The Seventh Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention
Reaching 200 Contracting Parties and 2,000 Ramsar Sites in the 21st Century

The Seventh Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention was held in San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica, from May 10 to 18, 1999. The meeting was held at Hotel Herradura Conference Center and attended by more than 600 participants from 140 countries.
This conference, the first to be held in developing countries in Central and South America, was meaningful in that a resolution calling for the realization of 200 contracting parties and 2,000 Ramsar sites in the 21st century was adopted.
At the Sixth Ramsar Convention held in Brisbane (Australia), Recommendation 6.3 on involving local and indigenous people in the management of Ramsar wetlands was adopted. A working group, established in response to this recommendation, attended the seventh conference to present a draft for a new resolution. From the Kushiro International Wetland Centre, which is a member of this working group, Mr. Watanuki (president), Mr. Tsujii (chairperson of the technical committee), Mr. Kobayashi (technical coordinator), Mr. Shinsho (secretariat office manager) and Ms. Sato (secretary) attended the conference as observers.
The Seventh Conference adopted an action plan and budget plan for the Ramsar Convention from 2000 to 2002 to increase the number of contracting parties to 200 and the number of Ramsar sites to 2,000 during this period. It also confirmed the importance of closer cooperation with other conventions associated with the Ramsar Convention, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage.
At the conference, the role of wetlands in protecting the global environment and the importance of conserving aquatic ecosystems, river basins and catchment basins were reaffirmed. Based on this recognition, the Guidelines for integrating wetland conservation and wise use into river basin management were adopted.
The conference also established new criteria for the designation of wetlands as Ramsar sites. These criteria, which concern major wetlands in the biographic region, was developed in consideration of the importance of maintaining biodiversity. Also, the necessity of conserving coastal wetlands endangered due to global climate change, particularly wetlands in small island states, was confirmed.
In addition, the conference adopted guidelines for the restoration and rehabilitation of wetlands and effective management and operation methods for human-made wetlands (particularly dams) to promote their wise use.
Moreover, it stressed the important role wetlands play in protecting the global environment against global warming and the necessity of evaluating the economic value of wetlands.
Furthermore, it was encouraged to promote the use of the Internet, GISs (geographic information system) and other cutting-edge technologies and to organize seminars and training courses to transfer skills required to implement the Ramsar Convention.
The conference adopted Resolution VII. 8 "Guidelines for establishing and strengthening local communities' and indigenous people's participation in the management of wetlands." These guidelines, developed to realize the wise use of wetlands and natural resources and to demonstrate a process for involving local and indigenous people in wetland management, have since played an important role in promoting the implementation of the Ramsar Convention at the local level.
In Japan, meanwhile, it is expected that the adoption of the Guidelines for integrating wetland conservation and wise use into river basin management will prompt more specific involvement of the Environment Agency, Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and other agencies in the implementation of the Ramsar Convention.
Also, the establishment of new criteria for the designation of Ramsar sites is expected to prompt the designation of inland wetlands and hydrological systems and along river basins (such as Kabukuri-numa, Miyajima-numa and Lake Harutori) as Ramsar sites. This move is also expected to promote the protection of tidal flats and coastal wetlands (such as Fujimae Higata).
In conjunction with the conference, the Meeting for the Conservation of Migratory Waterbirds in the Asia-Pacific Region and the First Meeting of the Anatidae Site Network in the East Asian Flyway were held. The conference adopted Recommendation 7.3 "Multilateral cooperation on the conservation of migratory waterbirds in the Asia-Pacific region." In response to these meetings and the recommendation, KIWC intends to promote exchange activities with Kooragang Wetland and associated wetlands in Australia, with which Kushiro's Ramsar sites established sister wetland affiliations because both areas are connected by the migration of Latham's snipe (Gallinago hardwickii). KIWC will also strive to protect bean geese (Anser fabalis) and gadwalls (Anas strepera) flying over this area and implement measures to promote international cooperation for the protection of cranes based on the North East Asian Crane Site Network.
During the conference, the KIWC President (who is also the Mayor of Kushiro City) was able to talk with the Mayor of San Jose and exchanged information on environmental protection and ideal development of local areas. The JICA trainees from the Republic of Korea, Thailand and Peru, who received training in KIWC, also participated in the conference as delegates or observers, playing a significant role.
On May 18, the last day of the conference, 32 resolutions and four recommendations were adopted and members for the next standing committee were selected (Japan and India were chosen as regional representatives for Asia). It was agreed to hold the next conference in Spain. The nine-day conference was concluded and participants left the venue while local children saw them off with the parade of "Viva Wetlands."

President Watanuki talking with the Mayor of San Jose

Mayor of Port Stephens visits Kushiro

In November 1994, a sister-wetland affiliation agreement was signed between municipalities related to Ramsar sites in Hokkaido's Kushiro-shitsugen, Akkeshi-ko and Bekanbeushi-shitsugen, and Kiritappu-shitsugen and Australia's Newcastle and Port Stephens where Kooragang Wetland, also a Ramsar site, is located. Since then, exchange activities between researchers and local high school students have been conducted to promote the conservation and wise use of these wetlands.
John Bartlet, Mayor of Port Stephens, and two others visited Kushiro on August 9, 1999, and stayed for three days. They inspected facilities in the wetlands designated as Ramsar sites, attended meetings with local people involved in the sister wetland affiliation and participated in many other exchange activities.
At the meetings, various opinions were exchanged on the conservation and use of wetlands and waste-composting project. Both sides agreed that it is important to communicate with each other more frequently and promote local-level activities. The delegates then visited Tateyama in Chiba Prefecture and Yamagata, with which Port Stephens has friendly relations, and left for Australia on August 19.

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