A new resource for wetland managers on a subject of growing interest
The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT), Ramsar Secretariat, and Scientific and Technical Review Panel have published a 360-page manual, in English, for preventing diseases in wetlands: the “Ramsar Wetland Disease Manual: Guidelines for Assessment, Monitoring and Management of Animal Disease in Wetlands”.
Intended especially for wetlands managers and wetland area decision makers, this manual recognises the vital role played by wetland managers in the prevention of problems linked to diseases, and highlights the importance of integrating disease management in wetland management plans.
This is a very complete manual, which proposes several disease management principles, as well as specific and general practices for preventing and fighting diseases in wetlands on the basis of technical sheets and cases studies.
Many scientists made written contributions to this study, and the Tour du Valat participated in particular in the “Scientific and Technical Review Panel” meeting from Ramsar to Gland, Switzerland in February 2011, and, more specifically, it drafted the resolution “Wetlands and Health: an ecosystem approach”.