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#295477

News from the United States National Ramsar Committee
· The Palmyra Atoll approximately 1,000 miles south of Hawaii, USA has been nominated for designation as a Wetland of International Importance under the Wetlands Convention.
· The 24th U.S. Ramsar Site, Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, celebrated in high style.
· The Commission's Horseshoe Crab Management Board (Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission) approved Addendum V to the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Horseshoe Crab. These measures seek to address the needs of the migratory shorebirds, particularly the red knot, while allowing a limited commercial bait fishery.
Click here for more details.

News from the Waterbirds Network [North America]
2008 Aerial Surveys for Whimbrel and Other Shorebirds in Virginia, USA, Available
A comparison of the peak Whimbrel count for 2008 to surveys conducted by the team during the springs of 1994-1996 show a decline of approximately 50%. Continued research is planned by the Center for Conservation of Biology and the Nature Conservancy to study the ecological requirements of migrant Whimbrels staging along the peninsula and to link populations across staging, breeding, and wintering areas. Project Contacts: Bryan Watts, bdwatt@wm.edu (757)221-2247; Barry Truitt, btruitt@tnc.org (757)442-304 News

News from Wetlands International
Populations of Migratory Waterbirds are Declining Along the African-Eurasian Flyways
A study showing declines of 41 per cent of migratory waterbird populations along their main migration routes in Africa and Eurasia was presented to the Fourth Meeting of the Parties to AEWA (MOP4) in Antananarivo, Madagascar 15-19 September 2008.

UK Think Tank: Preventing Peatland Loss is Cheapest Climate Measure
The UK think thank Policy Exchange has presented the costs of the most important climate measures. Reducing emissions from tropical peatlands is by far the cheapest way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions; using biofuels is by far the most expensive measure.

News from WWF
Congo Basin Unveils World's Largest Protected Wetland
18 August 2008, WWF - The Congo Basin region is home to the Ngiri-Tumba-Maindombe Complex – which was recently declared as the world’s largest Wetland Site of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention. The 16.2 million-acre site is near the Lake Tumba landscape in the Central Western Basin of the DRC, and contains the largest freshwater body in continental Africa - the second driest continent in the world.

Related Article
22 September 2008, Birds Indicate Biodiversity Crisis – And the Way Forward
Birdlife International - These are some of the stark messages from State of the Worlds Birds, a new publication and website (birdlife.org/sowb) launched today at BirdLife International’s World Conference in Buenos Aires.

RiverWorks Awarded Patent for Stream and River Assessment System [Montana, USA]
26 September 2008, ENN - RiverWorks, Inc., based in Livingston, Montana has been awarded a patent for its premier product, RiverWorks Rapid Assessment System (RRAS) for its broad applicability and potential to help accelerate and standardize water resource data collection, analysis and comparison..."

Migrant Birds in Hot Water [Madagascar]
18 September 2008, Media Newswire - Antananarivo, Madagascar - Launched today in Madagascar at the 4th Meeting of the Parties of the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), the report highlights the need for more international co-operation in helping migratory species cope with climate change and other environmental problems.

Wildlife Survives Storm Any Way Possible
19 September 2008, The Houston Chronicle, by Gary Clark - Both before and after the colossal tropical cyclone named Ike, people asked me, "What happens to birds in a hurricane?" They get walloped," I respond, "just like people do." Hurricane Ike struck at a critical time in the avian world. Thousands of songbirds, shorebirds, hawks and hummingbirds migrate through southeast Texas this time of year..

Protecting China's Valuable Wetlands
13 September 2008, CCTV.com - China's wetlands are a natural treasure, but large areas are coming under threat as development disrupts the ecosystem. In a move to safeguard Dahuangpu Wetlands in the northern city of Tianjin, fish farmers and polluting factories have now been moved out of the area.

Bird Cries Sound Messages of Disaster [Turkey]
12 September 2008, Turkish Daily News - Wetlands in Turkey, which hosts two of the four major bird migration paths between Europe, Asia and Africa, are nearly drying up and birds are seriously affected from the drought. The wetlands in Turkey where the migratory birds live have nearly dried up and the deltas are faced with water shortages and the danger of a drought.

Stricter Penalties Needed for Oil Spills [Canada]
11 September 2008, Globe & Mail, Alberta, Canada - Hundreds of birds have died after landing in an oil slick caused by a leak from an abandoned oil well on Canadian Forces Base Suffield in southeast Alberta, home to a national wildlife area.

Migratory Birds Start Their Long Journey From Turkey to Africa
10 September 2008, Todays Zaman - With its large wetlands the Anatolia is a big bridge for migratory birds on their way to Africa. Migratory birds in Turkey have begun their journey to Africa, headed toward warmer winter climes.

North American Freshwater Fishes Fading into Extinction [Canada/USA]
9 September 2008, Environment News Service - Fishes that once were abundant in North American streams, rivers and lakes are now disappearing, with nearly 40 percent of all species in jeopardy, according to the most detailed assessment of the conservation status of freshwater fishes in the last 20 years.

Louisiana Losing Ground in Fight Against Storms [USA]
7 September 2008, Chicago Tribune, by Howard Witt- But the front line in the epic and unending battle to keep the Gulf of Mexico from pouring into the below-sea-level bathtub in which New Orleans lies is really right here, along a 6-foot-high earthen berm originally built by a farmer to keep his cattle pasture dry. And last week, Hurricane Gustav, a relatively puny Category 2 storm punched a hole in that levee the length of two old Chevy sedans, flooding hundreds of acres of land and threatening a giant oil refinery nearby. Workers struggled for days to patch the breach with sandbags dropped from Army helicopters.

Related Article: Hurricane Gustav Did Damage to Wetlands
7 September 2008, 2theadvocate.com, by Amy Wold - It's too early to tell exactly how much damage Hurricane Gustav might have done to wetlands in Louisiana, but there was some damage, wetland scientists said. Scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey's National Wetlands Research Center in Lafayette flew portions of the Gulf Coast on Thursday and Friday taking photos and video of wetland areas.

Mud-lovers Dig in For Wetland Festivities [United Kingdom]
7 September 2008, Evening Post - Visitors to Llanelli's Wetland Centre Wales have been getting their hands dirty to celebrate its National Mud Festival.

Proposal to Turn Lake into Bird Sanctuary [India]
8 September 2008, The Hindu, by V.S. Palaniappan - An ideal spot: The Perur-Chettipalayam Tank where a bird sanctuary is being planned.

Offshore Oil Rigs Provide Welcome Stopovers for Migrating Birds [Gulf of Mexico, USA/Mexico]
7 September, 2008, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Oil is in the news a lot these days, and with the recent development of several hurricanes in the Atlantic, eyes are on possible interruptions in the Gulf of Mexico.

U.N. Sees World Heritage Status for Iraqi Marshes
5 September 2008, Reuters, by Daniel Wallis - The United Nations launched a plan on Friday to have an ancient wetland in southeast Iraq, thought to be the Biblical Garden of Eden, listed as a World Heritage Site.

Hunting in the Dark [Bulgaria]
05 September 2008, The Sofia Echo - Since the beginning of July, another semi-political, perhaps entirely environmental, but surely scandalous issue has taken place in the eye of the media and public attention - the proposed amendments to the Hunting and Game Protection Act.

Environmentalists Slam Proposed Kinchega Wetlands Channel [Australia]
1 September 2008, ABC News, By Jayne Margetts- Environmentalists say they are seriously concerned about a proposal to build a 12-kilometre channel through an important wetland system in the Kinchega National Park in western New South Wales. It is part of a state and federal government plan to reduce the billions of litres of water being lost through evaporation from the Menindee Lakes.

Recreated Wetlands Center of Debate [USA]
31 August 2008, UPI - Chesapeake, Virginia - Activists allege ongoing attempts to revitalize wetlands in Virginia and North Carolina will not restore the sites to their original value. Chesapeake Bay Foundation Executive Director Ann Jennings said while a number of private companies are developing the former wetland territories near the Grand Dismal Swamp and Northwest River, their efforts will not be entirely successful, The (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot reported Sunday.

United States, Russia Join in Efforts to Protect Arctic Wildlife
29 August 2008, News Blaze, by Dominick DiPasquale - As far back as 1939, Russian ornithologists were reporting to FWS their sightings of migratory birds that had been banded in the United States. Migratory birds, along with marine mammals such as polar bears, walruses and sea otters, remains one of the largest areas of scientific collaboration between the two nations. Two hundred species of birds have the ability to fly across the Bering Strait that separates Alaska from Siberia. "Even during the Cold War, politics never got in the way of cooperation," said Peter Ward of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Division of International Conservation.

Is it a Bird or a Plane? [New Zealand]
24 August 24, 2008, The New Zealand Herald, by Anna Rushworth - Latest attempts to study the globe-trotting exploits of a New Zealand shorebird, the bar-tailed godwit, have struggled to get off the ground. But they will get data from no more than two - and possibly none - after one died before reaching Asia, two transmitters were lost over the Yellow Sea and four refused to leave New Zealand.

Rain a Good Omen for Bharatpur Birds [India]
23 August 2008, The Times of India - After a gap of about eight years, the Keoladeo Bird Sanctuary is currently flush with water. According to sanctuary sources, it has already received about 250 million cubic feet (MCFt) of water.

Migratory Birds are 'Canary in the Mine' for Coastal Climate Change [Australia]
18 August 2008, ABC News - Birds Australia has signalled a dire future for migratory birds during a federal hearing on coastal climate change.

Arctic Pipeline Could Threaten Wildlife Reserves: Report [Canada]
18 August 2008, Canwest News Service, by Andrew Mayeda - The Harper government has been warned that the ecological "footprint" of the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline on an Arctic bird sanctuary that protects migratory birds and at-risk species such as polar bears could exceed the threshold deemed acceptable by Environment Canada, newly released documents reveal.

Clearer Rules, Cleaner Waters [USA]
17 August 2008, The New York Times (editorial) - The 1972 Clean Water Act was designed to protect all the waters and wetlands of the United States: large and small, navigable and seasonal. A devastating internal document, obtained by Representatives James Oberstar and Henry Waxman, revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency has dropped or delayed more than 400 cases involving suspected violations of the law ù illegal industrial discharges and the like. That is nearly half the agency's entire docket.

Manager Settles in at Quivira [Kansas, USA]
Considered a migratory bird stopover site of international importance
17 August 2008, Wichita Eagle, by Michael Pearce - California-raised Dan Severson's love of the prairie and wetlands should make him a good-fit for the new Quivira National Wildlife Refuge manager.

Restore Nature to Reduce Flood Damage [USA]
16 August 2008, Journal Star, by Donald Hey - The great Midwestern floods of 2008 have demonstrated yet again that we need a better way to manage our rivers and floodwaters. By replumbing our landscape, we've lost the rich wetlands and broad rivers that once held the seasonal deluges. Without wetlands to hold the rainfall, water can only rush downstream through the channelized Mississippi River.

Once Rare, Coastal Dead Zones Are Multiplying Worldwide [Global]
15 August 2008, ENS - Around 1910, when scientists began studying the marine areas of low oxygen known as dead zones, there were only four of them worldwide. Now, there are 405 dead zones in the world's coastal waters, covering a total area of 95,000 square miles, according to the latest research published today in the journal "Science.

Puerto Rico Will Create Task Force to Improve Wetlands
11 August 2008, Environmental News SErvice - San Juan, Puerto Rico - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Puerto Rico Land Authority have reached a settlement that requires the creation of a task force to identify, monitor and protect wetlands in Puerto Rico in order to resolve a 2007 EPA complaint over Clean Water Act violations.

Destruction of Wetlands Could Unleash Carbon Bomb [Global]
10 August 2008, Environmental News Service - The world's wetlands, threatened by development, dehydration and climate change, could release a planet-warming "carbon bomb" if they are destroyed, ecological scientists said on Sunday. Wetlands contain 771 billion tons of greenhouse gases, one-fifth of all the carbon on Earth and about the same amount of carbon as is now in the atmosphere, the scientists said before an international conference linking wetlands and global warming.

Sustainable Use of Wetlands Improves Food Security [Zimbabwe]
10 August 2008, Sunday News- In the Zimbabwean context, wetlands may include vleis (imisenya/amaxhaphozi/inhutha), dams, rivers, dambos and lakes. The government realised the importance of wetlands and passed a piece of legislation that seeks to promote the sustainable use of wetlands so as to ensure people derive a living from them.

Researchers Study Mercury in the Great Salt Lake [Utah, USA]
8 August 2008, Yahoo News, by Mike Stark - For reasons scientists cannot explain, it is heavily laden with toxic mercury. The problem is that the lake has a peculiar combination of bacteria and chemicals that helps convert inorganic mercury to its more harmful form, methylmercury, scientists say. Each year, more than 9 million birds stop by, many on their annual treks between Canada or South America and parts between, making the Great Salt Lake "sort of the Delta airplane hub of the West in terms of migration," Aldrich said.
Related Article in the New York Times: Studying Great Salt Lake's High Mercury Levels
Exactly where the poison is coming from and how much danger it poses to the millions of migratory birds that feed on the Great Salt Lake are now under investigation.

U.S. Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act Competitive Grants Program
Deadline 13 November 2008
This program supports projects that promote the conservation of neotropical migratory birds and their habitats in the United States, Canada, Latin America or the Caribbean. Many grants of up to US$250,000 are awarded every year. Click here for more information and application instructions.

Conservation Awards for Canada, Mexico, USA
Deadline: 31 December 2008
The U.S. Committee of the North American Bird Conservation Initiative (NABCI) and the Association of Joint Venture Management Boards (AJVMB) seek to recognize unparalleled accomplishments in bird conservation at the national/international and local/regional scales that fulfill the vision of protecting and restoring the populations and habitats of North American birds. Nominations need to be sent to Deb Hahn at dhahn@fishwildlife.org.

26 - 27 October
World NGO Conference on Wetlands: NGOs for Healthy and Sustainable Wetlands
Co-organized by: Korea NGO Network for Ramsar COP10 and Japan NGO Network for Ramsar COP10

October 28 - November 4
10th Conference of the Parties to the Ramsar Convention: "Healthy Wetlands, Healthy People"
Changwon, Republic of Korea.

November

1 - 7 November
Wetland 2008: 11th International Conference on Wetland Systems for Water Pollution Control
Indore, India. Organised by International Water Association (IWA) and Institute of Environment Management and PlantSciences, Vikram University (India).

5 - 8 November
32nd Annual Meeting of the Waterbird Society
South Padre Island, Texas.

New
12 November 2008
8:45am - 4:0pm
Bird Migration Matters; Building Support for Migratory Bird Conservation
The Nature Conservancy Worldwide Offices Arlington, VA, Held by the Bird Conservation Alliance

New
24 November - 5 December
II International Course on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Strategic Assessment (ESA) for Wetlands Management
Panama City, Panama. Organized by Ramsar Regional Center for Training and Research on Wetlands on the Western Hemisphere (CREHO) and the Ramsar Convention.

New
26 - 27 November, 2008
Zambezi Basin-wide Stakeholder Forum
to discuss implementation of the newly produced Zambezi Integrated Water and Resources Management plan.
Lilongwe, Malawi, Crossroads Hotel

New
7 - 11 December
Central American Workshop of Swamp Birds Monitoring [in Spanish]
Palo Verde National Park, Palo Verde Biological Station, Costa Rica. Organized by: Waterbird Conservation Council, with the support of U.S. Forest Service, Costa Rican National Museum, Fish and Wildlife Service, PRONATURA Northeast (Mexico), Organization for Tropical Studies, the Ramsar Regional Center for Training and Research on Wetlands in the Western Hemisphere - CREHO. For the ful details click here for the PDF document. For more information, please contact cursos@creho.org


2009

January 2009

New
24 - 31 January
International Migratory Bird Festival
San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico

New
16 - 19 January
Mazatlan Bird Festival
Mazatlan, Hotel Playa Mazatlan, organized by Pronatura Noroeste A.C. in association with Sendero Mexico

February

2 February 2009
World Wetlands Day: "Upstream - Downstream" - Wetlands connect us all

22 - 25 February 2009
36th Pacific Seabird Group Meeting A symposium entitled “Working Beneath the Surface: New Approaches in Examining the Interplay of Biomechanics, Physiology and Behavioural Ecology in Diving Seabirds”
Hakodate, Hokkaido, Japan

Updated
22 - 26 February 2009
The Second National Gathering: Bird Conservation through Education
Jekyll Island, Georgia.


March 2009

2 - 5 March 2009
7th Mangrove Forest Ecology, Management and Restoration Training Workshop
Hollywood, Florida, USA.

9 - 13 March 2009
Western Hemisphere Shorebird Group Meeting
Sinaloa, Mexico

15 - 22 March 2009
Fifth World Water Forum
Istanbul, Turkey. Organized by the World Water Council. Theme: Bridging Divides for Water.

26 - 27 March 2009
The 11th International Wildlife Law Conference
Gulfport, Florida, Stetson University College of Law. For more details email gardner@law.stetson.edu.

April 2009

8 - 12 April 2009
The Wilson Ornithological Society and the Association of Field Ornithologists annual meetings.
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.


June 2009

22 - 26 June 2009
Society of Wetland Scientists 30th Annual Meeting will hold a joint meeting with the Wisconsin Wetlands Association and the International Symposium on Wetland Biogeochemistry.
Madison, Wisconsin. USA Theme: Wetland Connections


2010

August 2010
22 - 28 August
The 25th International Ornithological Congress
Campos do Jordão, Brazil.

The End
1 October 2008