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Public Disclosure Authorized -- * - . -- ~. : 0*, ='/ + . ~~~~~* 0+* A.l ~~~~~~~~~*0 *; . Public Disclosure Authorized \ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ X*+*~~ * 4p \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1*' Public Disclosure Authorized 8101Z~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Public Disclosure Authorized Wetlandcs in Asia A bookletto accompanythe Map of Wetlands of International Importance in Asia Produced by Wetlands International -Asia Pacific and The World Bank CONTENTS FOREWORD ... COOPERATING AGENCIES ................................ iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................. v INTRODUCTION ................................ 1 What are Wetlands? .1 WETLANDS IN ASIA . 3 Geographicaland Cultural Diversity .3 The Biodiversity of Wetlands .3 The Decline of Biodiversity .5 Wetland Protected Areas .7 Frameworksfor Biodiversity Conservation of Wetlands .8 ACCOUNTS OF THE SUB-REGIONS OF ASIA .11 Middle East .12 North and Central Asia .15 East Asia .17 South Asia .22 South East Asia .27 ACTION PROGRAM FOR THE CONSERVATION OF WETLANDS IN ASIA .31 The Kuala Lumpur Statement .31 Action Program.32 Actions by Government Agencies .32 Actions by Development Assistance Agencies .34 Actions by Non-Governmental Organisations .35 BIBLIOGRAPHY .. 36 The World Bank i Wetlands in Asia TABLES 1 - Major Threats to Wetlands in Asia ................. ........................................ 5 BOXES 1 - Wetland Benefits ......................................................... 6 2 - Principal Obligations of Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention ................. 7 3 - Wetlands of Lower Mesopotamia, Iraq ................................ .......................... 13 4 - Azraq Oasis Conservation Project, Jordan .................................................. ....... 14 5 - Taymyr Peninsula, Russia ......................................................... 15 6 - The Aral Sea .......................................................... 16 7 - Poyang Lake, China ......................................................... 18 8 - Qinghai Tibetan Plateau, China ......................................................... 19 9 - Kushiro Marsh, Japan .......................................................... 20 10 - Great Rann of Kachchh (Kutch) ................ 22......................................... 11 - The Ganges Brahmaputra Floodplain ............................. ............................ 23 12 - Keoladeo Ghana National Park, India ................................ ......................... 24 13 - The Sundarbans .......................................................... 25 14 - Mekong Floodplain and Delta .......................................................... 28 15 - Tasek Bera, Malaysia ......................................................... 29 16 - Danau Sentarum, Indonesia .......................................................... 30 ii Wetlands International - Asia Pacific FOREWORD This booklet and the accompanying map represent an initial output of collabora- tion between Wetlands International through its Asia-Pacific operations (formerly Asian Wetland Bureau) and the Environment Department of the World Bank. The purpose is to enhance awareness of the importance of, and issues facing wet- land ecosystems inAsia. Wetlands in this region provide goods and services worth billions of dollars on a potentially sustainable basis and an important source of food for a high proportion of the population of the region. Wetlands International is dedicated to promoting the wise and sustainable use of the wetlands throughout the region and providing technical advice and assistance to local agencies to further this aim. The World Bank is also firmly committed to the goal of environmentally sound and sustainable development and recognizes that wetlands are one of the most important ecosystems for both biodiversity con- servation and human development. This publication has been produced on the occasion of the 6th Conference of Con- tracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention in Brisbane, Australia in March 1996. We hope it will assist in implementing the objectives of the Convention in its 25th Anniversary Year. Both the Bank and Wetlands International are happy to hear from any party in the region needing advice or assistance. We hope that other technical assistance and funding agencies as well as governments, NGOs and local communities will all join the collective effort to conserve and wisely use the wetlands of the region. This is a major challenge given the pace of wetlands loss in Asia. Faizal Parish Colin Rees Executive Director Land, Water and Natural Habitats Wetlands International - Asia Pacific Division Environment Department The World Bank The World Bank iii COOPERATING AGENCIES Wetlands International is a not for profit organization governed by a global Board, represented by member countries, international organizations and wetlands spe- cialists. Wetlands International draws together and builds upon the strengths of its three founding organizations, which date back more than 40 years. Wetlands International - Asia Pacific is the regional headquarters and is situated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The organization played a pivotal role in the development of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance and continues to provide technical support. Other major program activities include assessments of wetlands and their resources, research and conservation of migratory waterbirds, support to regional and national action plans for the conservation and wise use of wetland materials. The mission statement of Wetlands International is "to sustain and restore wetlands, their resources and biodiversity for future generations through research, information exchange and conservation activities worldwide." The World Bank is a multilateral development institution whose purpose is to assist its developing country members to improve the social and economic well being of their people in concert with the protection of the natural environment. Responding to the concerns of its members, the Bank began to fully integrate en- vironmental concerns into its work in 1987. Today the Bank is carrying out some $3.2 billion in loans and credits in natural resource management projects (which are guided by its new Water Resources Management, Natural Habitats and Envi- ronmental Assessment policies), including support of wetlands conservation and rehabilitation. Additional support for wetlands is provided through the Global Environmental Facility, in partnership with the Bank. Currently $27.5 million has been allocated for this purpose under the GEF pilot phase. iv Wetlands International - Asia Pacific ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The map "Wetlands of International Importance in Asia" and the accompanying booklet "Wetlands in Asia", were coordinated and compiled by Ganesh Kumar and John Howes (Wetlands International -Asia Pacific) based on information pro- vided by many individuals involved in research and management of wetlands in Asia. National and regional experts consulted for the choice, position and impor- tance of wetland sites are listed below; to these, the compilers are particularly indebted. The high-quality color map was prepared by Jeffrey Lecksell (World Bank) with the primary digitizing of all the sites done by Sivaji Paremeswary and Richard Dorall, GIS Laboratory, Institute of Advanced Studies, University of Malaya. Tony Whitten offered comments, Tomoko Hirata designed the cover, Jim Cantrell desktopped the production and Clare Fleming provided advice on editing and printing. Mitos Benedicto, Kuldip Kumar, Sumalita Keris and Daljit Kaur assisted with the typing. The entire exercise was overseen by Faizal Parish and Muralee Menon (Wetlands International-Asia Pacific) and Colin Rees (Environment De- partment, World Bank). Anna-Marie Bernhard, IUCN, Switzerland Bishnu Bhandari, World Conservation Union, Nepal Gordon Claridge, Consultant, Australia Jon Davies, University Brunei Darussalam, Brunei, Darussalam Rebecca D'Cruz, Wetlands International-Asia Pacific Stephen Floss, Prince of Songhla University, Thailand Wim Giesen, Wetlands International-Asia Pacific Brij Gopal, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India Ross Hughes, International Institute for Environment Development (IIED), United Kingdom Roger Jaensch, Wetlands International-Oceania Programme Abedullah Jan, Ministry of Environment, Urban Affairs Umeed Khalid, Ministry of Environment, Urban Affairs Forestry and Wildlife, Pakistan Satoshi Kobayashi, Technical Officer, Ramsar Bureau Maurice Kottelat, Consultant, Switzerland Vitaly G. Krivenko, Research Institute of Nature Conservation, Russia Manokaran, FRIM, Malaysia The World Bank v Wetlands in Asia Taej Mundkur, Wetlands International-Asia Pacific (WI-AP) Bernard O'Callaghan, Wetlands International-Asia Pacific Mike Ounstead, Wetlands International-Indonesia Narendra M.B. Pradhan, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conserva- tion, Nepal Crawford Prentice, Wetlands International-Europe, Africa and the Middle East Marcel Silvius, Wetlands International-Asia Pacific Beotriz Silvo, Ecological Sciences Department, UNESCO, France Nyoman Suryadiputra, Wetlands International-Indonesia Eugeny E. Syroechkovski, Jr., Russia Vesna Vujinic, UNESCO, France vi Wetlands International - Asia Pacific INTRODUCTION This booklet accompanies a map-Wet- mense, for unless decisive steps are lands of International Importance in taken to counter the effects of natural Asia-and provides an overview of in- resource destruction, the Asia region is ternationally important wetland sites, expected to lose a higher proportion