‘Wetlands’ Talks In Samoa This Week

The Oceania region will soon come together to develop a stronger Pacific voice at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention in October.  The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) is coordinating a two-day preparatory meeting to be held at SPREP headquarters in Apia, Samoa from 10-11 April.

Five Pacific Island countries are a party to the convention that promotes the conservation and wise, sustainable use of wetlands around the world: Fiji, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea and Samoa who will be attending the upcoming preparatory meeting, along with non-party Kiribati who are currently in the process of joining the convention.

“Climate Change is a huge issue as it impacts on many areas, including wetlands.  Financing for wetlands conservation in the region is another area that will need to be addressed, as there is currently not much attention given to funding wetlands projects in the Pacific,” said SPREP’s Associate Ramsar Officer Vainuupo Jungblut.

During the two-day meeting, country delegates will have the opportunity to assess progress made in implementing the Ramsar Convention in the Pacific since the last conference (COP9) in 2005. The preparatory meeting will also discuss regional priorities and support needed. These will then be raised at the October conference of the parties, with the view to enhance the implementation of the Convention in the region beyond 2009.  

“There is a need to enhance networking and collaboration between Ramsar focal points both at the national and regional levels. We hope that the preparatory meeting will accomplish this and thereby contribute to improved implementation of the convention in the region.”