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9th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
Kampala, Uganda | 8-15 November 2005
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Ramsar COP9 Opens in Kampala, Uganda
The Ninth Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP9) to
the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands opened in the evening of Tuesday, 8
November 2005, and will continue until 15 November 2005 at the Speke
Resort Munyonyo in Kampala, Uganda. The theme of the Conference is
"Wetlands and water: supporting life, sustaining livelihoods."
The opening session concluded with the presentation of the triennial
Ramsar Wetland Conservation Awards. The award for education was
shared between the Wetlands Centre, Australia (accepted by Christine
Prietto, Education Manager) and Reiko Nakamura, Ramsar Centre, Japan,
while the awards for science and management were received respectively
by Shuming Cai, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China, and SH. A. Nezami
Baloochi, Department of Environment, Province of Gilan, Iran. Above:
the award recipients, in the order named.
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Tuesday, 8 November
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Opening Session
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Antonio Fernandez de Tejada, Spain, passed the Ramsar flag to Uganda,
and commended the Government of Uganda for hosting Africa's first Ramsar
COP.
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Kahinda Otafiire, Minister of Lands, Water and the Environment, Uganda,
outlined its progress toward conservation and sustainable use of wetlands.
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Peter Bridgewater, Secretary General, Ramsar Convention, stressed the
need to balance the desire to designate more Ramsar sites with the need
to ensure their representativeness and effective management.
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Bakary Kante, Director, Division of Environmental Conventions, UNEP,
highlighted enhanced cooperation with Ramsar, the contribution of
wetlands to poverty reduction, disaster prevention and mitigation, and
opportunites created by market approaches to ecosystem services.
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On behalf of Ramsar's International Organization Partners (IOP), World
Conservation Union (IUCN) Director General Achim Steiner called for
greater coherence among multilateral environmental agreements and
broader stakeholder engagement.
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A representative of civil society reported on outcomes from the Civil
Society Forum held on 4 November 2005, and proposed the development of
legally binding mechanisms to hold Parties responsible for arrears in
annual dues payments.
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Speaking on behalf of donor countries, Kathelyne Craenen, Belgium,
requested that wetlands be put on national and international investment
agendas.
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Youth representatives presented their concerns and proposals, asking
delegates to ensure information is easy to understand and to remember
that youth will be impacted by their decisions.
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Emphasizing the importance of "non-bottled water," Philippe Jacob,
Secretary General, Danone Group, presented the triennial Ramsar Wetland
Conservation Awards.
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Around COP9
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After the opening session, participants gathered for cocktails at the
Speke Resort marina on the shores of Lake Victoria.
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