Within the framework of the activities of the Ramsar Regional Initiative of Central Asia (RRI-CA), the first working meeting for the RRI-CA Coordination Committee took place at the office of the Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC) on May 11, 2017 in Almaty (Kazakhstan).
Experts in the field of wetland conservation from the three countries - members of the Initiative (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan) met to discuss joint actions for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands in Central Asia.
Mr. Lew Young, the representative of the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, shared information about upcoming events and expressed expectations of the Secretariat regarding the further RRI-CA development.
Participants of the meeting presented an overview of the relevant activities in the area, discussed the results of RRI-CA work activities and approved the workplan until the end of 2017.
One of the main objectives of the meeting was discussion of the new project funded by the Government of Japan on the update of information on wetlands in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan and development of the guidelines on good practices for the conservation and sustainable use of wetlands by local communities.
The members of the RRI-CA Coordination Committee underlined the importance of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan and extended their warm invitation to both countries to join the RRI-CA, and expressed their gratitude to CAREC for supporting this initiative within the framework of the internal agreement between CAREC and RRI-CA.
