22 July 2011: The Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Secretariat) has reported on the launch of the Management Committee for the Anzali Wetland in Iran.

The Anzali Wetland, located on the southern coast of the Caspian Sea, was listed on the Montreux Record in 1993 as it showed signs of degradation. Since then, technical cooperation between the Governments of Iran and Japan established a conservation plan for Anzali Wetland, with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as the implementing body. In 2007, following a request from the Government of Iran, Japan initiated the “Anzali Wetland Ecological Management Project,” and in July 2011, the first Anzali Wetland Management Committee meeting was held.

The Anzali Wetland Management Committee, which is chaired by the Governor of the Guilan Province with the participation of the Ambassador of Japan, aims to facilitate the improvement of planning, coordination, conservation and management within the Anzali Wetland. The main objective is to achieve sustainable wise use of the wetland.

Representatives from the Department of the Environment in Iran and JICA intend to present the Anzali Declaration and progress on the project activities at the 11th meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention, to be held in Romania in June 2012. [Ramsar Press Release]