[posted on 5 April 2005]

Cultural values in the Ramsar Convention

The Ninth Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran,1971) will be held later this year (7-16 November) in Kampala, Uganda. On 12 November, a 3-hour technical session is planned on the cultural values of wetlands. The session will focus on positive examples of actions for the implementation of Resolution VIII.19, which encourages taking into account cultural aspects for the effective management of sites. It will present case studies of specific sites from 4-5 countries throughout the world and an integrated presentation of work being carried out in the Mediterranean region, based on the analysis of more than 20 sites.

As the technical session is being organised by the MedWet Culture Working Group (consisting of the Ramsar Secretariat, the MedWet Co-ordination Unit, Med-INA and SEHUMED), a meeting of this Group was held in Barcelona on 23 March, chaired by Peter Bridgewater, the Ramsar Secretary General, to discuss the programme and final arrangements. The preparations for COP9 also include a book and a panel exhibition on the cultural values of Mediterranean wetlands, jointly prepared by Med-INA and SEHUMED. The book will be published in the three languages of the Convention (English, French and Spanish).