During the (short) bus drives in between field excursions and some stolen moments at the symposium in Tierra del Fuego, the 10 IMCG Main Board members present (Jennie Whinam, Hans Joosten, Tanja Minaeva, Piet-Louis Grundling, Olivia Bragg, Rodolfo Iturraspe, Tapio Lindholm, Asbjørn Moen, Line Rochefort, Jan Sliva), assisted by interested other members, held some “informal” Main Board meetings to discuss and decide on running issues. The decisions made have been put to the other Main Board members for agreement. The following points were discussed.
2006 IMCG meetings in Finland:
The aim of the 2006 IMCG Congress will be the assessment of conservation and wise use of Finnish peatlands on which we will produce a statement at the end of the symposium. The meeting will be supported by the Finnish Ministry of Environment.
Special topics will include IMCG history, peatlands and people, classification and terminology, conservation, restoration. The organisational team strives for the participation of many “classical” Finnish scientists.
The team will provide us with a set of background papers and with a detailed excursion guide. After the excursion there will be a 3 days scientific conference followed by the IMCG General Assembly. An excursion will be organized during the 2nd day to provide people, who can only attend the conference, with some Finnish mire experience. Full proceedings of the conference will be published, a call for papers will go out soon.
Until now 40 people have pre-registered. Knowing the slowness of many IMCG members, this means that more people will want to attend than technically can participate in the field excursion and that a selection has to be made. So be quick in registering. Support will be available (in limited amount) for young and “eastern” participants.
After the IMCG General Assembly, there will be a meeting in Finland between IMCG and IPS, followed by a meeting of CoCoGAP (the Coordinating Committee for Global Action on Peatlands of the Ramsar Convention).
2007 IMCG in Asia?
For 2007 a (small) field excursion to Central Asia is preliminarily planned, depending on the progress of a UNEP-GEF Mountain Peatland project that is currently in preparation.
The theme will be Peatlands and Desertification, the aim to connect peatland degradation to the UN Desertification Convention.
An alternative could be Yakutia: Peatlands and permafrost, with as central theme: climate change in permafrost mires.
SE Asia has no IMCG priority because of the good work of the Global Environmental Centre and Wetlands International in that area, ongoing projects, and the attention that peatland threats are already receiving there.
2008 IMCG in Georgia
In 2008 the IMCG meetings (field symposium, conference, General Assembly) will be held in Georgia (Kaukasia) with excursions to the mires of the Kolchis lowlands and of the Georgian Kaukasus.
Aim will be to discuss the peatland problems of the whole Kaukasus region, but for logistic reasons (e.g. visa) the excursion will remain on Georgian territory. In 2007 Hans will test the logistics of the excursion with a Greifswald student excursion.
Scientific Journal
As already decided, IMCG and IPS will start a free-for-all peer-reviewed academic internet journal on mires, peatlands, and peat. The name will be „Mires and Peat“, its url is www.mires-and-peat.net. IMCG pays „in kind“, IPS in money and in kind.
The Editor is Olivia Bragg, the co-editor: Jack Rieley.
We will try to sign the contract with IPS in December 2005. The start of the Journal is planned for January 2006, when the first publications will be put on the web. An official launch of the journal will be organized for the joint IMCG/IPS meeting in Finland (July 2006).
See also elsewhere in this Newsletter.
Ramsar CoP9 (Uganda)
Jan reported on the very successful pre-excursion and side-event. Tanja reported on the IMCG input in the Ramsar process, that worked via CoCoGAP, via interventions during the meeting (also via WI), and via IMCG members who were official representatives of their country. Especially the latter input can still be improved, but the late availability of Ramsar documents prevented an optimal preparation.
90% of the IMCG amendments were adopted. Overall, peatlands were prominently present during the event. Further reports will follow in this and the following IMCG Newsletter.
European Mires Book
The IMCG European Mires Book has a long history, but still needs ist finishing touch. Asbjörn and Hans have recently restarted and will devote considerable time in 2006. The aim is to have a final manuscript ready for Finland 2006. The basic funds for publication are secured (but more financial support is always welcome…).
IMCG Web page
The IMCG Web page www.imcg.net is working well, thanks to the efforts of Michael Trepel. An update of the “Projects” page is urgently needed (coordination Hans).
A „Present your project“-page will be developed to inform IMCG members on the projects that individual members are undertaking or have already completed (coordination Tanja).
A “Restopedia”-page will be developed on which information on peatland restoration can be exchanged (coordination Martin Schumann + Michael Trepel).
A Member‘s Expertise database will be made available to IMCG members via password (coordination Jan).
Wise Use Book
Almost 2000 copies of the Wise Use Book have been sold, which provided IMCG also with some financial benefits. The remaining hard copies will be send to all national libraries, so that the book is present in all countries of the world. The full text will be made available in pdf via internet.
Action Plan 2006 – 2010
On the next General Assembly (Finland 2006) a new Action Plan 2006 – 2010 has to be adopted. In the beginning of 2006, Hans will report on the progress with implementing the Action Plan 2002 – 2006 per 01-01-2006. The discussion on the Action Plan 2006 - 2010 will be started (coordination Jennie/Hans).
Finances
The IMCG financial situation is not dramatic, but as there is no regular source of IMCG income and activities/expenses are increasing, a policy has to be developed. Jan will prepare a MB discussion paper on possible sources of IMCG income and on the general policy on IMCG expenses (esp. with respect to support for travel of strategic persons).
The policy of „no membership fee“ will be continued.
Gifts are always welcome (consult Hans for possible fiscal constructions).