Conservation experts gathered in Amman, Jordan, from 5-7 April 2004, to strengthen knowledge and networks for biodiversity conservation in the West and Central Asia and North Africa (WESCANA) region.

The meeting also signaled the relocation of IUCN-The World Conservation Union’s WESCANA Regional Office from its former headquarters in Gland to Amman, where the Government of Jordan has agreed to provide financial and technical support to the office for five years.
The meeting convened under the theme “People and Nature: Water for Peace and Prosperity” and held a high-level workshop on ways to address the challenges of water scarcity in the region. The workshop looked at whether markets, traditions and religious teachings can come together to conserve water for human well-being and peace, the results of which will feed into the upcoming CSD session that is focusing on water, sanitation and human settlements. Participants also prepared regional input to the 3rd IUCN World Conservation Congress scheduled for Bangkok in November, engaging in debates on: Sustaining Productivity and Diversity of Freshwater Ecosystems; Water for Human Well-being and Peace; Promise of Freshwater Biodiversity Conservation; and the Role of Markets in Biodiversity Conservation of Freshwater Ecosystems. More information is available at: http://www.iucn.org/info_and_news/press/rcfwaterworkshop.pdf