Landscape and Urban Planning, 20 ( 1991 ) 269-274 269 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam

Ramsar participation and wise use

Michael Smart I and Kees J. Canters 2 ~ RAMSAR Bureau, Slimbridge, Gloucester GL2 7BX (U.K.)

2Centre lbr Environmental Studies, Leiden University, P.O.Box 9518, 2300 RA Leiden (The Netherlands)

(Accepted for publication 23 August 1990 )

ABSTRACT

Smart, M. and Canters, K.J., 1991. Ramsar participation and wise use. Landscape Urban Plann., 20: 269-274.

So far, 60 governments have joined the Ramsar Convention, thereby accepting an undertaking to designate wetlands for the International List, to make wise use of wetlands, to establish wetland nature reserves and to consult with one another. A total of 514 sites have been designated for the List and the Convention is paying increasing attention to the "wise use" provision. A working group established at the end of 1987 Regina Conference has prepared guidelines for implementing the wise use concept, which includes a statement of the benefits and values of wetlands.

The Ramsar Workshop of the wetlands conference at Leiden (1989) discussed applications of the wise use guidelines, emphasizing the need for cooperation with local communities, using examples from Sierra Leone, China, Vietnam, Can- ada, Italy and The Netherlands. In its conclusions, the Workshop emphasized: - the need for all states to join the Convention; - the need for the Convention to pay special attention to the "wise use" and "international cooperation" obligations; - the need, in applying wise use provisions, for in-country coordination, for consideration of traditional wetland uses and

of the effect of high density human populations, for concern with small wetlands, and for exploitation of productivity at community level;

- the need, in promoting international consultations, to encourage North/South collaboration, to re-establish geopolitical contacts where broken, and to strengthen national and international wetland networks.

INTRODUCTION

The Convention on Wetlands of Interna- tional Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (usually known as the Ramsar Con- vention, after the Iranian city on the Caspian where it was adopted in 1971 ) is the principal global instrument for intergovernmental co- operation on wetland conservation. At present 60 countries have become contracting parties; these include most of the states of the indus- trialized world, together with a growing num- ber of developing countries in Africa, Asia, South and Central America (see Ramsar Con- vention Bureau, 1984, 1988 ).

The principal obligations accepted by gov- ernments which join the Convention are: - to designate at least one wetland of interna-

tional importance in their territory for the List of Wetlands of International Importance;

- to formulate and implement their planning so as to promote the wise use of wetlands in their territory;

- to establish nature reserves on wetlands, whether they are included in the List or not;

- to consult with each other about imple- menting obligations arising from the Con- vention, especially in the case of shared wetlands.

0169-2046/91/$03.50 © 1991 - - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

2 7 0 M. SMART AND K.J. C~NTERS

RECENT GENERAL D E V E L O P M E N T S

In the Convention 's first years, most atten- tion was devoted to the List. Designation of a wetland for the List means that its ecological character has to be maintained, and any change in ecological character, actual or potential, has to be notified to the Ramsar Bureau (or secre- tariat), lf, in the urgent national interest, a site is removed from the List, another area of orig- inal habitat has to be listed in compensation. So far, the 60 contracting parties have listed 514 sites (i.e. much more than the basic one site per country) covering about 30 million ha (the area of New Zealand or Ecuador ). No site has ever been deleted, though small boundary modifications have taken place. Furthermore, listing of a site does not mean it must necessar- ily be turned into a nature reserve; exploita- tion of wetland resources is entirely possible especially in the form of productivity for the benefit of human pastoralists, agriculturalists, f ishermen or people who live in them, as long as the ecological character is maintained.

THE REGINA C O N F E R E N C E

The third Conference of the Ramsar Parties, held in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada in 1987, produced an important document , which was annexed to the Convention 's Recommenda- tions. This document provided not only amended criteria on how to identify a wetland of international importance, but for the first t ime provided also a definition of "wise use" and guidelines on how to achieve wise use. Thus for the first t ime criteria and wise use were brought together in a single document . The Regina Conference also established a Working Group on Criteria and Wise Use, which was charged with examining how to elaborate the criteria and how to apply the wise use provisions. The Working Group's report has already been circulated to the contracting parties, who will deliberate upon it at the next

Conference of the Parties to be held in June / July 1990 at Montreux, Switzerland.

G U I D E L I N E S FOR WISE USE

The Regina Conference adopted a defini- tion of wise use and rather brief guidelines on how to achieve this (Ramsar, op. cit.), as follows: - "The wise use of wetlands is their sustain-

able utilization for the benefit of human- kind in a way compatible with the mainte- nance of the natural properties of the ecosystem."

- Sustainable utilization is defined as "hu- man use of a wetland so that it may yield the greatest continuous benefit to present gen- erations while maintaining its potential to meet the needs and aspirations of future generations".

- Natural properties of the ecosystem are de- fined as "those physical, biological or chem- ical components, such as soil, water, plants, animals and nutrients, and the interactions between them".

The Working Group's report developed the Regina guidelines further. It recognized that elaboration of national wetland policies would be a long-term process, and that immediate ac- tion should be taken to stimulate wise use. The guidelines therefore include both elements and are divided into: ( 1 ) establishment of national wetland policies; (2) priority actions at na- tional level; (3) priority actions at particular wetland sites. These three actions contain the following ingredients:

Establishment of national wetland policies

National wetland policies should as far as possible address all problems and activities re- lated to wetlands within a national context. These may be grouped into five sections:

(1) to improve institutional and organiza- tional arrangements;

(2) to address legislation and government policies;

RAMSAR PARTICIPATION A N D WISE USE 271

( 3 ) to increase knowledge and awareness of wetlands and their values, notably increasing the awareness and understanding of decision makers and the public of the full benefits and values, within the terms of sustainable utiliza- tion, of wetlands. Among these benefits and values, which can occur on or off the wetland itself, are:

- sediment and erosion control; - flood control; - maintenance of water quality and abate-

ment of pollution; - maintenance of surface and underground

water supply; - support for fisheries, grazing and

agriculture; - outdoor recreation and education for hu-

man society; - provision of habitat for wildlife, espe-

cially waterfowl; (4) to review the status of, and identify

priorities for, all wetlands in a national context; (5) to address problems at particular wet-

land sites.

Priority actions at national level

Contracting parties will naturally select ac- tions, according to their own national priori- ties and requirements, from those listed above under establishment of national wetland poli- cies. They may wish to carry on institutional, legislative or educational measures and at the same time initiate inventories or scientific work; in this way the institutional, legislative and educational instruments will be available in t ime to deal with scientific results.

Equally, contracting parties wishing to pro- mote wise use of wetlands without waiting un- til national wetland policies have been devel- oped, may, based on their situation and needs, wish to: - identify the issues which require the most

urgent attention; - take action on one or more of these issues;

- identify the wetland sites which require the most urgent action;

- take action at one or more of these wetlands, along the lines set out below.

Priority actions at particular wetland sites

As at national level, immediate action may be required in order to avoid destruction or degradation of important wetland values at particular wetland sites. These actions will un- doubtedly include elements already listed above, and contracting parties will select those appropriate to their own national priorities and requirements.

Whenever planning is initiated for projects which might affect important wetlands, the following actions should be taken in order to promote wise use of the wetland: - integration from the outset of environmen-

tal considerations in planning of projects which might affect wetlands;

- continuing evaluation during their execution;

- full implementat ion of necessary environ- mental measures.

The planning, assessment and evaluation should cover projects upstream of the wetland, those in the wetland itself, and other projects which may affect the wetland.

As an important aspect of increasing knowl- edge and awareness of wetlands, the benefits and values of wetlands are listed. Adamus and Stockwell (1983) and Adamus et al. (1987) give a codification of wetland functions which is of special interest because it focuses on the functions for human beings and thus on the possibilities for participation and wise use: - groundwater recharge; - groundwater discharge; - flood storage and desynchronization; - shoreline anchoring and dissipation of ero-

sive forces; - sediment trapping; - nutrient retention and removal; - food chain support;

272 M. SMART AND K.J. ( 'ANTERS

- habitat for fisheries; - habitat for wildlife: - active recreation; - passive recreation and heritage value.

THE RAMSAR W O R K S H O P IN LEIDEN

At the Conference on The People's Role in Wetland Management, we did not devote much time to the criteria: these have been discussed at length over the last 15 years notably at the Cagliari and Regina Conferences (Spagnesi, 1982; Ramsar Convent ion Bureau, 1988 ), and it is expected that the Montreux Conference will adopt the Working Group 's minor revi- sions of the Regina Criteria with little or no amendment . Our concern in Leiden was with the application of the wise use guidelines. An important point to emphasize is the need to have examples of wise use which can be adopted or developed by other contracting parties. The papers presented at the workshop in Leiden fortunately did offer a number of such examples; they gave an interesting insight into the attitudes both of contracting parties and countries which are not yet contracting parties; they showed recent progress in this re- spect in the intentions of the Ramsar Conven- tion relating to guidelines for wise use. Before giving some information about these develop- ments we want to mention the paper of Jorjani (1990) from Iran, the country which acted as host to the Convent ion in 1971. Jorjani went into questions that are at the forefront of the current thinking of Ramsar contracting par- ties, the Standing Commit tee and the Bureau: how can the Convent ion 's work be extended beyond conservation of waterfowl habitats, to give greater weight to all aspects of wetlands, and to develop the nor th/south dialogue so that it gives full weight to wetlands? To answer these questions will certainly be one of the new chal- lenges for the Ramsar contracting parties.

S O M E R E C E N T D E V E L O P M E N T S IN D I F F E R E N T C O U N T R I E S

The proceedings of the congress include most of the papers ment ioned below (see list of ref- erences). Here we will only focus on the most relevant highlights. Bereteh (Sierra Leone) and Chao Ching Ju (People's Rep. of China) - both countries which are not yet contracting parties to the Ramsar Convent ion - - and Hoang Van Thang of Vietnam (personal communicat ion, 1989) gave general views about recent devel- opments in their countries concerning the Ramsar Convent ion and its objectives. There is a striking resemblance in the wealth and di- versity of wetlands in these countries and the need for cooperation with local communities, if they are to be conserved. However, realiza- tion ofprogrammes for protection and wise use is difficult; not only because of the lack of good insights into wetland functioning, but also from the lack of recent detailed data about sustain- ability in respect to exploitation. Yet the meas- ures adopted in the People's Rep. of China for local management of wetlands, especially the establishment of multiple use ecosystems, are of special interest and relevance, as they take full account of the sustainable relation be- tween people and nature. In Vietnam a very alert and adaptable approach to use of wet- lands has been developed. Intensive cultiva- tion of rice on recently drained grounds has been changed to less intensive crops which are more appropriate to the principle of wise use and sustainability.

Clarke from Canada called for attention to the fact that problems with the wise use of wet- lands are concentrated at the borders of great urban areas. These are, however, just those re- gions with quite a lot of money available for different forms of wise use of wetlands, espe- cially passive and active outdoor recreation. The information presented for use of these funds in a direct or indirect way could well be applied elsewhere. In this context the North American Waterfowl Management Plan and a

RAMSAR PARTICIPATION AND WISE USE 273

Federal Policy on Wetland Conservation have been proposed in Canada.

In Europe there are also some interesting new developments illustrated by the papers of Mas- soli-Novelli (1990) and Nienhuys (1990). Massoli-Novelli introduced a novel aspect: the importance of small wetlands, especially marshes, and made a plea for: (i) a census of remaining small wetlands; (ii) a cost-benefit analysis concerning modern cropping in rice paddies; (iii) cooperation between farmers, recreationists and other participants to make conservation of small wetlands economically viable; (iv) the approval at national level of a law for the protection of small wetlands.

Nienhuys' paper from The Netherlands pre- sented the work of the Dutch Society for the Preservation of the Wadden Sea and the re- sults obtained in the last 25 years. She empha- sized the many values of The Netherlands' part of the Wadden Sea, which is one of the 514 sites on the Ramsar List. It was particularly appro- priate that the paper deals with wise use inside a Ramsar site. Emphasis was given to the im- portant role of inhabitants of the area itself. The Society can look back upon some very fine results, such as: (i) less intensive farming on the Wadden Isles; (ii) more attention for na- ture-directed outdoor recreation; (iii) pre- venting reclamation of saltmarshes and mud- flats. The workshop noted with satisfaction the statement made by Nienhuys that the plan to reclaim part of the Dollard in the Federal Re- public of Germany, to create a new port, had been cancelled just a few days ago.

CONCLUSIONS FROM THE RAMSAR W O R K S H O P

Short discussions after the presentations and a general closing discussion delivered extra in- sight into some diverse aspects and have, to- gether with the presentations themselves, led to the following general conclusions.

( 1 ) The workshop emphasized the need for the Ramsar Convention and its contracting

parties to give leadership in wetland conser- vation at world level, in partnership with other participating organizations and people. There- fore all states should join the Convention.

(2) The workshop suggested that the Ram- sar Convention should give attention not only to waterfowl and to listing of wetlands of inter- national importance for nature conservation or heritage. The Convention should pay special attention to the wise use and international co- operation obligations.

(3) The wise use obligation under Ramsar calls on contracting parties to establish na- tional wetland policies covering:

- i m p r o v e d institutional and organiza- tional arrangements;

- legislation and government policies; - increasing knowledge and awareness of

wetland values; - reviewing status and identifying priori-

ties of all wetlands in a national context; - action at particular sites.

The workshop, on the basis of the papers pre- sented and discussion, emphasized:

(i) The need to coordinate wetland policies between different authorities in one coun- try, taking account of the views of local people. (ii) The need to relate traditional uses (not all of which are positive) to the wise use concept. (iii) The potentially damaging effect of high density of human populations on wetlands, whether in developed countries (reclama- tion, recreation) or low resource countries (intensive productivity); there is hence a need for zonation of activities. (iv) The importance of small wetlands as representative or unique ecological types, or as breeding sites for waterfowl, or stopover sites with a large turnover of migratory birds. (v) The exploitation of wetland productiv- ity at community level. (4) The international cooperation obliga-

tion under Ramsar calls on contracting parties to consult with each other about implementing

274 M. SMART AND K.J. ( ANTERS

obligations arising from the Convention. The workshop, on the basis of the papers presented and discussion, emphasized:

(i) The need to promote North/South col- laboration, particularly in respect of fund- ing by donor agencies from the North, of wetland projects in countries with limited resources. (it) The possibility of re-establishing geo- political contacts with countries following political rupture or isolation. (iii) The need to strengthen national and international wetland networks and link- ages, to foster more effective scientific knowledge of wetland functions and man- agement techniques. It is clear that the Ramsar Workshop (to-

gether with much information from other workshops) has provided good examples and new materials for refining the concept of wise use and the guidelines for achieving this. The Ramsar contracting parties will be particularly happy to have further suggestions and exam- ples for discussion at the Workshop on Wise Use which will be one of the special points of the Montreux Conference in 1990.

REFERENCES

Adamus, P.R. and Stockwell, L.T., 1983. A method for wet- land functional assessment. US Fed. Highway Admin. Rep. Vol. I. Report FHWA-1P-82-83, 176 pp. Vol. II. Report FHWA-IP-82-24, 134 pp.

Adamus, P.R., Clairain, E.J., Smith, R.D. and Young, R.E., 1987. Wetland Evaluation Technique (WET), Vol. 11: Methodology. Operational draft. US Department of the Army and US Department of Transportation, 206 pp.

Bereteh, M.A., 1990. The people's role in wetland manage- ment. In: M. Marchand and H.A. Udo de Haes (Editors), The People's Role in Wetland Management. Centre for Environmental Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Chao Ching Ju, 1990. The local management of wetlands in China. In: M. Marchand and H.A. Udo de Haes (Edi- tors), The People's Role in Wetland Management. Centre for Environmental Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Clarke, H.A., Rubec, C.D.A., McKechnie, M.R. and McCaig, J.D., 1990. Wetland conservation leadership in Canada. In: M. Marchand and H.A. Udo de Haes (Editors), The People's Role in Wetland Management. Centre for Envi- ronmental Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Jorjani, H., 1990. RAMSAR and the international donor agencies: from Rhetoric to Action. In: M. Marchand and H.A. Udo dc Haes (Editors), The People's Role in Wet- land Management. Centre fbr Environmental Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Massoli-Novelli, R., 1990. The disappearance of small wet- lands in Italy. In: M. Marchand and H.A. Udo de Haes (Editors), The People's Role in Wetland Management. Centre for Environmental Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands.

Nienhuys, K., 1990. The interaction between a Dutch NGO and local people in the promotion of wise management of the Wadden Sea area. In: M. Marchand and H.A. Udo de Haes (Editors), The People's Role in Wetland Manage- ment. Centre for Environmental Studies, Leiden Univer- sity, The Netherlands.

Ramsar Convention Bureau, 1984. Proceedings of the Sec- ond Conference of the Contracting Parties. Groningen, Netherlands, 7-12 May 1984. Ramsar Convention Bu- reau, Gland, Switzerland, 473 pp.

Ramsar Convention Bureau, 1988. Proceedings of the Third Conference of the Contracting Parties, Regina, Canada, 27 May-5 June 1987. Ramsar Convention Bureau, Gland, Switzerland, 588 pp.

Spagnesi, M. (Editor), 1982. Proceedings of the Conference on the Conservation of Wetlands especially as Waterfowl Habitat, Cagliari, Italy. 24-29 November 1980. Supplc- mento alle Ricerche di Biologia della Selvaggina, Vol. Ill. Istituto Nazionale Biologia della Selvaggina, Bologna, It- aly, 1188 pp.