The Scientific and Technical Review Panel (STRP) of the Ramsar Convention* was established by Resolution 5.5 (Kushiro, 1993) as a subsidiary body of the Convention to provide scientific and technical guidance to the Conference of the Parties, the Standing Committee, and the Ramsar secretariat. Its individual members are elected by the Standing Committee, based upon nominations from the Parties, on the same regionally proportionate basis that is used for electing the Standing Committee itself, but they serve in their own capacities as experts in the scientific areas required by the STRP’s Work Plan and not as representatives of their countries. Resolution VII.2 (San José, 1999) modified the composition of the STRP, and Resolution X.9 (Changwon, 2008) established the present modus operandi and terms of reference of the STRP.

In addition to the 12 individual STRP members, delegates from the five International Organization Partners — BirdLife International, International Water Management Institute (IWMI), IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Wetlands International, and the World Wide Fund for Nature International — represent their organizations as full members of the Panel. In addition, representatives of the 18 subsidiary bodies of other Multilateral Environment Agreements and non-governmental organizations and associations specified in Resolution IX.11 are also invited to participate as permanent observers during each triennium, and representatives of other organizations are invited to participate in the work of the STRP as required by the nature of the tasks under study.

The STRP’s Work Plan for each triennium is built around the priority tasks determined by the Standing Committee, which are based upon requests from the Conference of the Parties by means of its Strategic Plan and COP Resolutions and Recommendations. The STRP members and observers are assisted in their work by a network of STRP National Focal Points who advise them directly on STRP matters and provide a liaison between the STRP and the networks of other relevant experts within each of their countries. The STRP’s Expert Working Groups and the National Focal Points communicate by means of electronic mail and Internet discussion groups.

The work of the STRP is further assisted by the STRP Support Service, which is operated by Wetlands International under contract with the Convention. The purpose of the Support Service is to provide the STRP Expert Working Groups and National Focal Points with additional contacts among the expert networks of the International Organization Partners and other groups, identify gaps in needed expertise and endeavor to fill them, assemble a clearinghouse of additional information resources for the tasks of the Work Plan, and facilitate communication amongst the Working Groups, the Focal Points, and other sources of expertise.

*The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty adopted on 2 February 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar, on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. Thus, though nowadays the name of the Convention is usually written “Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971)”, it has come to be known popularly as the “Ramsar Convention”. Ramsar is the first of the modern global intergovernmental treaties on the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, but, compared with more recent ones, its provisions are relatively straightforward and general. Over the years, the Conference of the Contracting Parties has further developed and interpreted the basic tenets of the treaty text and succeeded in keeping the work of the Convention abreast of changing world perceptions, priorities, and trends in environmental thinking.

Ramsar Information Links:

Administrative Authorities Responsible for Implementing the Convention

National Focal Points for Communication, Education and Public Awareness

National Focal Points for Scientific and Technical Review Panel

Scientific and Technical Review Panel Contacts

Scientific and Technical Review Panel Support Services

Ramsar Sites Information Services

Ramsar International Organization Partners (IOP)

Bird Life International

IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature)

IWMI (International Water Management Institute)

Wetlands International

WWF