Summary

All Ramsar Convention Contracting Parties are required to complete a National Report. The National Reports are for the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties of the Convention (Bucharest, Romania, June 2012).

There are six main purposes for the Convention’s National Reports. These are to:

1. Provide data and information on how the Convention is being implemented;
2. Capture lessons and experience to help Parties develop future action;
3. Identify emerging issues and implementation challenges faced by Parties that may
   require further attention from the Conference of the Parties;
4. Provide a means for Parties to be accountable for their commitments under the
   Convention;
5. Provide each Party with a tool to help it assess and monitor its progress in
   implementation, and to plan its future priorities; and
6. Provide an opportunity for Parties to draw attention to their achievements during the
   triennium.

There are four sections in the Convention’s National Reports. These are:

• Section 1
  Provides the Institutional Information about the Administrative Authority and National Focal Points for the national implementation of the Convention.
• Section 2
  Provides a summary of various aspects of national implementation progress and recommendations for the future.
• Section 3
  Provides the 82 implementation indicator questions, grouped under each
  Convention implementation strategy in the Strategic Plan 2009-2015.
• Section 4
  Is an optional Annex that allows contracting parties to provide additional information separately for any or all of its Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Sites).

DOC Ramsar National Coordinating Committee: ramsar@doc.govt.nz