the Secretariat to submission to the Standing Committee Subgroup which also acts as the Jury to make the final decision.

"We encourage our Pacific people to nominate and be nominated for these awards when the call for nominations is made."

Each award winner receives a cash prize of USD 10,000 generously donated by the DANONE Group, as part of the DANONE/Evian Fund for Water in support of the Ramsar Convention.

The DANON/Evian Fund for Water is a partnership between the Ramsar Convention and the DANONE Group for the purpose of supporting the Convention in taking action for the wise use of water resources and for maintaining their quality.

The 11^th Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is from 6 – 13 July, hosted by Romania for which six of the seven Pacific contracting parties to the convention are attending.  These are; Australia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Palau and Samoa.  Papua New Guinea, also a contracting party to the Convention is not attending this year.

Please read to find out more about the award winners.

Scene@RamsarCOP11

July, 2012, Bucharest, Romania

Arrival at Otepeni Airport, Romania - welcomed by the Ramsar COP 11 Booth

The Palace of Parliament, Bucharest, Romania - venue of the Ramsar COP 11

Local Television Station filming outside venue

Steps leading to the front entrance

Through the front doors past security to the registration booths

The Standing Committee meets, one of the pre meetings before the COP 11 begins

The Oceania region meet to prepare for COP11 in an informal meeting

The Oceania region meet again to prepare for COP11 in a formal meeting

The 11th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands opens with
the flag being  handed over from South Korea to Romania

Corneliu Mugurel Cozmanciuc, State Secretary, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Romania.

Pan flute master Gheorghe Zamfir

"Wetlands: home and destination"

5 July 2012, Bucharest, Romania - That’s the theme of the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Wetlands hosted by Romania from 6 – 13 July.
Four Pacific islands are attending the global conference on Wetlands to raise local issues to strengthen the conservation of our regions wetlands.
Fiji, Marshall Islands, Palau and Samoa are at the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention, they join Australia and New Zealand to make up the Oceania group at this event.
These, along with Papua New Guinea, are Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention, named after the small town in Iran where the Convention was signed in 1971.

Vainuupo Jungblut, SPREP (middle)

“Our key issues are those such as the impacts of climate change on wetlands, the recognition of wetlands and their role in mitigating and adapting to the effects of climate change, along with the role of promoting sustainable tourism in wetland areas,” said Vainuupo Jungblut the Oceania Ramsar Officer based at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is one international environment agreement of many that Pacific Island countries are party to.  

For each Convention there are different reporting requirements and conditions to be implemented as part of protecting and conserving our environment at the global level.  

The capacity, resources and time required to fulfill each of the different Conventions can pose a challenge and it’s at the Ramsar COP11 that the Pacific region hopes this issue can be addressed.
“We’re also looking at strengthening synergies between the multilateral environment agreements (MEA)  at the global level which is also important at the national level as there is a lot of administrative work to meet MEA requirements and obligations, and this usually stretches environmental services in-country who typically have one or two people dedicated to such issues .”

Registration of conference participants at Ramsar COP11

The Ramsar COP11 will bring together over thousands of delegates, ranging from country representatives to international partners to donor agencies, to discuss issues relating to strengthening wetlands conservation and wise use in each of the six Ramsar regions.  This fora provides a timely opportunity for Pacific delegates to form and strengthen relations with potential partners and donors.

Read more information on the agenda and discussions at the 11th Conference ofthe Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

The Ramsar COP 11 is held at the Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest, Romania. 

Oceania presence at global conference on wetlands

5 July, 2012, Bucharest, Romania - The Pacific island region boasts six wetlands of international importance with more on the horizon.

Fiji, Marshall Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Samoa are Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, which will be holding its 11th Conference of the Parties in Romania over the next two weeks.

A key pillar of this Convention is to strengthen the wise use of wetlands around the world.  It has 162 contracting parties of which the Pacific Islands are grouped with Australia and New Zealand under the Oceania region, one of the six Ramsar regions.

Lake Ngardok, a Ramsar Wetland site of Importance, Palau

12% of the Earth’s land surface is made up of wetlands.  In the Pacific region Mangroves and coral reefs are the two main wetland types, containing 3% of the world’s mangroves and about 25% of the world’s coral reefs.

Right now there are seven members of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) that are contracting parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands with other members such as Kiribati, Tonga and Vanuatu, in the process of joining.

 “We are often asked when you join, what can the convention give them?  We often find that it’s up to the parties to utilize the Ramsar convention and brand to raise funds for their Ramsar Sites,” said Lew Young, the Senior Regional Adviser for Asia – Oceania.

Japan is an example of how the Ramsar Convention is used to promote sustainability of their wetlands.  In Japan there are approximately 46 Ramsar sites, all of which have clear logos identifying them as wetlands of international importance, these are usually driven by the local community to help attract development and tourism.  Within this there is often the opportunity to promote sustainable use of the wetlands such as organic rice farming, which then leads to the selling of organic rice that can attract a higher price so local farmers then benefit.

Lew Young addresses Oceania delegates at regional meeting

“This really takes on board the spirit of the Convention,” said Young, “so it’s not just about conserving wetlands for the birds it’s about getting communities involved, helping rural developments and so on  - this is part of the bigger, broader concept.”

There is over 190 million hectares from 2,000 wetland sites around the world, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance.

In the Pacific the Marshall Islands are working to add their second Ramsar Site  – the Namdrik Atoll, Fiji plans to add two more sites - Nasoata Islet  and Lake Tagimoucia.

“It will be really good to see the Pacific develop some strong projects on the ground so decision makers can see the benefits of wetland conservation.  Hopefully partnerships between the Oceania parties and between some Asian parties, will provide support where there are gaps to bring this about; and help share ideas of possible ways forward.”

While attending the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, the Oceania region will meet regularly to coordinate their presence at the different discussion threads at the Conference of the Parties.

The 11th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention is from 6 – 13 July, in Bucharest, Romania. Delegates from Australia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Palau and Samoa are attending the conference.

Conserving Pacific wetlands

4 July 2012, Bucharest, Romania - The future host of the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is a major topic on the agenda at the 11th Conference of the Parties to the Convention.  Currently hosted by IUCN in Gland, Switzerland, a proposal is on the table to have the Ramsar Secretariat hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme.

This was one of two key matters highlighted for the Oceania region, by the Marshall Islands who sat at the roundtable today, representing our region at the 44^th meeting of the Ramsar Standing Committee.

This committee meets once a year with an additional meeting before and after the Conference of the Parties, whereby it transforms into the Conference Committee for the duration, providing advice and guidance on issues that may arise.

“This is an important issue for our Pacific countries.  UNEP has been active, the conduit between the countries and the Global Environment Facility and then again IUCN also has a strong presence in our region, so that’s an important issue we should pay attention to,” said Olai Uludong, Chief, Coastal and Land Management Division of the Environmental Management Authority of the Marshall Islands and current Oceania representative on the Ramsar Standing Committee.

L - Vainuupo Jungblut SPREP,  Olai Uludong Marshall Islands

"This Draft Resolution will determine the future administration of the Ramsar Secretariat," said Vainuupo Jungblut, the Oceania Ramsar Officer at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).

“A lot of ground work on the pros and cons for this proposal has been prepared.  My advice would be for the Oceania parties to thoroughly consider the information they have available to them, very carefully before making their final decision on this issue.  This is a huge issue.”

The Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention have varying views on this issue, however if no consensus can be reached on this matter, further deliberations will take place through a sub-committee formed to deliberate this topic.

The second issue was the proposal to have two contracting parties from each region attend the different committees within these negotiations, given the small numbers from the Pacific at this conference, this will also need to be considered if it is possible for delegates from the Oceania region.

The Standing Committee, acting as the conference committee will be meeting on a daily basis during the Conference of the Parties.

The 11^th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands is from 6 – 13 July.  Pacific contracting parties to the Convention are; Australia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Samoa.

Quick tips Ramsar Convention on Wetlands:  What is a Standing Committee?

This Committee normally meets once each year, in addition it meets just before each COP at which time it transforms itself into the Conference Committee for the duration of the COP; and then again on the last day of the COP when the newly elected members choose the incoming executives.

The standing committee consists of 16 regional, two ex officio members from the Ramsar regions as well as eight permanent observers. 

The role of this committee is varied, ranging from canvassing opinions of Contracting Parties in their regional group before the meeting of the Standing Committee to advising the Secretariat in setting the agenda of regional meetings.

The Oceania representative to the Standing Committee is selected on a rotational basis.  All but Fiji and Palau have been members on the Standing Committee.

Read more about the Standing Committee of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands.

Scenes from UNCCD COP 10

21 October Changwon Korea - Photos by SPREP

L - R Albert Williamsn Vanuatu, Hon Stehens Kalsakau, Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Vanuatu

Outside the Conference venue is the opportunity to experience Korean culture

SPREP photo opportunities with other UNCCD COP 10 participants

Explaining how the Eco-robot works

Osea Bolawaqatabu the Director for Land Resources Planning and Development of the
Department of Agricultre in Fiji

Volunteers of the UNCCD COP 10 gather for a group photo

SPREP's Nanette Woonton takes photo with UNCCD COP 10 volunteers

Picture by Makhmudjon Eshonkulov, Uzbekistan

Pacific delegates take a break outside the Rio Ecosystems Pavilion

Tyrone of Nauru visits exhibitions at the Rio Ecosystems Pavilion

Leaving messages outside the Conference venue

The messages to save Planet Earth

The Pacific meet with the Global Environment Facility

Delegation from Kiribati

Negotiating at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD

21 October 2011, Changwon Korea - One of the issues followed closely by the Pacific at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP 10) has been that of the Global Mechanism. 

This is a specialised institution dedicated to mobilising resources to support developing countries to increase investments into Sustainable Land Management in order to help reverse, control and prevent land degradation and desertification.

Negotiations at the UNCCD COP 10 have revolved around the operation of the Global Mechanism as well as the location.  The headquarters of the GM is currently hosted by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, based in Rome.  The Secretariat of the UNCCD is based in Bonn, Germany.

We interviewed Louisa Karika of the Cook Islands Delegation who has closely followed this thread of negotiations over the past few years.

L - R Louisa Karika Cook Islands, Maria Elder Fiji

Q.  Tell us about the negotiations process on this particular issue, how has it been?

“For me this whole process started at the last Conference of the Parties in Argentina in 2009, it was there that an agreement was not reached so I took this up again during these negotiations in Korea.  Negotiations can last all day and night, and go on like this all week, and you often end up cold, hungry and frustrated by the lack of progress! 

It has been nice to see a lot of familiar faces and renewing friendships with negotiators for other regions and groups, we spend so much time in one room together during negotiations that we end up friends, even if we are opposite sides of an issue, and we always find a way to have a laugh.”

Q.  How have the negotiations been this time?

“This year we actually started on the second day of the conference and I think it was good as it allowed for discussions over what the issues and viewpoints were before we actually went into text negotiations.  I think this helped as we were able to agree in principle on what kind of outcome we wanted to see from our negotiations earlier on.  We then started negotiating text after that and since then we have been working pretty much day and night, that’s a lot of hours!”

Q. So for someone who doesn’t know about negotiations, what happens inside the negotiating room?  What happened with this particular issue?

“We negotiate text and concentrate on the language of a decision to make sure it says what we mean. We will work this way until it is agreeable to everyone and we reach consensus on different parts of the text.  You can come across what we call ‘sticky points’ which are those that we can’t agree on but you can’t move forward we have to overcome these sticky points.   For example during the last two days we were really stuck on an issue and we basically spent one full day negotiating on one paragraph.  In order to make progress through the text, especially since we had already spent so long trying to find a compromise, the Chair of our contact group called a smaller informal group made up of representatives from each party and we basically sat in a small group on chairs and talked about our issue.  By doing this we were able to negotiate in one hour what we could have spent a whole day trying to achieve – and that was an agreed text.”

Q.  So you finally reached a consensus on this issue?

“We agreed on a number of governance and institutional issues of the Global Mechanism which includes  a revision of the Memorandum of Understanding between the host of the GM – the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD.  We have agreed to a process for implementing these changes and tabled the decision on the location of the GM until the next Conference of the Parties. 

We also agreed that during the intercessional period (the two years in between each COP) the Executive Secretary in consultation with the COP Bureau will review proposals for housing the GM based on costs, synergies, operational modalities, governance efficiency etc so that come the next COP we are recommending that a decision on this issue be made as all the information will be before us.”

The draft decision prepared was approved by the Committee of the Whole to go before the Conference of the Parties for a final outcome on Friday evening.  It was expected that the final meeting of the 10th Conference of the  for the UNCCD was to start on friday night.  This interview story was completed early Friday evening.

For more on the final outcome of the 10th Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD please visit: http://www.unccd.int/cop/cop10/menu.php

Pacific voice raised at UNCCD COP 10

21 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Several Pacific island nations were given a special mention during the last meeting of the Asia Pacific Group at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, in Korea today.

The increasingly positive involvement of the Pacific Island delegates in negotiations was mentioned on several occasions.  Compliments have been made on the growing numbers of Pacific island delegates attending the UNCCD negotiations as well as their active participation .

“In the past I have not seen such active participation from the Pacific islands but more recently I have noticed our friends from the Pacific are not only engaging themselves in the contact group but also negotiating the text with our European Union and African friends,” said Chencho Norbu the Director of the Department of Agriculture from Bhutan.  He was also the Chair of the Committee of the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC).

L - R, Bruce Jefferies SPREP, Louisa Karika Cook Islands, Chencho Norbu CRIC Chair

“I was very pleased to note this development and I am saying that I hope this will continue in the future. If we move forward collectively we can raise our Asian and Pacific voice and this is something, it’s a big step and I feel proud to be a part of the Asia Pacific region.”

Bhutan ratified this convention in 2003 and Norbu began following and attending the negotiations in 2004. At this Conference, Norbu’s term as the Chair of the CRIC comes to an end. The Chairs of the different committees are rotated amongst the sub regions at each Conference of the Parties.

Bruce Jefferies - Terrestrial Ecosystems Management Officer at the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme commented that it was satisfying to hear comments such as this.

“It demonstrates that the investments made in SPREP facilitated Conference of the Party preparatory meetings are helping to build the capacity of Pacific Island staff.”

Eco-robots in Korea

Eco-robot Dr Boomerang to recycle empgy cans and PET bottles

20 October 2011, Changwon Korea - Eco-robots could be the future of recycling. 

Bright and bold, these eco-robots are a common sight at the 10^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification with several of them on display for which Pacific island delegates have been interested in.

Also known as automated recycling equipment, there are different types of eco-robot types that dispose of bottles, cans, plastics, films, glass bottles and cell phones.  They automatically control the process of handling valuable recyclables including sorting, compressing, separating, storing and recovery.  The eco-robot also comes with an eject door for unidentified objects and can compress up to 30 pieces per minute.

Delegates from Vanuatu and Samoa trying the Eco-robot

They were developed by a company from Korea called Eco-save that was formed in 2007 and develops and manufactures environment-friendly recycling automated equipment. 

In order to use the Eco-robot you must be a member for which you are provided with a membership card.  You insert your card before inserting your recyclables into the eco-robot, from there your recyclables will be processed and the weight of your carbon dioxide emission will be shown to you and the points you receive for recycling will be added on to your membership card.

Eco-robot will calculate your emissions

 You can use the points on your card at supermarkets for discounts as well as purchases.

There are 60 eco-robot units in 30 stores nation-wide in Korea that are all linked together through an internet web base that is connected to a central operating system.  When problems occur with the eco-robot troubleshooting and repairs are done through the remote system.

To find out more about the Eco-robot please visitwww.eco-save.co.kr

Slot to insert bottles and cans in Eco-robot

Insert your membership card

Eco Robot Phone Moa to dispose and recycle used cell phones

Pacific Emerging Environmental Leaders’ symposium starts in Apia, Samoa

Reposted 17 October 2011, Apia Samoa - The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is hosting its first symposium for young professionals who are emerging as environmental leaders in the Pacific islands.

The Symposium, being held in Apia, Samoa from 16-20 October, was officially opened this morning by SPREP Director-General, David Sheppard.

Twenty young Pacific Islanders, hailing from a diverse range of professions, are participating in the Symposium, which will set the stage for the Pacific Emerging Environment Leaders’ (PEEL) Initiative, a longer-term programme aimed at supporting action by young professionals for environmental management and leadership.

Mr Sheppard congratulated participants on their selection and highlighted the value of young minds in developing innovative solutions to today’s problems. He made reference to the Pacific’s “youth bulge” and noted that in the region, the age group of 15-29 years accounts for a third of the working age population.  

“You are arguably the most important sector of the populations, particularly as you move into leadership positions in our Pacific countries over the next few years,” he said.

“You are the ones who will be influencing and setting policy which will determine how well our environment is managed in the future.”

The Director-General referred to pressing issues in the Pacific region, which included biodiverisity, waste management and climate change as an environmental issues cutting across all sectors. He observed the range of different work sectors from which participants hailed and stressed that this bode well for addressing environment in a multi-sectoral manner.

The 20 participants to the week-long Symposium were selected from over 100 applications received from across the Pacific islands region. Seema Deo, SPREP’s Education and Communications Adviser, and organiser of the initiative, explained that participants were selected on the basis of drive, commitment, ability to nurture the growth of others and on their written vision statements.

“All applicants were of an exceptionally high calibre, which made the selection process a challenge for the four-person panel,” she said. “We are however, confident that we have a dynamic, self-motivated group, capable of thinking beyond barriers and who can contribute to good decision-making that integrates environmental thinking in the development framework.”

“We also hope to be in a position to engage those who missed out on this Symposium through an electronic forum and, potentially, through face-to-face interactions as the PEEL gains momentum.”

The Symposium participants have a wide range of interests, including energy, health, marine conservation and agriculture and come from media, government, civil society and the private sector. They will spend the week developing leadership skills, identifying clear pathways for action and developing a framework for a capacity building programme for young professionals in the region.