A delegation from Global Nature Fund (GNF), an international foundation for nature and environment and representatives from UNEP/CMS held a successful meeting on 19 May 2006 at the UNEP/CMS Secretariat in Bonn. After a joint Memorandum of Collaboration was signed at the COP in Nairobi last year participants now discussed and agreed on a joint work plan between UNEP/CMS and GNF. Mr. Udo Gattenloehner, the Executive Director of GNF, gave a brief introduction on the international Living Lakes network, an international partnership launched by GNF, which aims to promote sustainable development and the conservation of the world's lakes. Ms. Meiying Liu, Secretary General of the Chinese Living Lakes partner organization, Promotion Association for Mountain-River-Lake Sustainable Development of Jiangxi (MRLSD), also provided a presentation on lake Poyang, China’s largest freshwater lake, and on the structure and field or work.

GNF and UNEP/CMS agreed to organise a capacity building seminar on Avian influenza at the forthcoming 11th international Living Lakes Conference. The conference with a focus on balancing agriculture and lake protection will take place from 26 October to 3 November 2006 at Lake Poyang in China. Robert Hepworth, Executive Secretary of UNEP/CMS and members of the Scientific Task Force on Avian Influenza will be among the speakers at this event. Around 200 lake and wetland experts from 50 countries are expected at the conference.

Global Nature Fund (GNF) is a non-profit, charitable NGO based in Germany. The Living Lakes network was launched by GNF in 1998. Currently there are 42 member lakes and wetlands spread across five continents. More than 50 partner organizations - NGOs and public institutions - provide considerable experience and expertise in sustainable lake basin management and nature conservation. The partnership comprises lakes and wetlands such as Lake Chapala, Mexico’s largest lake; Lake Constance, bordering Germany, Switzerland and Austria; Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake; the Greater St Lucia Wetland Park, South Africa’s oldest nature reserve; Lake Baikal, the deepest lake of the world, and Lake Poyang.

The basic idea of the international Living Lakes network is to prepare the ground for an on-going international dialogue between private and public stakeholders involved in water issues as they pertain to the management of the world's freshwater reserves. Agenda 21 targets should be moved from paper to practice. This includes optimizing water management of lakes basins and promoting the exchange of know-how and technologies (e.g. solar) and experiences between environmental NGOs and other stakeholders of lake regions.

Lake Poyang
The Poyang Lake, located in China’s Jianxi Province in Southeast of China, is the largest freshwater lake and the largest natural resource in China. The area of the lake is subject to dramatic changes in water levels, shrinking to a tenth of this size in winter, when a complex of shallow lakes, mudflats and wet grasslands form around the periphery, which also make Lake Poyang one of the most biodiversity-rich areas in China. It is one of the 10 ecological conservation areas in China, it is in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance, and is also one of the global important ecological areas regulated by GEF.

Lake Poyang accommodates 332 kinds of birds, subordinate to 17 orders, 55 families. There are 124 species of waterfowls: 32 species of ducks (Anatidae) and 25 species of snipes (Scolopacidae). 10 of them are first class species on China’s list of protected species (“Red List”), amongst them the famous Siberian Crane (Grus leucogeranus) that is the symbol of Poyang Lake. Almost 95% of Siberian Cranes in the world spend their winter in Lake Poyang wetlands. Other rare and endangered species such as the Oriental White Stork (Ciconia boyciana), the Black Stork (Ciconia nigra), Swan Goose (Anser cygnoides), White-naped Crane (Grus vipio), Hooded Crane (Grus monacha) and the Great Bustard (Otis tarda). 44 species are on the second national list of protected birds like the Sacred Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopica) the Spoonbill (Platalea leucorodia) and the White fronted goose (Anser albifrons). It is due to this huge variety that Lake Poyang is known as “the world of white cranes” and “the kingdom of rare birds”.

MRLSD
The Promotion Association for Mountain-River-Lake Sustainable Development of Jiangxi Province (MRLSD) is a non-profit and non-governmental organization founded in 1999. Its purpose is to promote the sustainable development of China’s largest fresh water lake, Poyang Lake, and its watershed (short MRL region) through mobilizing the participation of local communities and the establishment of partnerships among different stakeholders: Farmers, local communities, government agencies, and enterprises should contribute to solving the issues of ecological degradation and poverty. Since 2002, MRLSD is also the Living Lakes partner in China to promote comprehensive collaboration worldwide in order to enhance the protection, restoration and rehabilitation of Lake Poyang in China as well as lakes, wetlands, other freshwater bodies of the world and their catchment areas.

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