On our General
Assembly (Congress) in South Africa we have to elect a new Main Board. Members (including current MB members) who
want to stand candidate for Main Board membership are requested to nominate
themselves by sending a short letter or email to the secretariat. This should
include
- a statement of willingness to stand for election for Main Board Membership
- an indication which specific task the candidate is prepared to fulfil (chairman, secretary, treasurer, “ordinary” Executive Committee member, “ordinary” Main Board member)
- some information about the candidate, his/her mire associated background, and especially information about how he/she sees the future tasks and priorities of IMCG.
Eight candidates present themselves below. Additional candidates can be presented in the next Newsletter.In order to guarantee an effective democratic election process involving all members, nominations must be submitted to the Secretariat before July 5th 2004, so that ballots and other General Assembly Documents can be sent out in/with the next Newsletter and will reach everybody in time.
Olivia Bragg (UK)
I am happy to stand for re-election to the IMCG Main Board. I am still an active wetland ecohydrologist based in the UK, with a special interest in the hydrological management of bogs. Over the last two years I have been involved in peatland work in Scotland, England, British Colombia, and Indonesia, and co-ordinated a peatland restoration project in Nizhny Novgorod Province (central Russia). Otherwise, much of my time has been filled by work for the UK and Irish agencies responsible for implementation of the European Water Framework Directive. It’s encouraging that, having more or less sorted out how to deal with the easy wetlands (rivers, lakes, estuaries and coastline), we are now beginning to think nationally about how mires will fit into this legislation. A related IMCG responsibility is my current involvement in the work of Ramsar STRP Working Group 3 on water resources (specifically groundwater). The last two years have also seen the publication of two edited books on peatland conservation in central and eastern Europe in which I was involved; one on the Darwin Initiative project (available for free download from the IMCG website) and the other on the Wetlands International CEPP project (edited jointly with Richard Lindsay). An offshoot of these activities is that we have finally prepared the available papers from the IMCG Japan meeting for imminent publication in the International Peat Journal. My name appears in the IMCG Action Plan against Objective C3.3 “the publication of a scientific journal on peat and peatlands”, and I anticipate that some of my contribution over the next two years will focus on developing this initiative into a high-quality, accessible, and truly international publication.
Stuart Brooks (Scotland)
Current Position: Head of Conservation, Scottish Wildlife Trust
Mire Related Positions: Executive Committee IMCG, Main Board IMCG, (IMCG Observer) Ramsar STRP, and member of CoCo for GAPP. Chairman of the Wildlife Trusts UK Peatland Specialist Group, Chairman of the Restoration of Scottish Raised Bogs Project Management Steering Group
Mire Related Experience: Studied mire ecology at University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK). 1991-2 undertook practical restoration and survey work on blanket mire in north England. 1992 joined Scottish Wildlife Trust as Field Officer for EU LIFE I Nature project on restoration of lowland raised mires; researched restoration techniques in Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland - co-authored Conserving Bogs: The Management Handbook in 1995. 1995-7 member of specialist peatland consultancy undertaking restoration projects and survey work mostly in the UK. 1998-2001 part of consortium and management team undertaking the Peatland Biodiversity Programme sponsored by the Darwin Initiative - training and facilitating workshops in 13 Central and Eastern European countries. 2001-03 Campaigns and Projects Manager responsible for LIFE III Nature Project and UK Peatland Campaign - targeting peat use in amateur horticulture sector. 2003-4 now responsible for 50 staff, 125 wildlife reserves including 11 lowland mires and 7 upland mire systems, national campaign and policy unit dealing with UK legislation, CAP reform, marine issues, EU legislation, 3 public visitor centres, conservation projects and corporate strategic management.
Ambition for IMCG for next two years: I believe IMCG has made huge strides in both its conservation output and its own internal management systems within the last t years. Instrumental to this has been the prioritisation of its work around the Action Plan, its ability to access partnerships and think strategically and above all the dedicated, tireless contribution of its members. However I also believe that the IMCG is nowhere near reaching it’s potential. As an organisation the IMCG is at a watershed. It stands on the brink of becoming a hugely significant force within the international policy arena where opportunities and necessity demand its attention but it lacks the ability to fulfil this role being limited by its capacity as a purely voluntary led organisation. To take us to the next level, if that is what is desired by the membership, I believe we need to pay attention to the following:
1. IMCG should formulate its vision and strategy and update its Action Plan. The Action Plan is a useful list of activities we are undertaking but does its sum deliver the strategic ambition of the organisation?
2. The risk to the organisation from the over reliance on a few key active members.
3. The financial management and financial strategy of the organisation. To move to the next level the organisation needs to generate unrestricted funds to enable it to take proactive steps, raise its profile and meet the targets in the Action Plan.
4. The profile and membership of the organisation. IMCG considerably ‘'punches above its weight’ and as a consequence already has a good (and improving) profile and membership but with some investment in these areas it could be considerably increased.
I appreciate that change is not a comfortable concept for most people but I advocate this is necessary if IMCG is to continue to grow, improve its efficiency, effectiveness and become the organisation it could be.
Rodolfo Javier Iturraspe (Tierra Del Fuego Arg)
Age: 49, living and working in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Engineer in water resources and Associate professor of the University of Patagonia (Ushuaia). Research carried out at the Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas (CADIC-CONICET) and water management activities at the Subsecretaría de Recursos Hídricos of Tierra del Fuego Government.
Mire related interests: mire hydrology, hydrological mire-landscape relationships, and mire conservation for water basin management.
I became IMCG Main Board member in 2000. From my view point the global and local importance of IMCG activities is increasing year to year. IMCG was born within the borders of Europe, but within this changing world we should promote a bigger participation of distant countries. In this respect, I think point A.4 of the IMCG Action Plan “Stimulation of regional mire and peatland inventories on the basis of an integral and coordinated approach” is very important and I support activities wherein experienced members join regional working groups to give advice about mire conservation. In the region I work (South of Argentina) mires occupy extended areas, likewise in Southern Chile, where mire conservation is still in its infancy. I hope to visit Punta Arenas (Chile) to spread the word on IMCG and make some members there.
Hans Joosten (Germany, Netherlands)
Born: 15-3-1955; grown up with 40% of the Dutch bog remnants within 5 km of his parents’ house. Happily living with wife and two daugthers (17 and 15 years) next to a (restored) Baltic Sea transgression mire. Studied geobotany, socio-economic history, aquatic ecology (Nijmegen University), and palaeoecology (Utrecht University). Earned his dr.-degree on landscape ecology and nature conservation of bogs. Worked as teacher, scientist, and policy maker at the Open University, the National Forest Service, the Ministry of Agriculture, and Utrecht University and as private consultant (all based in the Netherlands). Since 1996 senior scientist and since 2002 associate professor at Greifswald University (Germany), where he manages the working group on mire (palaeo)ecology within the study programme “Landscape Ecology and Nature Conservation.” Interested in everything related to peat and peatlands.
I stand candidate for the Main Board and am prepared to continue my activities as Secretary-General in a similar way, to make mire conservation a global topic and to strengthen the IMCG.
Elena Lapshina (Siberia)
Born November 25, 1958 in Tomsk, Russia. Education: M.Sc. (Diploma) Tomsk State Univ. in Biology: “Spatial structure of pine forest biogeocoenosis”, supervised by Dr. Yu. Lvov. In 1987, Ph.D. in Botany at the Tomsk State University: “Landscape structure and dynamics of the peatlands in the Ob river flood-plain (Southern part of Tomsk Region)”.
From 1980 to 1988, scientific researcher at the Department of Ecology, and from 1988 to 1990, senior teacher at the Department of Botany, Tomsk State University. From 1990-1991, I held a post-doctoral position at Kiel University (Germany), supervised by Prof. K. Dierssen.Since 1992, I have worked as Associated Professor at the Department of Botany, and as Head of the Laboratory of Biogeocoenology at Tomsk State University. In 2003, I became Head of the Regional Centre of Western Siberian Mire Investigations, Research Institute of Information Technology, Khanty-Mansiysk.
My main fields of interest are:
- Botany (biodiversity of Siberian mire and forests vegetation),
- Peatland Ecology,
- Paleoecology and Climate Change,
- Environment and Mire protection,
- Landscape Ecology, GIS Modelling.
I participated and am participating in various international research projects on Siberian peatlands and climatic change and on protection of minerotrophic mires of South Western Siberia.
I would like to focus some IMCG activities on the peatlands of Western Siberia, one of the largest peatland areas in the world, this includes providing a focus and facilities for international co-operation in the study and conservation of Western Siberian peatlands, by:
- establishing an International Centre for Western Siberian Mire Investigations and a Field Station near Khanty-Mansyisk (West Siberia);
- stimulating and facilitating interdisciplinary scientific research into the dynamics of Western Siberian peat ecosystems, including their hydrology, geochemistry, palaeo-ecology and vegetation;
- fostering interest, collaboration and technical facilities (incl. field sites) for long-term international interdisciplinary research;
- coordinating and contributing to the collection of baseline information on the distribution, size, quality, ecological characteristics and biological diversity of peatlands in Western Siberia and the carbon stored in them;
- coordinating and contributing to the monitoring of changes and trends in the quantity and quality of the Western Siberian peatland areas
This can and should be achieved through collaborative research, network communication, seminars, workshops, symposia, publications and other means related to specific objectives and projects.
Tatiana Minaeva (Russia)
In 1988, I graduated from the Dept. of Geobotany of the Moscow State University and I started my PhD in 1994 at the Komarov Botanical Institute in St- Petersburg.
I was fully employed as researcher in the Central Forest Biosphere Nature Reserve for 11 years and lived in a village 400 km North West from Moscow. My investigations concentrate on mire plant ecology, and natural dynamics of mire and forest vegetation. Currently, I’m still half time employed in the Nature Reserve, to continue the long term observations done by myself and other staff, but I have moved to Moscow.
The other half of my time I now devote to nature conservation activities: in 1999-2001 I have been leading a WWF Russia project on the development of protected areas in the European part of Russia and have been assisting Wetlands International Russia Programme in developing a peatland programme. Since 2002 I have concentrated only on the latter activity of the peatland conservation programme. Currently I am the Russian Representative in the STRP of the Ramsar Convention and have a seat in the Coordinating Committee of the Ramsar Global Action on Peatlands initiative.
I have been active in the Russian Mire Society led by Marina Botch since 1989. In 1991, I organised one of traditional biennial field seminars of the society in the Central Forest Nature Reserve. There I heard about the IMCG network, which was at those times restricted to one representative from our country. When IMCG started to spread as a wide network, I got the opportunity to join that pleasant community (1996). Since then I have been involved in many developments – symposia, discussions, etc. In 1997, I became part of the Working Group (the precursor of the Executive Committee) and took part in the discussions on the Constitution and organisational developments of IMCG. In Quebec the first official elections according to the new constitution took place and I was elected as EC Member.
As EC member I have taken part in the organisation of IMCG activities (day to day management, preparation of events and discussions, development of the IMCG Strategy, fundraising, informational networking etc.). Besides that I am currently representing IMCG in the GPI Steering Group. I would like to apply my facilities to implement the IMCG Strategy, develop and carry out some of the IMCG projects, assist in fundraising for those projects, and provide informational exchange. I also plan to expand the network in Russia and provide involvement of Russian experts in IMCG activities.
Dr Jennie Whinam (Tasmania, Australia)
My interest in peatlands started when I was an undergraduate student at the Australian National University in Canberra, where Dr Geoff Hope introduced me to the delights of peatland ecology. I was able to pursue these interests further when I moved to Tasmania, where the bulk of Australian Sphagnum peatlands occur and where there are large buttongrass moorlands dominated by the Cyperaceous tussock Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus. My post-graduate work at the University of Tasmania continued the peatland theme, with my Honours project being on string bogs and my PhD thesis on the ecology of Tasmanian Sphagnum peatlands.
For the past 14 years I have been Botanist for the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, where the bulk of Tasmanian peatlands occur. The primary focus of my work has been the conservation of plant communities and assessing environmental threats. My primary interests in peatlands are their ecology and conservation, including paleoecology, particularly Sphagnum peatlands. I have also been involved in assessing the impacts of Sphagnum moss harvesting and peat mining, both resources used by the horticultural industry. I have recently undertaken conservation and reservation assessments of Sphagnum peatlands in south-eastern Australia (Tasmania, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory) and been the co-ordinator of an overview of Australasian Sphagnum peatlands. I have also undertaken research into sub-Antarctic peatlands, including the pool complexes of Heard Island and Sphagnum moss beds of Macquarie Island. I am currently working with colleagues trialing rehabilitation techniques on montane and sub-alpine Sphagnum peatlands destroyed or badly impacted by major bushfires throughout south-eastern Australia in January 2003.
Line Rochefort invited me to participate in the Wetlands 2000 Event in Quebec, which was my first foray into international peatlands. I attended the IMCG symposium in France 2002, and enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many peatland experts out in the field, looking at various types of peatlands and discussing the problems of managing and conserving them. I am attending the forthcoming IMCG symposium in South Africa.
I look forward to continuing as a member of the IMCG Board and contributing where I can to the conservation of these fascinating and important ecosystems.
Leslaw Wolejko (Poland)
Born: 2 August 1956 in Szczecin, Poland.Education: Masters in Agriculture (1980) Szczecin Agricultural Univ.; PhD in Agriculture (1990): “Comparison of spring fens developing in natural conditions und under human impact”, Szczecin Agricultural Univ.; DSc (Dr hab.) in Biology (2003): „Dynamics of spring ecosystems in North-western Poland”, University of Gdańsk. Since 1980, I have worked at the Dept. of Botany and Nature Protection of the Agricultural University in Szczecin. My scientific fields include ecology, history, protection of mires, restoration, landscape management: I have worked in various surveys of natural areas for protection (inventories, management plans, impact assessment), most recently in the introduction of the Natura 2000 network in Poland.
Foreign experience: Japan, the Netherlands, currently Slovakia (international program). Member of the Wetland Commission in the State Council for Nature Conservation (counsel to the Minister of Environment) and the Nature Protection Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. I have been a member of IMCG since 1992.
In my oppinion IMCG should remain an idependent body of “experts” and people interested in mires, where opinions and concepts are formulated and exchanged. From this position it should be able to affect the international and state policies in cases where such intervention is needed, not by direct involvement in formal bodies but by rendering help to local members in particular countries. The invaluable quality of IMCG is the possibility to organise and perform global-scale theoretical and educational actions related to mires, unbiased by political or economical affiliations.