11 February

• Resources to learn about Biodiversity-Directory
  All the Cursus resources on biodiversity can be now found in one single directory. The United Nations declared the year 2010 to be “the International Year of Biological Diversity”. With this aim, we invite you to look for for the learning resources on this topic that we have presented in Cursus. All the products here collected can be freely accessed online.
  More information in French: http://www.cursus.edu/?module=directory&action=getMod&subMod=PROD&uid=14090

10 February

• Ramsar projects in Sahel : encouraging results for two threatened wetlands!
  Last November Burkina Faso and Senegal welcomed a Ramsar mission assessing two projects supported by the Small Grants Fund and the Swiss Grant for Africa. A representative of the NGO implementing the project, a representative of the Administrative Authority in the case of Burkina Faso, and Alexia Dufour, Ramsar Regional Affairs Officer, met the grant beneficiaries and visited the sites, two Sahelian lakes, “la mare d’Oursi”, a Ramsar site near Dori, north-east of Burkina Faso, and “la mare de Lothiandé”, few kilometers from Bakel, in the far east of Senegal. These two wetlands play a crucial role for agriculture, fish, cattle and birds, functions threatened by desertification.
  More information: http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-news-news-archives-news-2010-ramsar-projects-in-sahel/main/ramsar/1-26-45-437%5E24365_4000_0__

• Guidance on wildlife diseases for wetland managers
  We are contacting you to ask for your assistance concerning guidance on wildlife diseases for wetland managers and policy makers which is currently being developed by the Ramsar Convention. Our aim is to develop products that are targeted at non-disease specialists, and that provide guidance on key issues (for example, good practice responses in the event of disease outbreaks), and pointers to further sources of information and help. It seems likely that two types of guidance will be drafted to provide this information:
  • generic text on principles of disease prevention and control for wetland managers and policy makers; and
  • a series of information sheets on specific diseases of wetland wildlife and livestock, especially those that impact humans.

  We would welcome assistance with this task, and would be grateful if you could spare a few minutes to provide us with some simple feedback, either by completing the questionnaire.
  More information: http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-documents-strp-docs-guidance-on-wildlife-diseases/main/ramsar/1-31-111%5E24378_4000_0__

• France launches its second wetlands national action plan
  The day before World Wetlands Day 2010, Chantal Jouanno, Secretary of State for Ecology, presented France’s new wetlands action plan for 2010-2012. This document follows the 1995-2000 plan and is based on a review compiled by the Ramsar Administrative Authority on wetland policies implemented during the past 15 years. It is the result of a one-year collaboration by the national wetlands committee. Supported by a budget of 20 million Euros, it includes 29 actions grouped into 4 axes – development and harmonization of relevant public policies in the fields of agriculture and urbanism, improvement of wetland knowledge, training and awareness on the importance of wetlands for the general public and specific wetland stakeholders, and enhancing the visibility of French wetlands on the international scale. According to this plan, a national park focusing on wetlands will be created. In addition, a new wetland web portal has been launched.
  More information: http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-news-news-archives-news-2010-france-launches-2nd-wetlands-plan/main/ramsar/1-26-45-437%5E24376_4000_0__
• Decade-old dream comes true for Lake Chad
  World Wetlands Day is being celebrated with the full recognition of Africa’s Lake Chad as a wetland of international significance, fulfilling an agreement made a decade ago by the four nations that share it. The declaration by the Cameroon Republic that its portion of Africa’s fourth largest lake is being declared a wetland of international importance under the 1971 Ramsar Convention on Wetlands follows similar declarations by Niger and Chad (both in 2001) and Nigeria (2008). Cameroon’s announcement will also clear the way for Lake Chad to become the largest of the world’s few recognised trans-boundary international wetlands, where countries make a formal agreement for joint protection and management of shared aquatic ecosystems and their resources.
  More information: http://www.ramsar.org/cda/en/ramsar-news-news-archives-news-2010-decade-old-dream-for-lake-chad/main/ramsar/1-26-45-437%5E24372_4000_0__

• CBD Secretariat Welcomes Canada’s Decision to Establish North America's Newest National Park
  Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity today applauded the Government of Canada’s initiative to create the sprawling 11,000-square-kilometre Mealy Mountains National Park, situated in Newfoundland and Labrador, the largest protected area in eastern Canada. “This decision, taken by the host country of the Convention’s Secretariat is of the greatest political significance and a befitting launch of the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity,” said Mr. Djoghlaf.
  More information: http://www.cbd.int/doc/press/2010/pr-2010-02-08-mealy-en.pdf