lssued by the Kushiro International Wetland Centre Kushiro, Hokkaido, Japan

Reports on Community-based Wetland Management Workshop
March 2-4, 1998, Kushiro

Photo: Fujita Printing Co.,Ltd.

The International Workshop on the Ramsar Sites Management Involving Local Community was held at the Kushiro Tourism & International Relations Center over three days from March 2 (Mon.) to 4 (Wed.), 1998.
　It was held as part of a project in response to Recommendation 6.3. This project was initiated in January 1997 to implement the Recommendation on Involving Local and Indigenous People in the Management of Ramsar Wetlands (Rec. 6.3), adopted at the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention, held in Brisbane, Australia, in March 1996.
　The workshop was organized by organizations responsible for the project: the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Social Policy Group, WWF, the Caddo Lake Institute (U.S.) and the Kushiro International Wetland Centre. A total of 195 people from eight countries, including Mr. Delmar Blasco, Secre tary General of the Ramsar Convention Bureau and Mr. Kojiro Mori, Director of the Wildlife Division, the Environment Agency, attended the workshop.
　Significant points of the workshop were as follows:
(1) At previous Ramsar meetings, discussions tended to focus on technical methods for wetland management. This workshop was significant for its discussion of specific contents, such as who should be involved in wetland management. In addition, the importance of sociological actions for the conservation of we tlands was also acknowledged for the first time.
(2) Case studies indicated that where the conservation of wetlands was conducted with the participation of local people, both wetlands and people benefited and the "wise use" stated in the Ramsar Convention was materialized. Where residents were not involved, however, both wetlands and residents suffered losses.
(3) The next Ramsar Conference, in Costa Rica, will be the first held in a developing country. The involvement of local people is considered the key to promoting wetlands conservation in developing countries. Many case studies from Japan presented this time, meanwhile, confirmed that it is also necessary to involve local people in wetlands conservation in developed countries.
　The following is a summary prepared by Mr. Alex De Sherbinin of IUCN who presided over the workshop.

"The Fifth Ramsar Conference in Kushiro adopted a significant resolution on wetland management plans for both listed and unlisted wetlands. The involvement of local people in the preparation of wetland management plans was also the focus of the resolutions adopted at the Conference. This workshop was held in line with the discussions from the Kushiro Conference, the Narashino Declaration and Rec. 6.3 adopted at the Ramsar Brisbane Conference.
　As there is little information available on the involvement of local communities in wetland management, a total of 23 successful cases were collected from around the world. Out of them, seven specific cases in the Asia-Oceania region (Japan, China, Malaysia, Australia, India, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands) were presented at the workshop.
　These case studies will contribute to the establishment of guidelines to be used by all contracting parties in implementing wetland management projects with the participation of local and indigenous people. The draft plan for these guidelines, which was extensively discussed during this workshop, will be deliberated in greater detail and adopted at the Seventh Ramsar Conference of Contracting Parties, to be held in Costa Rica in May 1999."

　Concurrent with the workshop, the International Symposium on the Conservation and Management of the Estuarine Wetland of the Nakdong River was held at Pusan National University, R.O. Korea. Action plans adopted at the symposium were sent to the Kushiro workshop as urgent appeals, and are summarized as follows:

1. To realize conservation and management based on the "wise use" concept under the Ramsar Convention
2. To realize the involvement of local people in the conservation and management of wetlands
3. To realize the designation of the Nakdong River Estuary to the Ramsar Convention

The draft for the criteria and guidelines will incorporate the discussions held at the workshop and comments made by NGOs, and be presented at the US Wetlands Month Conference, to be held in Arlington, Virginia, from April 15 to 17, 1998.
　The results of discussions at the US Wetlands Month Conference will also be in cluded in the draft plan.
　The next draft will be presented at the Ramsar Convention Standing Committee Meeting, to be held in Switzerland this October.
　Incorporating the discussions from the standing committee meeting, the final draft for the criteria and guidelines will be presented at the Seventh Ramsar Conference in San Jose, Costa Rica, from May 10 to 18, 1999.
　A resolution incorporating these criteria and guidelines will be adopted at the San Jose Conference.

This workshop was significant as it was a part of global-level efforts to promote wetlands management through the participation of local communities. It was also notable in that participants came from around the world representing a wide range of areas such as biology, business, government and social sciences.
　The accomplishments realized at the workshop will be presented and adopted as a new resolution in Costa Rica.
　Kushiro has become known all over the world since the success of the Ramsar Kushiro Conference in 1993. I hope that Kushiro will continue to play a leading role in promoting wetlands conservation.

The WWF considers this workshop notable as it was held with the participation of representatives from Thailand and Nepal and that many cases involving local people in wetland management in Japan, the host country, were presented.
　During the workshop, successful examples were presented for the promotion of the "wise use" of wetlands. It was confirmed, meanwhile, that there was not a single successful example of "wise use" promotion when the cooperation of local people was insufficient, as seen in the cases in Isahaya and Fujimae. This was one of the most significant points to emerge at the workshop.
　I hope that the resolution on the involvement of local people, which will be adopted soon, will promote the acknowledgment among the governments of the Contracting Parties - which consist of both developed and developing nations - on the importance of involving local people in wetland conservation and management.

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