15 January 2013: The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention) has reported on the planning workshop for the Wetlands and Urbanisation Project in West Africa, which highlighted several key issues related to the future implementation of the Project.

The workshop, which took place from 16-20 November 2012, in Dakar, Senegal, brought together 25 participants representing UN-Habitat, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, the Ramsar Convention Secretariat, wetlands experts and National Focal Points from the ten countries involved.

Meeting participants saw a series of presentations on wetlands in the urban context, an overview of urban development in Africa, a prospect on wetlands and health links and the presentation of some case studies.

Outcomes of a working session, conducted using presentations and subsequent plenary discussions, were used by the Secretariat to provide a roadmap defining the steps from Project Concept to Project Document. In their recommendations, workshop participants suggested a number of actions, including: that the Ramsar Secretariat facilitate local consultations; establish a follow up matrix during the implementation phase; ensure information flow; enable countries to share documents; examine the involvement of board countries that are not within the process be envisaged; and investigate ways to extend the project to the other countries, including the monitoring and evaluation process.

The workshop was supported financially by IUCN-PACO, the Governments of Switzerland and Senegal, WacoWet and NigerWet. [Ramsar Press Release] [Workshop Report]