|
- IUCN personnel will be supporting COP 7
through their participation in the Technical Council set up
among the working groups to provide follow-up on the Technical
Advisory Committee established by the Government of Costa Rica,
which, in turn, is overseeing the organization of this meeting.
- The program for Wetlands and Coastal Zones
Conservation in Mesoamérica will also be devoting one
of their wetlands conservation bulletins to information on the
Conference and topics to be discussed during this event.
- The Mesoamerican program is carrying out
a review of planning for each of the Ramsar sites in this region,
and will be contacting those responsible in each of the countries
to learn about their management plans. The program will also
be identifying the principal values based on the technical guide
for planning wetlands with international importance, which was
approved by signatory parties in Brisbane, Australia.
- In addition, IUCN will be coordinating
the preparation of an exhibit on wetlands with international
importance. This exhibit will be presented at the Conference
of Signatory Parties, and later moved to museums and zoos in
Central America.
- Through the different projects being carried
out by the IUCN and its regional members and partners, interviews
will be held in communities whose livelihood directly depends
on Central American wetlands and their resources. This information
will provide the foundation for preparing a special document
during a workshop held for this purpose at an important wetlands
area in the region. The title of the document is "Declaration
of populations living in the wetlands of Central America,"
which will be submitted to the Conference of Signatory Parties,
as agreed with the Convention Secretariat and the Government
of Costa Rica.
- At the request of the Governments of Nicaragua,
Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala, IUCN will be collaborating
in the preparation of the respective country reports to the
Ramsar Convention.
Assistance with information dissemination activities
during the Conference will be in two areas:
- Through the Costa Rican National Wetlands
Conservation Strategy being developed by MINAE with technical
support from the World Conservation Union, information will
be provided on the inventory of wetlands in that country,
as well as 1:200,000-scale maps and a manual on wetlands legislation.
These will facilitate the elaboration of certain basic information
that can be presented to COP 7 participants.
- IUCN will be providing support for the
financial and technical organization of a group of community
artists from the Solentiname Archipelago, on the Lake of Nicaragua,
who will be painting a mural during COP 7 in commemoration
of the Ramsar Convention. These same artists will also formally
present the declaration by people living in Central America’s
wetlands areas. In addition, a series of press conferences
will be organized during the meeting to publicize these actions
and the Convention itself.
Finally, as in the past, IUCN will establish
an official mission before the Convention. It will be led by the
Director General of the World Conservation Union and assisted
by the officials in charge of the different wetlands conservation
programs all over the world, who will also provide support during
COP 7 technical sessions.
|
