November 18, 2014 Everglades Wetland Research Park … Wetland Research Park November 18, 2014...

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Everglades Wetland Research Park November 18, 2014 Everglades Wetland Research Park hosts United States National Ramsar Committee wetlands meeting in Naples Florida The United States National Ramsar Committee (USNRC) held its semi-annual meeting at FGCU’s Everglades Wetland Research Park at the Naples Botanical Garden on Tuesday November 18, 2014. Approximately 22 people participated in the meeting, including 10 in Naples and about 12 on phone connections. The meeting focused on wetlands in the USA that have been designated as important wetlands internationally or could be added to the list. A wide range of topics were discussed including the proper procedures for applying for the designation of Wetland of International Importance (WII) as determined by the Ramsar Secretariat in Gland Switzerland and, for the U.S. sites, by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Both organizations participated in the USNRC meeting. Updates were also presented on almost complete WII applications coming from Florida. The USA currently has 36 Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance, including four that are fully or partially in Florida. The 168 countries that are members of the Ramsar Convention have registered 2,186 wetlands covering 208 million ha (514 million acres) as Wetlands of International Importance with the Ramsar Secretariat in Switzerland. The Everglades Wetland Research Park on the campus of the Naples Botanical Garden, Naples, Florida, is a program in Florida Gulf Coast University’s College of Arts and Sciences designed to provide teaching, research, and service related to wetland, river, and coastal science and ecological engineering. At the research park, it seeks to understand: (1) how wetlands function, and (2) if and how we can create and restore wetlands and sustainable watershed to enhance their ecosystem services. The research park consists of a core research team of professors, research staff, and graduate and undergraduate students supplemented by visits by some of the most important environmental scientists in the world. Please contact Dr. Li Zhang ([email protected]) or Dr. Bill Mitsch ([email protected]) for additional information.

Transcript of November 18, 2014 Everglades Wetland Research Park … Wetland Research Park November 18, 2014...

Page 1: November 18, 2014 Everglades Wetland Research Park … Wetland Research Park November 18, 2014 Everglades Wetland Research Park hosts United States National Ramsar Committee wetlands

Everglades Wetland Research Park

November 18, 2014

Everglades Wetland Research Park hosts United States National Ramsar Committee wetlands meeting in Naples Florida

The United States National Ramsar Committee (USNRC) held its semi-annual meeting at FGCU’s Everglades Wetland Research Park at the Naples Botanical Garden on Tuesday November 18, 2014. Approximately 22 people participated in the meeting, including 10 in Naples and about 12 on phone connections. The meeting focused on wetlands in the USA that have been designated as important wetlands internationally or could be added to the list. A wide range of topics were discussed including the proper procedures for applying for the designation of Wetland of International Importance (WII) as determined by the Ramsar Secretariat in Gland Switzerland and, for the U.S. sites, by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Both organizations participated in the USNRC meeting. Updates were also presented on almost complete WII applications coming from Florida. The USA currently has 36 Ramsar Wetlands of International Importance, including four that are fully or partially in Florida. The 168 countries that are members of the Ramsar Convention have registered 2,186 wetlands covering 208 million ha (514 million acres) as Wetlands of International Importance with the Ramsar Secretariat in Switzerland. The Everglades Wetland Research Park on the campus of the Naples Botanical Garden, Naples, Florida, is a program in Florida Gulf Coast University’s College of Arts and Sciences designed to provide teaching, research, and service related to wetland, river, and coastal science and ecological engineering. At the research park, it seeks to understand: (1) how wetlands function, and (2) if and how we can create and restore wetlands and sustainable watershed to enhance their ecosystem services. The research park consists of a core research team of professors, research staff, and graduate and undergraduate students supplemented by visits by some of the most important environmental scientists in the world. Please contact Dr. Li Zhang ([email protected]) or Dr. Bill Mitsch ([email protected]) for additional information.

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Photos from the U.S. National Ramsar Committee (USNRC) wetlands meeting held at the Everglades

Wetland Research Park (EWRP) at the Naples Botanical Garden on Tuesday November 18, 2014. Top photo: Picture taken during the meeting of Ralph Tiner, Association of State Wetland Managers, Amherst,

MA and Treasurer of USNRC; Suzanne Pittenger Slear, Environmental Concern, St. Michaels, MD and Vice-Chair of USNRC; and Bill Mitsch, Florida Gulf Coast University, Naples, FL and Chair of USNRC.

Bottom photo: Group shot of several of the meeting participants who attended in Naples: Li Zhang, FGCU; Alberto Chavez, Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve; Bill Mitsch, FGCU (Chair);  

Kathryn Campbell, Environmental Law Institute, Washington DC; Ralph Tiner, Association of State Wetland Managers (Treasurer); Jaime Boswell, The Nature Conservancy; Ann Birch, The Nature

Conservancy; and Suzanne Pittenger Slear, Environmental Concern (Vice-Chair).