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Posted on 3-2-2004
Mexico
Moves to Protect Whales On World Wetlands Day
From Environment News Service (ENS)
One of the main breeding refuges for grey whales, a hypersaline coastal
lagoon on the Baja Peninsula in an area once earmarked for commercial
development as a saltworks, was today designated as a wetland of
international importance by the government of Mexico to celebrate World
Wetlands Day.
February 2 each year is World Wetlands Day, marking the signing of the
Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971, in the Iranian city of Ramsar.
The treaty now has 138 participating governments, which have designated a
total of 1,366 wetlands, covering a surface area of 461,733 square miles.
The Ramsar Secretariat says it is, by far, the largest protected area
network in the world.
A new WWF report, released Saturday to mark World Wetlands Day 2004, shows
that $70 billion worth of goods and services from freshwater resources
could be at risk annually if governments fail to manage their wetlands
sustainably.
The report, "The Economic Values of the Worldıs Wetlands," is the first
comprehensive overview of the economic values of the worldıs wetlands. It
analyzes the 89 existing valuation studies and uses a database covering a
wetland area of 630,000 square kilometers, putting the annual value of
wetlands at a very conservative $3.4 billion.
More than half of the worldıs wetlands have disappeared since 1900 as a
result of human population increase and development. The WWF report shows
that amenities and recreation, flood control, recreational fishing, and
water filtration are the most valued functions of wetlands.
"Decision-makers often have insufficient understanding of the values of
wetlands and fail to consider their protection as a serious issue," said
Dr. Kirsten Schuyt, WWF Internationalıs resource economist and co-author
of the report. "Wetlands are often perceived to have little or no economic
value compared to land use activities which may yield more visible and
immediate economic benefits."
The World Wetlands Day Ramsar anniversary provides an opportunity for
governments, wetlands site managers, nongovernmental organizations, and
citizens to celebrate and raise public awareness about wetlands. This year
World Wetlands Day is being celebrated in 80 countries around the world
with TV screenings of the Ramsar video in local languages, art contests
and raft races for children, cleanup days, seminars and open houses,
newspaper articles, birdwatching and guided wetland tours.
In Mexico today, 34 new wetlands were set aside for conservation, in the
process setting a world record for the number of Ramsar sites designated
in a single day, according to Dwight Peck of the Ramsar Secretariat.
On the central Baja peninsula, grey whales use the coastal lagoons of Ojo
de Liebre and San Ignacio for pairing, breeding and raising their young.
Mexico today protected Ojo de Liebre under the Ramsar Convention.
It is not the first form of protection for the lagoon. A 1972 Federal
Decree declared Laguna Ojo de Liebre a marine refuge zone for whales. But
oil drilling poses a serious potential problem to the region, according to
the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.
In addition, the over-exploitation of the area for fishing, and waste
disposal, as a consequence of the fishing activities, disturb the
ecosystem. An aquaculture facility produces commercial oysters, and five
fishing co-operatives operate in the area.
The constant passing of cargo ships through the lagoons also is a problem,
and tourism has also had a significant impact on the whale population as
power boats disturb coastal waters.
Ojo de Liebre harbors a wide variety of birds along the river and in the
islands in the lagoon - a total of 94 species were counted between 1995
and 1996. The harbor seal, California sea lion, northern elephant-seal and
blue whale can also be found sheltering in the lagoons, which are also
home to four species of endangered marine turtles. They will all receive a
higher degree of protection under the new Ramsar designation.
Ramsar Secretary General Peter Bridgewater is in Mexico for the
designation of the 34 new Ramsar Sites, a vast array of wetland types
ranging from highland lakes to coastal lagoons and offshore coral reefs.
The designation ceremonies took place at the 6th Workshop on Management
and Conservation of Wetlands in Mexico at the Guadalajara University in
Zapopan, Jalisco. The workshop is attended by Jalisco Governor Francisco
Ramırez Acuıa; Duane Shroufe of the Arizona Game and Fish Department, who
is president of the North American Wetlands Conservation Council; and
Steve Williams, director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The largest coastal lagoon on the Mexican shore of the Gulf of Mexico,
Laguna de Tırminos, was one of the 34 sites designated as a wetland of
international importance today. Mangrove forests inhabited by jabiru
storks, horseshoe crabs, and endemic amphibians and reptiles are features
of this site.
The industrial port of Ciudad del Carmen, with a population of almost
100,000, is located on the barrier island of the lagoon. Fishing,
agricultural and livestock raising activities are done in the site,
causing problems of sedimentation, pollution, deforestation and reduction
of stocks. Conflicts have arisen with the oil pipes that traverse the
area.
Mexico's newly designated sites will include almost all the different
wetland types defined under the Ramsar Convention, from mountain lakes to
coral reefs, from salt marshes to turtle breeding beaches, or underground
hydrological systems, known as karsts.
Bala'an K'aax in the state of Quintana Roo on the Yucatın peninsula is a
karstic example of a newly designated Ramsar site. Flooded low everlasting
forests shelter the many endemic plant and animal species in the
inaccessible region. The area's vegetation supplies water for the region
and also to other wetlands closer to the coast.
Because of the karstic nature of the ground, a complex subterranean system
is present together with "unique and unknown biodiversity," the Ramsar
Secretariat says. This site contains some 601 vertebrate species, of which
nearly one-third are threatened, under special protection or endangered
according to international or national lists. Changes in land property and
planning for development are the main threat to the area.
See the full list of Mexico's newly designated Ramsar sites online at:
Several other countries are celebrating World Wetlands Day by designating
their most important wetlands as Ramsar sites.
The West African nation of Mali has set aside a four million hectare
(15,444 square mile) portion of the Inner Niger Delta, incorporating all
three of its existing Ramsar sites, as well as the parts of the delta
without status until now, to form the third largest Ramsar site in the
world.
It is the largest inland wetland in West Africa and the second largest
wetland in Africa, after the Okavanga Delta in Botswana. Nearly one
million people and their livestock live on the resources of the delta
ecosystems.
It is a refuge for many migratory birds, hosting more than 350 species,
with 103 waterfowl species listed between 1998 and 2001. Each year more
than one million birds come from more than 80 countries to use the delta.
The delta is also a gathering place for some Ethiopian species which breed
there between migrations.
The hippopotamus and the manatee, both species registered on the IUCN's
Red List of Threatened Species, still exist in the delta, although their
survival is now threatened.
Nassima Aghanim of Ramsar says the main threats to the Inner Niger Delta
come from climate change, reduction of the volume and duration of the
floods, the sedimentation that is responsible for the non-flooding of the
left bank lakes, and the management practices of the Sılinguı dam. The
building of new dams, still at the stage of projects, may well have some
negative impacts on the socio-economic aspects of the ecosystems, Aghanim
says.
The Inner Niger Delta site is a major step in efforts by Mali, Ramsar, and
WWF's Living Waters Programme to bring integrated wetland management to
the Niger Basin. A ceremony to mark the designation of the Inner Niger
Delta is taking place in Mopti, Mali today.
A workshop in Mopti today involves all the countries of the Niger Delta -
Cameroon, Mali, Ivory Coast, Senegal and Benin. Inspired by a WWF
proposal, the seminar aims to set the basis for a regional network for the
preservation of the Niger delta.
In Europe, Austria has designated five new Ramsar sites, four mire
complexes in the Salzburg region and a limestone Alpine national park, the
Kalkalpen National Park. Part of the northern limestone alps, most of the
site is karstified and has a tight network of gorges and canyons, natural,
pure brooks and some 800 springs which represent hotspots of biodiversity.
This national park has already been designated a Natura 2000 site in the
European Union system of protected areas, and also as an Important Bird
Area with 22 birds listed in the European Birds Directive.
The largest forested reserve in Austria, Kalkalpen hosts the brown bear
and the lynx, and brown trout. Although forestry activities have
influenced the area, since 1997 it is under a strict management plan which
prohibits any economic use. The Austrian National Park administration runs
a water analysis laboratory and has developed a karst research program
including the monitoring of springs and meteorology.
A World Wetlands Day event was organized by the MedWet Coordination Unit
in Athens, Greece. The Greek Minister of Environment, Physical Planning
and Public Works Vasso Papandreou opened the event, while the opening
speech was given by the Deputy Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention
Dr. Nick Davidson.
The MedWet Initiative, guided by the Mediterranean Wetlands Committee
(MedWet/Com) of the Ramsar Convention, is a long term, collaborative
effort towards the conservation and wise use of Mediterranean wetlands.
MedWet brings together all the 25 governments of the region, the
Palestinian Authority, the United Nations Development Programme, the
European Commission, the Barcelona, Bern and Ramsar Conventions, and eight
international NGOs and wetland centres.
Finland is today announcing the intended designation of 49 more Ramsar
sites for protection.
In South America, Argentina today designated a large floodplain complex
along the Paranı and Paraguay Rivers in the Chaco region surrounding the
city of Resistencia. The landscape is a complex of open water, aquatic
vegetation, grasslands, and gallery forests.
Endangered species inhabit the humid site, including the marsh deer, the
Neotropical otter, the bare-faced curassow, several crocodile species, the
Coscoroba swan, and the South American lungfish, which is found here and
nowhere else on Earth. Since the 1960s, dam building in the Upper Paranı
in Brazil, deforestation, and an increase in rainfall have changed the
water flow of this site.
Many countries that are not designating wetlands today, still are
celebrating the wetlands they already have. In Jamaica, the National
Environment and Planning Agency in collaboration with the Negril
Environmental Protection Trust and the Ridge to Reef Watershed Project
have organized several displays, a poster competition, environmental
storytelling and a composting demonstration.
Jamaica's Black River Lower Morass was listed as a wetland of
international importance under the Ramsar Convention in 1998. It supports
some 94 species of flowering plants, including 27 rare species and seven
species found only in Jamaica. Agostinho Pinnock of the National
Environment and Planning Agency says the variety of habitats in the area,
mangrove forests, sedge marshes, swamp and riparian forests, peat lands
and limestone islands, contribute to the uniqueness of the site.
The mighty Mekong River flows from the mountains to the sea through six
Asian countries - China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
For World Wetlands Day 2004, IUCN-The World Conservation Union in
cooperation with the governments of the four nations in the Lower Mekong
Basin have organized educational and awareness activities at wetland sites
within the Mekong Basin.
Cambodia's first World Wetlands Day celebration will include smart games
involving the police, military, teachers and students, a local press
forum, television interview and broadcasting at local and national levels,
a traditional dance competition, and public as well as official site
visits by ministers, provincial governors, department directors, and
wetlands managers.
These activities also mark the start of a five year Mekong Wetlands
Biodiversity Conservation Programme jointly organized and funded by the
Global Environment Facility and the UN Development Program.
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