By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
How are Asian countries faring at the Ramsar Convention?
A report on the 30 member states and 14 non-member states of the convention was released Tuesday to show how Asian countries are doing in terms of wetland preservation and its wise use between 2003 and 2008.
There are 215 wetlands listed in the Convention for preservation in the region. Among them, 17 were registered over the last two years.
However, the policies of those countries are getting less friendly. In 2008, only 54 percent of the member states formed wetland committees, which represents a sharp fall from 73 percent in 2005 and 67 percent in 2002. Especially, Korea and Lebanon reported that the listing is difficult because local residents would oppose in addition to the lack of cooperation or financial hindrance in buying real estate.
Also, international cooperation for wetland conservation still lagged behind. Only Japan and Korea managed to finance the preservation of other countries while China, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Nepal, Tadzhikistan, Vietnam received small amounts of aid from the Convention.
International cooperation became a main strength of Ramsar Convention as partnership between East Asia and Australia on migratory water birds surfaced. Korea as well as the Philippines, Myanmar, Japan, Indonesia, China, Cambodia, Australia, Russia and the United States participated in the project. The Korean government proposed establishing a regional Ramsar research institute in South Gyeongsang Province to seek international cooperation. The center will be the second of its kind in Asia after Iran.
The Asian member states at the Convention include Republic of Azernaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tadzhikistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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