11 October 2011: The Secretariat of the League of Arab States organized the meeting of the “Arab Working Group on the implementation of biodiversity and desertification related Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs),” at which representatives of Arab countries heard reports from the various MEAs on their work over the past year relevant to the Arab region.

The meeting took place in Cairo, Egypt, from 25–27 September 2011. The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) reported that participants heard presentations from: the Ramsar Secretariat on the work of the Convention; from the Fujairah Emirates, United Arab Emirates (UAE), about the outcomes of the Workshop on Wetlands and the Ramsar Convention in West Asia, which took place in the Emirate of Fujairah, UAE, in May 2011; from Wetlands International on wetland conservation issues in the Mediterranean; and from the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, Jordan, on the role of NGOs in wetland conservation in the region. They also heard a presentation on a proposal to conduct an economic valuation of the wetlands in the Arab region.

In addition, Arab countries heard proposals from the MEAs about plans for their future activities relevant to the Arab region. The Ramsar Secretariat indicated that it was planning the development of a regional wetland training programme and a methodology for conducting wetland inventories. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) presented its recently completed assessment of freshwater habitats in Africa, and political support was gained for this project to be extended to West Asia, according to Ramsar.

The outcomes from the meeting will be passed on to the Joint Committee on Environment and Development in the Arab Region, before being forwarded to the meeting of the Council of Arab Ministers Responsible for the Environment (CAMRE) before the end of the year. [Ramsar Press Release]