The recent meeting of the management body of the Ramsar regional initiative for Coastal Wetlands of the Black and Azov Seas (BlackSeaWet) resulted in, inter alia, Turkey's agreeing to draft a project proposal for the assessment of climate change impacts on coastal wetland ecosystems along the Black and Azov Seas, and proposing to host an expert conference on sustainable waterbird hunting in late 2013.
13 December 2012: The Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance especially as Waterfowl Habitat (Ramsar Convention) has reported on the meeting of the management body of the Ramsar regional initiative for Coastal Wetlands of the Black and Azov Seas (BlackSeaWet). The meeting focused on a limited number of priority problems of wetland conservation, management and restoration to be addressed in 2013.
The meeting, held from 6-8 November 2012, in Istanbul, Turkey, and hosted by the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks in the guesthouse of the Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs, brought together over 20 experts representing Bulgaria, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Wetlands International, the MedWet Initiative and the Ramsar Secretariat.
Following country presentations, participants split into working groups to discuss priority challenges. As a result of these discussions: Turkey agreed to draft a project proposal for the assessment of climate change impacts on coastal wetland ecosystems along the Black and Azov Seas; Wetlands International proposed to develop a regional waterbird population monitoring scheme; Turkey proposed to host an expert conference on sustainable waterbird hunting in late 2013; Bulgaria volunteered to prepare public awareness materials for the initiative; and the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority committed to update the BlackSeaWet website on a regular basis. [Ramsar Press Release] [BlackSeaWet Website]