ANNALES 11/'97
DELO NAŠIH ZAVODOV IN D RU ŠTEV/ACTIVITIES BY OUR INSTITUTIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS, 279-284
DELO NAŠIH ZAVODOV IN DRUŠTEV
ATTIVITÀ DEI NOSTRI ISTITUTI E DELLE 
NOSTRE SOCIETÀ
ACTIVITIES BY OUR INSTITUTIONS AND 
ASSOCIATIONS
Andrej Sovinc
Towards a Pan-European Wetland Inventory' - report 
from the IUCN "Parks for Life"/RAMSAR Bureau 
workshop
Within the framework of the "Parks for Life: Action  
for Protected Areas in Europe", a workshop 'Towards a 
Pan-European Wetland Inventory' has been organized 
jointly by the IUCN "Parks for Life", Ramsar Bureau and 
Italian hosts (Centro Documentazione Internationale 
Parchi-CEDIP and the Pistoia authorities). The workshop 
took place in the Montecatini Terme in Italy between 
22-23 January 1997. Experts from most important inter­
national wetland conservation and information man­
agement organisations and other institutions discussed 
the needs and opportunities to prepare the Pan-Euro- 
pean Wetland Inventory.
Participants of the workshop agreed that there was 
an urgent need to bring together the currently diverse 
and dispersed data on European wetlands for the follow­
ing reasons:
- to monitor the status and value of wetlands as a basis 
for promoting better protection;
- to assess the impact of proposed development pro­
jects;
- to provide information for effective implementation 
of global and regional Conventions, Directives, 
Strategies and other international initiatives;
- to promote public awareness of the values and im­
portance of wetlands;
- to provide the basis for a coordinated approach to 
wetland conservation at the pan-European level.
The following objectives of the Pan-European Inven­
tory have been agreed:
® Provision of information
(a) to provide information on wetlands relevant to 
the implementation of international legal instruments 
(e.g. Ramsar and other Conventions, EU Directives) and 
other initiatives (e.g. Pan-European Biological and Land­
scape Diversity Strategy);
(b) to provide information on wetlands relevant to 
the implementation of national policies, action plans 
and other initiatives;
(c) to provide information on wetlands relevant to 
planning and development processes.
• Promotion of information management
(a) to promote the adoption of common standards in 
order to integrate and exchange information with re­
spect to national agencies, international legal instru­
ments and Pan-European initiatives;
(b) to promote and strengthen capacities in informa­
tion management.
Action strategy for the future is based on the follow­
ing:
• Pan-European Inventory of Wetlands
Database management system by linking relevant 
existing databases
Spatial coverage of wetlands
It should be noted that this project could be under­
taken under the auspices of BCIS (Biodiversity Conser­
vation Information System), since most of the relevant 
agencies are members of this consortium.
• Meta-Database Framework
Design the structure of a wetlands meta-database 
and make it available on the Internet for agencies, insti­
tutions and other organisations to provide details of their 
data holdings
• Wetlands Information Network (WIN)
Establish a Wetlands Information Network on the 
Internet, modelled on the World Heritage Information 
Network (WHIN)
• Guidelines on Best Practice in Managing Wetlands 
Information
The Ramsar Bureau w ill, in cooperation with other 
international organisations, take the leading role in the 
preparation of the Pan-European Wetland Inventory.
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