Meeting of the IMCG-EC

31 October – 1 November, Egmond, The Netherlands

The IMCG EC (Jan Sliva, Hans Joosten, Tatiana Minaeva; not present: Philippe Julve and Stuart Brooks) and interested IMCG members (Piet-Loius Grundling, Michael Trepel, Andrej Sirin) met recently in Egmond in the Netherlands.

Internal organisation

Jan reported that per 30.10.2003 IMCG has 296 members. Several applications are still in the pipeline, including many new members from Southern Africa. Per 31.12.2002 we had 265 members. This means that the aim of an annual increase of 10 % of the membership has already been reached. Reactions on the IMCG expertise database have been meagre: only 19 members reacted. This might be due to the announcement not being very explicit (it was included in the general announcement of a new newsletter) and the deadline being very sharp, which may have deterred people who noticed it too late. Jan will send out a new request per separate mail with a new deadline.

The website has recently been updated with new main entries and Michael Trepel is doing a magnificent job. The EC decided to put a disclaimer on the entrance page that IMCG is not responsible for the information provided via external links.

It was noted that the Newsletter increasingly contains papers with a more “scientific” character that go beyond a news item. This gives the Newsletter a solid expert character, but is also a little bit confusing when short notes are intermixed with longer articles. The editors should try to structure the overall lay-out of the Newsletter better. To provide on-line readability we shall present the Newsletters again also in HTML format. The distribution of the paper copies of the IMCG Newsletter proceeds smoothly thanks to great efforts of Margrit von Euw. To reduce the number of the paper copies, Jan will contact all members receiving paper copies and ask them to change of the mode of distribution.

With respect to the Wise Use book, IPS has provided us with a financial overview of the costs and benefits of the book until now. The calculation of some cost aspects is curious. These unclarities have to be sorted out between the secretariats. Furthermore IPS has sold the bulk of the books by advance order (before November 2002) to their members for the price of only € 10, i.e. almost for cost price. IMCG has got 200 copies for free. These have largely been distributed in countries with currency problems. All these things have never been decided between the organisations in advance, because all decisions had to be taken in a hurry last year to be in time for the Ramsar CoP meeting in Valencia. As the developments cannot be turned back, we have to accept the situation as it is now.

At present still some 475 books are unsold in store at the IPS office. IMCG will propose IPS to send a book to at least one central library in every country so that the book is available for everybody.

In the beginning of 2004 the Secretariat will approach the responsible Champions for tasks in the IMCG Action Plan to report on the situation in order to prepare the IMCG Annual report 2003.

Jan will address the issue of possible amendments to the constitution in the Newsletter.

Piet-Loius asked whether it is technically possible to have regional chapters in IMCG. Consultation of the constitution learns that article 19.1. provides the possibility to “create committees comprising three or more members of the Society.” Such committees “must give an accounting at least once annually to the Main Board.”

Piet-Loius and Jan reported on the 2004 South Africa meeting: The preparations run smoothly: the programme is fixed, most venues and accommodations are booked, the costs are clear. A special workshop will be organized in Lesotho. The next task is to prepare informative hand-outs with involvement of local organisations. A (sponsored) video will be made. The opening will probably be done by the SA Minister of Environmental Affairs.

The calculated € 1,100 (early payment € 1,000) are sufficient to cover all costs. Fundraising, for sponsorship, is being done by a special NGO. Some sponsorship will be available for participants from Southern Africa. To support other members to arrange their sponsorship themselves, Tatiana will make an overview of fundraising possibilities and put this on the IMCG website. An abstract volume of the papers will be made available at the symposium. The proceedings of the conference will be published afterwards, possibly in the International Journal of Peat and Peatlands (IJPP, see below).

Sufficient attention will be paid to publicity, partly through the Working for Wetlands initiative. Press conferences with press releases and media information will be organised at the beginning and at the end of the trip/meetings. Local press campaigns (cf. France 2002) are more difficult because of lack of involved people. A logo for the meetings has to be made. A PR plan will be made and send to the Main Board for feedback.

A call for draft resolutions will be made in the Newsletter. Draft resolutions should also identify the apparatus to which the resolution has to be directed or send. The draft resolutions will be circulated among the Main Board members and put on the website with the request to send reactions to the IMCG Secretariat. Background information will be published in the Newsletter.

In general it is necessary to keep track of the reactions on the resolutions for feedback and follow-up. For that purpose the Secretariat will ask submitters of resolutions of the General Assembly 2002 to report on the effects of the resolution for the Newsletter.

Hans will visit Tierra del Fuego in February-March 2004 to discuss mire conservation issues with the government and to discuss the possibilities of a workshop/symposium in 2005/2006.

No news is yet available from Finland 2006. An important issue to discuss in Finland will be the relation between greenhouse gas balance and peatland forestry.

No concrete plans are available for the 2008 meeting. Donal Clarke has invited IMCG to consider a joint meeting with the International Peat Congress in Dublin, but the EC sees as yet no benefits from this. We should try to plan the topics strategically to address urgent and globally important issues. Areas/topics brought forward include Western Siberia (oil exploration and exploitation) and Central Asia (aridisation, desertification).

The IMCG Website is currently being reorganised to include all papers and resolutions of all former IMCG congresses and workshops. Several of the papers of the Kushiro conference (1996) will be published in Issue 12 of the Int. Peat Journal, which should be published before the end of 2003. Thanks are due to Olivia Bragg for organizing the publication.

Contacts other organisations

Richard Lindsay has offered to fill up the vacancy of IMCG representative in the European Habitat Forum. The EC accepts and applauds this offer.

The IUCN Commission on Ecosystem management will be invited to South Africa 2004 and will “support” our conference.

IMCG EC sees no necessity to pursue a Memorandum of Understanding with the Society of Wetlands Scientists. Barry Warner has not reacted on requests for more information.

The meeting with the International Peat Society on November 2 was prepared. The minutes of this meeting sufficiently reflect this preparation (see elsewhere in this Newsletter). An IMCG input into the IPS Tampere 2004 conference will amongst others take place via the special workshop “The Future of Peatlands.”

The meeting of the Global Peatland Initiative of November 3 was prepared. The DGIS (Netherlands) financing will not continue in 2004. The whole package that Wetlands International had submitted, of which GPI was a part, was not granted. Whereas the GPI project vetting procedure had improved, the bringing in of extra funds is still not satisfactorily organized. Although IMCG keeps pressing for it, still no project portfolio is available and no procedure for gathering project proposals has been developed. This seriously hampers the finding of additional funds.

No contract has been signed yet for the GPI website that next to the IMCG website will be managed by Michael Trepel.

The main IMCG contribution to the Ramsar Convention Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) is via the Coordinating Committee (CoCo) for the Implementation of the Global Action Plan for Peatlands (GAPP). This CoCo will meet for the first time on November 5-6 following the IMCG EC meeting to draft an implementation plan identifying priority action items. The EC reviewed the tasks of the CoCo and the possible contribution of IMCG.

In the framework of the 3rd Joint Work Plan between the Ramsar Convention and the Convention on Bio-Diversity, IMCG has offered STRP to contribute to one of the items: forest ecosystems, with special attention to forested peatlands. The STRP has further asked support in drafting a report on “groundwater and wetlands”. Tanja will inform the STRP that specialists of IMCG are interested to contribute.

IMCG Action plan

The EC discussed progress with respect to the IMCG Action Plan (2002 – 2006) (see www.imcg.net/ imcgmiss.htm)

A.1. Assessment of the global distribution and condition of mires and peatlands: the Report “The global status of mires and peatlands” is on schedule and will be ready at the end of 2003.

A.2. Development of a globally valid system of mire types and an overview of their distribution: Jan Sliva will organize a concluding workshop in 2004 filling in the gaps from the Tamsweg workshop.

A.3. Development of a globally unified consistent mire terminology: Publication will take place in the European Mires Book in 2004.

A.4. Stimulation of regional mire and peatland inventories:

A.4.1. Working group Southern Africa was installed in 2002; further expansion to tropical Africa is underway.

A.4.2. Project development and fundraising is in a vicious circle because of the failure of GPI to develop a project portfolio.

A.4.3. The production of an overview of mire and peatland diversity and conservation status in Europe: Finances for printing are secured. Most chapters are ready The Russia chapter is foreseen to be submitted in January 2004. A start has been made with organizing Europe-wide maps of mire types. Publication is scheduled for 2004

A.4.4. The production of an overview of mire and peatland diversity and conservation status in Southern Africa: a report will be produced related to Ramsar Uganda 2005 to stimulate further integrated inventory.

A.4.5. The production of an overview of mire and peatland diversity and conservation status of Russia. The European part will be covered by the European Mires Book. It is foreseen to produce separate overviews for West and Central Siberia (probably 2006) and for Yakutia and the Far East (2007?).

A.4.6. Starting the identification of the mire and peatland diversity and conservation status of South America: IUCN is working on paramos, WI Argentina is currently working on an inventory of Patagonian peatlands.

A.5. Identification of the main functions and values of mires and peatlands on a global scale:

A.5.1. The collection of qualitative and quantitative information has been realised in the Wise Use book.

A.5.2. The ongoing synthesis of global databases on mire flora, vegetation, and mire plant ecology: because of absence of Philippe no information is available on progress. Question: how to involve more members?

A.5.3. To start a mire fauna data base: no initiatives yet. Hans will approach Stefan Hotes. Question: What should be the content of that database?

A.6. Formulation of Ramsar Guidelines for peatland sites: Guidelines were endorsed by Ramsar COP8 in Valencia, November 2002

B.1. Identification of the main threats and of mechanisms to avoid them

B.1.1. and B.1.3. The inventory of regional threats and their effects: Michael Trepel and Tanja Minaeva are developing a dynamic database on regional threats on the IMCG website. Regional peatland overviews will include the threats.

B.1.2. The development of an infrastructure for membership expertise exchange: Jan Sliva has send around request for filling in of expertise form, but up till now with little response.

B.2. Promotion of the conservation of mires in hot spots

B.2.1. The development and operation of a hot line for mire threats incl. a mechanism for feedback: see B.1.1.

B.2.2. The acquisition of funds for the provision of free expertise for hot spots: no progress.

C.1. Permanent IMCG involvement in international mire conservation policy

C.1.1. Cooperation with partner organizations: see above

C.1.2. Continued participation in the Ramsar STRP: see above, incl. CoCo-GAP

C.1.3. Pro-active participation in the Steering Group of the Global Peatland Initiative

C.1.4. Stimulation of mire/peatland related aspects in the Convention on Biodiversity: in the framework of the joint Ramsar-CBD Working Plan, IMCG will provide data on distribution, management options and recommendations for peatland forests. Contact with CBD will also be provided via CoCo-GAP.

C.1.5. Stimulation of mire/peatland related aspects in the UNFCCC and the Kyoto process: Hans Joosten has contributed to a report about climate change and biodiversity to be presented at the UNFCCC CoP in Milan (Dec. 2003). Contact with UNFCCC will also be provided via CoCo-GAP.

C.2. An effective global network of mire conservationists

C.2.1. The production and distribution of a regular Newsletter: runs smootly

C.2.2. The maintenance of a Website: runs smoothly

C.2.3. The wide distribution of IMCG information material: The IMCG flyer has not yet been produced. Tanja Minaeva received € 300 to print the flyer in Russia. IMCG Membership grows according to planning.

C.2.4. The expansion of IMCG membership in Southern Africa: runs successfully. Sadec involvement is realized.

C.2.5. The preparation of the 2004 IMCG Congress in South Africa: runs smoothly.

C.2.6. The expansion of IMCG membership in South America: no substantial progress

C.2.7. The preparation of an IMCG Symposium in South America 2005/2006: see above

C.2.8. The support of national and local initiatives in mire conservation: see B.1.2.

C.3. Provision of free exchange of information

C.3.1. The organization of meetings, symposia, and workshops: see above

C.3.2. The preparation of publications: in 2003 only the Newsletter was produced. The publication “Global status” is in preparation (see A.1.)

C.4. Development and implementation of a policy on economic incentives for mire conservation

C.4.1. Development of a policy on certification and ecolabelling: Draft discussion papers have been produced by Donal Clarke (IPS) and Olly Watts (RSPB). The issue will be discussed in the meeting with IPS (see there).

C.4.2. The stimulation of the development and the use of peat alternatives: no progress. Hans Joosten will contact our UK members to create a link of our website to relevant UK websites.

C.4.3. The promotion of adequate labeling, certification, and licensing of peatland related products and activities: see 4.1.

C.4.4. The promotion of “debts for nature swaps” for mire conservation

C.5. Awareness campaign: Wise Use statements in various languages have still to be made available on the IMCG website. A new vehicle could be the Int. Journal of Peat and Peatlands (see minutes meeting IPS/IMCG).

In Southern Africa information material is required for illiterate people. Furthermore there is a demand for a “Wise Use of Peatlands for children and ministers.” This will be brought in in the CoCo-GAP.

Next meeting

A next meeting has not yet been scheduled because of absence of two of the EC members.