Notification 2008-125

Dear Madam/Sir, The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands acts as the CBD's lead implementation partner on wetland issues. This is implemented through the CBD/Ramsar Joint Work Plan. The current (4th) plan was endorsed by the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 9) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) -- para 4 of decision IX/19 -- and by the Ramsar Standing Committee, and is available in the annex to document UNEP/CBD/SBSTTA/13/5 at https://www.cbd.int/doc/?mtg=sbstta-13 . Recommendation XIII/4, paragraph 1, of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the CBD, noting the need for clear expressions of the roles of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Ramsar Convention, in sub-paragraph 1(b), requested the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention, to collect the views of Parties on ways and means to streamline and make more explicit the roles of the two Conventions, and their respective scientific bodies and Secretariats, and present these as part of the in-depth review of the programme of work on the biological diversity of inland water ecosystems scheduled to occur at the tenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 10). Parties to both, or either Convention, are invited to submit their views, on a voluntary basis, to the Executive Secretary of the CBD (secretariat@cbd.int) as soon as possible, but no later than 28 February 2009. Since the submission is on a voluntary basis, Parties may provide information in any format, preferably as electronic copies. Appended herewith is guidance for the submission of the information for your reference.

Executive Secretary

To: All CBD National Focal Points