|
| ||||||||||||||||
| Prepared by:
|
||||||||||||||||
|
Workshop
on Wetland Conservation for Regional Cooperation (2 February
2016) 1. A one-day workshop
titled "Commemorating the World
Wetlands Day 2016" was held on 2 February 2016 in Moeyungyii Wetland
Wildlife Sanctuary, the first Ramsar site of Myanmar. Its theme was "Wetland Conservation for Regional
Cooperation". The workshop was jointly organized by Forest Department,
Ramsar Center Japan, and Fauna & Flora International Myanmar. It was opened
by U Win Tun, Union Minister, Minister of Environmental Conservation and
Forests (MOECAF). A welcome remark was given by the Chief Minister of Bago Region. The announcement of the Indawgyii Lake
Wildlife Sanctuary as the second Ramsar site was made by the Minister on this
occasion. Reiko Nakamura,
Secretary-General of Ramsar Center Japan (RCJ) and Yoshihiro Natori, President
of Wetlands International Japan (WIJ) also gave their remarks to the Opening
session. The workshop divided into two sessions made seven presentations,
followed by the question and answer session at each session. The workshop was
declared as successful by the Master of Ceremony. Training
Program for Wetland Managers (3 February 2016) 2.
The second leg of the mission is the organization of the "Training Program
for Wetland Managers" in the same venue. Its objectives
were to sensitize
the participants about recent issues, trends & priorities in wetland
conservation
and help
participants further build their capacity in the wise use of wetlands and their
resources. There were some 30 participants from some wildlife sanctuaries of
Myanmar plus some representatives from NGOs. Seven international experts gave
training to wetland managers on different aspects of wetland conservation and
management. The workshop was jointly organized by Forest
Department, Ramsar Center Japan
and Fauna and Flora International Myanmar. After each presentation, floor was
opened for participants to raise the issue for discussion. Symposium
on the Bay of Bengal ( February 2016) 3. The third leg of the mission was to organize a Symposium on the Bay
of Bengal. It was held at Yangon on the morning of the 4th
Feb. The theme of the symposium was the Assessment
of Environmental Problems. The Symposium was chaired by Reiko Nakamura and
moderated by Bishnu B. Bhandari. The Symposium began with short introduction
from Bishnu Bhandari and followed by his presentation titled "The Bay of Bengal: A Forgotten
Sea".
The other two papers were from Sanowar
Hossain and Durga P. Dash on Bangladesh and India respectively. The list of the
presentations is given below.
Floor discussion ensued
after the presentations, a brief summary of which is divided into two parts;
observations and suggested actions. Observations 1.1. The nature of the issues, problems and livelihood are similar in the
coastal area of the Bay. Only it varies in magnitude. 2.2. The ultimate goal should be to make the Bay of Bengal a healthy ecosystem. And we need to develop a catchy title for the purpose of procuring funds. 3.3. In the
first stage only the coastal countries -- Bangladesh, India, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka & Thailand -- should be targeted. Upon the assessment, the second stage should
be launched to include countries like Maldives, Nepal, Bhutan and China. 4.4. Bringing
all the countries and stakeholders under the same platform of the Bay of Bengal
should be the goal of our future initiative. 5.5. Trans-boundary
issues should be taken into consideration while embarking on the study of the
Bay of Bengal. The study should adopt a human-centered
approach. 6.6. In the
future, it would be realistic to organize the future workshop in Sri Lanka or
Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Actions Suggested The following are the action suggested for initiating
studies and works in the Bay of Bengal. 1.1.Compile
the papers and put it in the RCJ Website 1.2.As
much as possible conduct action research on major issues facing the Bay of
Bengal. 1.3.Document
all the available literature, along with an annotated bibliography 1.4.Prepare
an inventory (directory) of major wetlands, Ramsar sites, experts, NGOs, CBOs,
universities and research institutions 1.5.Conduct
action research on biological diversity of the Bay area 1.6.Undertake
participatory action research on life and livelihood of communities and developing their capacity and community
resilience 1.7.Focus
on biological diversities, particularly fisheries, birds, turtle and endemic
flora and fauna 1.8.Develop
a mechanism of establishing an informal network of Ramsar sites which are at or
near the coastal area of the Bay of Bengal 1.9.Raise
the profile of the Bay of Bengal through awareness raising and capacity
building of local people, especially the wetland dependant community. 4. Update on the 8th
AWS The second session on the
4th Feb was chaired by Mr. Yoshihiro Natori, President of Wetlands International
Japan (WIJ). The summary discussion is
given below. 1. 8th Asian Wetland Symposium 1.1.
Mr. Natori briefed about the first meeting held in Nov 2,
2015 saying that the 8th meeting which would be the 25th
anniversary of the AWS will be held in Saga city, Saga Prefecture of Kyushu
island, Japan in sometime late September and early
October in 2017. 1.2. The Ministry of
Environment Japan would be the organizer and Ramsar Center Japan, Wetlands
International Japan, and Japan Wetlands Society will be the co-organizers. 1.3. RCJ and WIJ have already
contacted the Ministry of Environment, Japan about the idea. 1.4. The meeting gave full
authority to Ms. Reiko Nakamura and Mr. Yoshihiro Natori to form a small Steering
Committee to conceptualize, plan and carry out the symposium proposal. It was
suggested that the youth would involved and the committee should be as small as
possible. 1.5. It was suggested that on
this occasion RCJ should prepare a special souvenir for the 8th AWS.
One suggestion is that RCJ should publish
a monograph on wetlands of different countries highlighting their
successes, failures, cultural values and indigenous techniques which should
serve as lessons for others to promote the wise use and conservation of
wetlands and their resources. 2. Bishnu Bhandari gave information on the proposed symposium on Wetland
& Culture: The Role of Living Culture in Wetland Conservation.
The symposium will be held in Korea any time. All those who are
interested in the symposium should think of writing a paper. All will be
informed of any new developments related to this matter. The guidelines for the
paper, which was adopted for the Myanmar workshop should be followed while
preparing the paper. Once the concept is materialized, then those wishing to
contribute papers will be informed with detailed information. 3. The meeting was
adjourned by the Chairperson at 11:45. List of Participants ■Bangladesh 1.
Mr.
Sanowar Hossain, President, Bangladesh POUSH 2.
Mr.
Tapas R Chakraborty, OXFAM ■India 3.
Mr.
Durga Prasad Dash, Secretary, Pallishree ■Indonesia 4.
Dr.
Onrizal, University of Sumatera Utara ■Japan 5.
Ms.
Reiko Nakamura, Secretary-General, RCJ 6.
Mr.
Tamotsu Kameyama, Vice President, RCJ 7.
Mr.
Takayuki Musha. Vice President, RCJ 8.
Mr.Yoshihiro
Natori , President, WIJ 9.
Ms.
Emiko Nagakura, WIJ 10. Dr. Shimpei Iwasaki, Fukuoka
Women’s University 11. Mr.Simba Chan, Birdlife
International Tokyo 12. Ms. Misato Ohara, INTEM
Consulting 13. Mr. Hidetsugu Nakamura,
EnVision 14. Mr. Atsushi Tanabe, Graduate
student, Kumamoto University 15. Ms. Ryoka Ago, student,
Ritsumeikan University ■Malaysia 16. Prof. Mashhor Mansor, University of Science ■Myanmar 17. Mr. Htun Paw Oo, MFA 18. Mr Than Zin Htun , FFI Myanmar ■Nepal 19. Dr. Bishnu Bhandari, President, Nepal Wetland Society ■Philippines 20. Amb. Amado Tolentino, Consultant, Environmental Law ■Thailand 21. Dr. Ms.Sansanee Choowaew,
Mahidol University
|