IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RAMSAR CONVENTION IN MEDWET COUNTRIES BASED ON NATIONAL REPORTS PREPARED FOR THE 8TH MEETING OF THE CONFERENCE OF THE CONTRACTING PARTIES TO THE CONVENTION ON WETLANDS (RAMSAR, IRAN, 1971) prepared by Carlos Villalba Alonso (Ramsar Bureau). April 2003 RAMSAR CONTRACTING PARTIES WHICH ARE ALSO MEDWET COUNTRIES (25): Albania, Algeria, Bos- nia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Leba- non, Lybian Arab Jamahiriya, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, The FYR of Macedonia, Tunisia, and Turkey. MEDWET COUNTRIES WHOSE NATIONAL REPORTS ARE INCLUDED IN THIS ANALYSIS (21): Albania, Algeria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Monaco, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, The FYR of Macedonia, Tunisia, and Turkey. CONTRACTING PARTIES YET TO SUBMIT NATIONAL REPORTS (1): Malta MEDWET COUNTRIES THAT JOINED THE RAMSAR CONVENTION RECENTLY AND WERE THEREFORE NOT EXPECTED TO SUBMIT A NATIONAL REPORT TO COP8 (3): Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, and Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. The National Reports upon which this overview is based, as well as the regional and global statisti- cal overview, can be consulted on the Ramsar Web site, http://ramsar.org/cop8_nr_natl_rpt_index.htm OVERVIEW OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RAMSAR CONVENTION IN MEDWET COUNTRIES TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................3 2. SUMMARY OF IMPLEMENTATION STATUS..............................................................................3 3. IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES ....................................................................................................9 3.1. Inventory and assessment [1]............................................................................................................9 A. Wetland inventory [1.1].....................................................................................................................9 B. Wetland assessment [1.2] .................................................................................................................10 3.2. Policies and legislation, including impact assessment and valuation [2] ..................................10 A. Policy instruments for wetland wise use [2.1] ....................................................................................10 B. Development, review and amendment of policies, legislation, institutions and practices [2.2]................11 3.3. Integration of wetland wise use into sustainable development [3] ...........................................13 A. Methodologies for wetland conservation and wise use [3.1] ................................................................13 B. Peatlands [3.2].................................................................................................................................14 C. Recognition of wetland values and functions [3.3]..............................................................................15 D. Integration of wetland policies into broader planning and management [3.4]......................................15 3.4. Restoration and rehabilitation [4]...................................................................................................17 3.5. Invasive alien species [5]..................................................................................................................18 3.6. Local communities, indigenous people, and cultural values [6] ................................................18 3.7. Private sector involvement [7] ........................................................................................................22 3.8. Incentives [8] .....................................................................................................................................23 3.9. Communication, education, and public awareness [9]................................................................23 3.10. Designation of Ramsar sites [10]....................................................................................................26 A. Application of the Strategic Framework [10.1]................................................................................26 3.11. Management planning and monitoring of Ramsar sites [11] .....................................................29 A. Maintenance of the ecological character of all Ramsar sites [11.1].....................................................29 B. Monitoring the condition of Ramsar sites, including application of Article 3.2 and Montreux Record [11.2] ...................................................................................................................................................32 3.12. Management of shared water resources, wetlands and wetland species [12] ..........................35 A. Inventory and integrated management of shared wetlands and hydrological basins [12.1] ...................35 B. Cooperative monitoring and management of shared wetland-dependent species [12.2]..........................36 3.13. Collaboration with other multilateral environmental agreements and institutions [13] ........36 3.14. Sharing of expertise and information [14] ....................................................................................37 3.15. Financing the conservation and wise use of wetlands [15] ........................................................38 A. Promoting international assistance to support the conservation and wise use of wetlands [15.1]..........38 B. Environmental safeguards and assessments as part of all development projects (including foreign and domestic investments) affecting wetlands [15.2].......................................................................................40 3.16. Institutional capacity of Contracting Parties [18] ........................................................................40 3.17. Training [20] ......................................................................................................................................43 Ramsar Convention Implementation in MedWet countries. Analysis of COP8 National Reports 1. INTRODUCTION The information compiled in this document has been obtained from the analysis of the Na- tional Reports submitted by Ramsar Contracting Parties to COP8 (Valencia, November 2002). National Reports constitute a vital source of information on the implementation of the Convention at the country, regional, and global levels, and once submitted to the Bu- reau become public documents. In some cases it has been difficult to interpret the answers given by the Parties, for this reason the results of the National Reports analysis have to be seen as the "Bureau interpretation" of the information provided by the Parties. In the case of the numeric indicators (wetland committees, management plans, educational centres, potential Ramsar sites, zoning, strict protection measures, etc) they should be considered as "minimum numbers", because detailed answers covering all the wetlands/Ramsar sites are not always provided. The National Planning Tool - National Report Format for Ramsar COP8 is based on the Ramsar Strategic Plan 1997-2002. Nevertheless, this overview follows the structure of the Ramsar Strategic Plan 2003-2008 and the implementation activities are presented according to the Operational Objectives of this new Strategic Plan (reference to the relevant Operational Objective is indicated throughout this document in [brackets] as part of the heading/titles). The underlying intention is to facilitate the assessment and discussion of implementation status and the definition of future priorities and needs for the coming years. For some relevant actions, reference about the situation at Ramsar COP7 –obtained from the analysis of COP7 National Reports for MedWet countries– is also indicated. The twenty-one MedWet countries that reported to COP7 were: Albania, Algeria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Malta, Monaco, Morocco, Portugal, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovenia, Spain, Syrian Arab Republic, The FYR of Macedonia, Tunisia, and Turkey. 2. SUMMARY OF IMPLEMENTATION STATUS The summary of the implementation status of the Ramsar Convention in MedWet coun- tries is shown below. Key areas of activity are highlighted following the sequence of Opera- tional Objectives defined in the new Ramsar Strategic Plan 2003-2008. In those cases where information from COP7 reports has been obtained, progress in the implementation during the triennium 1999-2002 is also indicated. The description of codes used to illustrate the assessment are as follows: Implementation status in MedWet countries ☺☺ High level of implementation (> 75% of countries) ☺ Good level of implementation (60-75% of countries) Medium level of implementation (40-60% of countries) Low level of implementation (20-40% of countries) Very low level of implementation (< 20% of countries) Page 3 Ramsar Convention Implementation in MedWet countries. Analysis of COP8 National Reports Note: The implementation icons are shown in [brackets] in those few cases where substantial level of imple- mentation is reported, but many countries have not provided details on the way the implementation has taken place. Progress in the implementation since COP7 Substantial progress since COP7 Progress since COP7 More or less the same situation than