Notification
Diplomatic Note 2019/7: Preparation of National Reports for COP14
Date: 10.10.2019
Please find attached Diplomatic Note 2019/7, which is being sent to Contracting Parties via diplomatic channels. The tutorial with instructions to access the Online Reporting System is also attached.
In preparation for the 14th Meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Ramsar Convention (COP14) to be held in Wuhan, China in 2021, the Secretariat is pleased to communicate the following information to Contracting Parties about the format, preparation and method of submission of a National Report for COP14.
Following instructions from the Standing Committee at its 57th meeting, the Secretariat has prepared the COP14 National Report Form (NRF), which, on the advice of the Standing Committee, is based upon the Fourth Ramsar Strategic Plan 2016-2024, but is similar in design and structure to that provided to Parties for COP13 reporting.
As in recent triennia, the NRF is issued early in the triennium to allow Parties to use it to guide their continuing implementation and prepare for completion of their National Report in a timely manner.
The NRF for COP14 is available in both an online and an offline format.
The NRF is in five sections: 1) Institutional information; 2) General summary of national implementation; 3) Indicator questions on implementation; 4) Optional annex to provide information on the development of national targets for the implementation of the Strategic Plan 2016-2024; and 5) Optional annex to provide additional voluntary information on designated Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites).
In line with Resolution XII.2, which encourages Contracting Parties “to develop and submit to the Secretariat on or before December 2016, and according to their national priorities, capabilities and resources, their own quantifiable and time-bound national and regional targets in line with the targets set in the Strategic Plan”, all Parties are encouraged to consider using the comprehensive national planning tool in Section 4, in order to identify the areas of highest priority for action and the relevant national targets and actions for each target.
For those Contracting Parties that wish to provide information on national targets using the optional Section 4, either in the Online Reporting System or on the offline Microsoft Word form, the deadline is 24 January 2020.
Instructions to access the Online Reporting System are included in the tutorial at https://www.ramsar.org/ors-tutorial. If you have any questions or problems, please contact the Convention Secretariat for advice (nationalreports@ramsar.org). The Online Reporting System will be operational as of 18 October 2019.
The NRF, in each of the three official languages of the Convention (English, French and Spanish), can be downloaded in Microsoft Word format for offline completion, from the Ramsar website at https://www.ramsar.org/nrf-cop14-offline. Any Parties having difficulty in downloading the offline form should contact nationalreports@ramsar.org.
The purpose of this Microsoft Word form is to help Contracting Parties to collect data for the National Report. The data collected through this form can then be transferred to the Online Reporting System for submission. Alternatively, Contracting Parties can send the Microsoft Word form by email to nationalreports@ramsar.org as the official submission of the National Report.
The completed National Report Form must be accompanied by a letter from the Head of Administrative Authority, confirming that this is the Contracting Party´s official submission of its COP14 National Report. The letter can be uploaded to the Online Reporting System or sent by email to nationalreports@ramsar.org.
It is important that the Parties submit their completed National Reports by the anticipated deadline of 21 January 2021 (final dates will be updated once the dates for COP14 are agreed) so that the Secretariat can complete its analyses of responses in time for distribution with the agenda papers in advance of COP14. Regrettably, the Secretariat will be unable to include in those analyses any information from National Reports received after this deadline.
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Secretariat of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands
28 rue Mauverney, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland Tel. +41 22 999 0365; fax +41 22 999 0169 |