[posted on 10 August 2004]

Promoting the cultural values of wetlands

MedWet, the Mediterranean Wetlands Initiative of the Ramsar Convention, held the second meeting of its Working Group on Culture on 29 July 2004 in Athens . The participants included representatives of the MedWet Co-ordination Unit, SEHUMED of the University of Valencia and Med-INA.

The meeting focused on the work plan for 2004 and 2005, which centers on two major events, the meeting of the Mediterranean Wetlands Committee (MedWet/Com) in Algiers in December 2004 and the Ninth Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar COP9), to be held in Kampala (Uganda) in November 2005.

For the first event, a presentation is being organised on Mediterranean sites rich in cultural values, in which Ramsar Resolution VIII.19 on taking into account such cultural values in the management of sites is being implemented. For the second, there will be an exhibition and publication on the lessons learned from a survey of Mediterranean wetland sites, as well as a contribution from this region to the global meeting on the incorporation of cultural values in the work of the Ramsar Convention. The overall aim is to encourage, through positive examples, other countries in taking a joint approach to nature and culture in the framework of wetland conservation and wise use initiatives.