NEWSLETTER

The International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) is an international network of specialists having a particular interest in mire and peatland conservation. The network encompasses a wide spectrum of expertise and interests, from research scientists to consultants, government agency specialists to peatland site managers. It operates largely through e-mail and newsletters, and holds regular workshops and symposia. For more information: consult the IMCG Website: http://www.imcg.net

IMCG has a Main Board of 15 people from various parts of the world that has to take decisions between congresses. Of these 15 an elected 5 constitute the IMCG Executive Committee that handles day-to-day affairs. The Executive Committee consists of a Chairman (Jenny Whinam), a Secretary General (Hans Joosten), a Treasurer (Philippe Julve), and 2 additional members (Tatiana Minaeva, Piet-Louis Grundling).

Viktor Masing (†), Hugo Sjörs, and Richard Lindsay have been awarded honorary membership of IMCG.

Editorial

This first Newsletter of 2005 contains an overview of important events and developments for 2005 and beyond. The IMCG Board has decided to launch a new internet-based international peatland journal together with IPS. Here is your opportunity to effectively publish the things the world is waiting for.

The newsletter also reflects the recent developments following the IMCG events in South Africa 2004, updates the plans for the IMCG Field Symposium in Tierra del Fuego (Argentina) in November 2005, and provides the first detailed information on our meetings in Finland 2006.

Important political developments reported on are the meeting of Ramsar STRP last February and the first meeting (March 15, 2005) of the European Union Ad Hoc Working Group on Eco-labelling of Soil Improvers and Growing Media. The latter issue gets special attention, as we want to stimulate discussion on this important and tricky subject.

As always the newsletter ends with a variety of peatland news from all over the world, a presentation of recent new literature, and an overview of relevant future congresses and conferences.

Please send all your proposals, contributions, news, publications, etc. to us, and with your help we will again prepare an interesting Newsletter.

For information or other things, contact us at the IMCG Secretariat. Address updates should be sent to Jan Sliva (sliva@wzw.tum.de). In the meantime, keep an eye on the continuously refreshed and refreshing IMCG web-site: http://www.imcg.net

John Couwenberg & Hans Joosten, The IMCG Secretariat

Botanical Institute, Grimmerstr. 88, D-17487 Greifswald (Germany)

fax: +49 3834 864114; e-mail: joosten@uni-greifswald.de