WHEREAS, the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) has a global mandate to
provide leadership and encourage partnerships in caring for the environment
by inspiring,
informing and enabling nations and people to improve their quality
of life without
compromising that of future generations, to its Member States as well
as other non-member
States;
WHEREAS, the Action Plan of the
Caribbean Environment Programme of the United
Nations Environment Programme promotes regional co-operation for the
protection and
development of the marine environment of the Wider Caribbean Region;
WHEREAS, the Regional Co-ordinating
Unit of the United Nations Environment
Programme for the Caribbean Action Plan (CAR/RCU) serves, amongst
other functions, as
the Secretariat of the CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION AND DEVELOPMENT
OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT OF THE WIDER CARIBBEAN (hereinafter referred
to as the Cartagena Convention), adopted in Cartagena in 1983 and
having entered into force
in 1986, to facilitate the direction and co-ordination of the legal
implementation of the
Action Plan;
WHEREAS, the Contracting Parties
to the Cartagena Convention work to develop plans,
programmes and measures for the sustainable development of the marine
environment of the
Wider Caribbean Region (as defined by the Cartagena Convention);
WHEREAS, CAR/RCU provides information,
advice, training and guidance to the
Contracting Parties and other Governments and entities regarding the
protection and
development of the coastal and marine environment in the Wider Caribbean
Region;
WHEREAS, the protocol to the
Cartagena Convention on Specially Protected Areas and
Wildlife (SPAW Protocol) provides for the protection of special coastal
and marine areas
and wildlife and the protocol Concerning Marine Pollution from Land-based
Sources and
Activities (LBS Protocol) proposes to prevent, reduce and control
marine pollution in the
Wider Caribbean Region;
WHEREAS, by their entry into
force, the SPAW and the LBS Protocols will, for their
further implementation, provide for Scientific, Technical and Advisory
Committees to meet
periodically under the guidance of their Contracting Parties;
WHEREAS, the CONVENTION ON WETLANDS,
signed in the Iranian city of Ramsar on
2 February 1971 (hereinafter referred to as the Ramsar Convention),
whose Instrument is
safeguarded by UNESCO, entered into force in 1975, and its mission
is the conservation and
wise use of wetlands by national action and international co-operation
as a means to
achieving sustainable development throughout the world;
WHEREAS, the Ramsar Convention
works through a global network of policy and decision
makers, scientists and practitioners in its Contracting Parties and
those scientists and experts
from international and national partner organisations, and has established
an inter-sessional
Standing Committee, a Scientific and Technical Review Panel, and a
variety of programmes
and projects, under the guidance of its Conference of the Contracting
Parties;
WHEREAS, the Ramsar Convention
established a secretariat known as the Ramsar Bureau
co-located with the IUCN - The World Conservation Union at their Headquarters
in
Switzerland to administer and co-ordinate the day-to-day implementation
of the decisions of
the Conference of the Contracting Parties and the Standing Committee;
WHEREAS, the Ramsar Convention
maintains a List of Wetlands of International
Importance that includes a number of sites which are located in the
Wider Caribbean Basin;
and
WHEREAS, the Conference of the
Contracting Parties to Ramsar in its Resolutions VII.4,
VII. 18 and VII.27 (Action 7.2.8) recognises the strategic importance
of mutual co-operation
between the Regional Seas Conventions and the Ramsar Bureau in the
conservation and wise
use of wetlands at the regional level, as well as of extending participation
in the Ramsar
Convention to the small island developing states;
PRESENTLY, THEREFORE, in consideration
of the mandate of the Parties to both the
Cartagena and the Ramsar Conventions, the Regional Co-ordinator of
the CAR/RCU and the
Secretary General of the Ramsar Convention, in the interest of the
mutual advantages in the
cost-effective attainment of the objectives of the Conventions and
performance of the work
required by the Intergovernmental Meetings, the Conferences of the
Contracting Parties and
the Ramsar Bureau, wishing to avoid duplication of effort in areas
of common interest and to
formalise and strengthen their co-operation in the spirit of an efficient
and effective
partnership, mutually agree as follows:
Article I. OBJECTIVE
CAR/RCU and the Ramsar Bureau
agree to co-operate with a view to enabling the
Contracting Parties to the Conventions to identify and strengthen
conservation of those sites
of international importance which are relevant to both Conventions.
Article II. STATEMENT
OF WORK
The activities to be undertaken
as part of this MOC will be based on the respective work
programmes of each Secretariat as approved by their Contracting Parties
and will be discussed and developed by the CAR/RCU and the Ramsar
Bureau and may, amongst
others, include:
- Exchange of information on
a regular basis on specific aspects of the work of the
Cartagena and the Ramsar Conventions which are of mutual interest
and benefit;
- Sharing of information
with the view to identification of potential wetland sites that
may meet the criteria for nomination as Wetlands of International
Importance under
the Ramsar Convention or as protected areas under the SPAW Protocol,
in cases where
not yet designated. Potential Ramsar sites may include areas protected
under the
SPAW Protocol or habitats of species protected under the SPAW Protocol.
Consideration will also be given to transboundary sites and habitats
that may be critical
for the protection of watersheds and catchments and/or home ranges
of migratory
species that may have outstanding global significance and which
are shared by two or
more Contracting Parties to both Conventions;
- Sharing of information and
co-operation to encourage Contracting Parties to the
Cartagena Convention to, where appropriate, designate as Wetlands
of International
Importance under the Ramsar Convention those sites which meet the
criteria for
listing;
- Sharing of information and
co-operation to encourage Contracting Parties to the
Ramsar Convention to, where appropriate, designate and manage protected
areas and
habitats of protected species for those areas meeting the criteria
for protection under
the SPAW Protocol and species listed in the Annexes;
- Sharing of information, databases,
staff mission reports and other materials to enable
early detection of threats to Ramsar sites or areas and species
protected under the
Provisions of the SPAW Protocol and to facilitate the necessary
studies and analyses to
identify measures for the mitigation of such threats, issues and
needs;
- Co-ordination and/or joint
development of programmes and projects for strengthening
conservation of specific sites which are recognised by the two Conventions,
and for
identifying and mobilising human and financial resources and the
knowledge to
implement such programmes and projects, including emergency actions
to mitigate
potential and ascertained threats, including in particular those
sites included in the so-called Montreux Record of Ramsar sites
where the ecological character has changed, is changing, or may
change;
- Efforts by each Secretariat,
in the course of its own promotional activities, to promote
recruitment of additional Contracting Parties to the other Convention
and, in the course
of work to implement its own Convention’s obligations, to promote
implementation of
the other Convention by existing Contracting Parties; and,
- Informing of, in the spirit
of partnership, and inviting each other’s participation, and
concurrence as appropriate, in meetings, including statutory meetings,
studies and
review, field visits to sites, design, organisation and conduct
of training, education and
information dissemination activities, and other activities to promote
the Parties’
awareness of the relationships between the application of the two
Conventions.
Article III. IMPLEMENTATION
Nothing in this MOC shall constitute
a legal or financial obligation of either party. Any
financial or legal commitments that arise from measures taken to implement
this MOC will
be made on a case-by-case basis and agreed to by both parties.
This MOC shall enter into force
upon signature by the two parties. It may be reviewed at any
time agreed upon by the parties in the development of the work programme
and may be
amended at any time by mutual agreement.
Either party may terminate this
MOC by giving notice in writing to the other not less that six
months in advance.
On behalf of the
Ramsar Bureau,
Delmar Blasco
Secretary General
Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
Signed in GENÈVE
Date : 1/05/00
On behalf of CAR/RCU,
Nelson Andrade
Regional Co-ordinator, CAR/RCU
UNEP
Signed in GENÈVE
Date : 1/05/00
For further information, please
contact the Ramsar Convention Bureau, Rue Mauvemey 28,
CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland (Tel ++41 22 999 0170, fax ++41 22 999
0169, e-mail: ramsar@ramsar.org
or
the Caribbean Regional Co-ordinating
Unit (CAR/RCU), 14-20 Port Royal Street, Kingston,
Jamaica, W.I. (Tel: ++876 922 9267, fax: ++876 922 9292, email:
uneprcuja@cwjamaica.com
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