On 6 June 2004 the Coordinating Committee for Global Action on Peatlands of the Ramsar Convention (CoCo-GAP) met for the second time (see IMCG-Newsletter 2003-4) in Tampere (Finland) in association with the “International Peat Congress”.
Discussions focussed mainly on the progress and gaps of the draft Implementation Plan for Global Action on Peatlands, the formulation of priority activities and programmes, and the concrete outputs to be produced for the Conference of Parties of the Ramsar Convention (CoP9, 7-15 November 2005, Kampala, Uganda).
According to Resolution VIII.17 (Valencia 2002), the CoP expects from the CoCo-GAP an Implementation Plan, a Progress Report, and Recommendations. In case of sufficient substance an additional resolution to Resolution VIII-17 can be considered.
Preparation of these outputs for COP9 should take into account the following opportunities and deadlines for intervention:
- The National Reports for CoP9 will include concrete peatland objectives and will be submitted to the Ramsar Bureau from 28 February 2005 onwards. These reports can provide important input to the progress report.
- Consultation with Ramsar Contracting Parties (CPs) can most easily take place through the Standing Committee. The Standing Committee of the Ramsar Convention that will prepare CoP9 will meet 6-11 June 2005 in Gland, Switzerland. Final inputs need therefore to be ready by early April 2005.
- Earlier input is possible through the Ramsar Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP), which meets in the first week of February 2005 (also in Gland). Our inputs for this should be available by 20 December 2004.
On short notice the Contracting Parties have to be informed on the establishment of the CoCo-GAP and on the Implementation Plan it is preparing.
Draft Resolution
It was agreed that the (draft) Resolution should highlight the most important issues, suggest operational and institutional mechanisms (nationally/regionally), and emphasize the need for international cooperation and financing. We should try to be more specific than in the earlier resolution VIII-17 and make clear what the priority programmes/projects are that should be financed. Special attention has to be paid to the relation of Ramsar with other conventions related to peatlands.
The draft Resolution must list the major policy issues in a narrative introduction. It must identify basic issues and major problems, look at peatlands in the broader context of ecological and economic environment, and look for win-win situations and positive feed-back mechanisms. It should furthermore identify recommendations and urgency: What is required, by whom, why, how and when.
It was agreed that the first drafts will be prepared by 14 July, the second draft by 10 October, and the final draft by 20 December 2004.
The Implementation Plan will be added as an annex and will show the response to each of the priorities of the guidelines of Resolution VIII-17. The draft Implementation Plan for Global Action on Peatlands, that was prepared by the CoCo-GAP, was discussed. This document has still the format of a table and must be further complemented. The draft has to be made public and available to the Contracting Parties, as the CoCo-GAP members can not represent all stakeholders.
Side Event
In view of the value of the CoCo-GAP as a unique forum and partnership between industry, science, and the conservation sector, a peatland side event should be organised on CoP9. Kampala may probably offer less opportunity/possibility to organise side events at CoP9, and we should look into possibilities to arrange a side event immediately before the CoP or as a one-day meeting at the Global Biodiversity Forum as an alternative.
The next meeting of the CoCo-GAP will be organized in Wageningen, the Netherlands, October 11 and 12, 2004.
(based on the draft minutes prepared by Marcel Silvius)