Bonn declaration: 4th Meeting of the parties to the convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes

The 4th Meeting of the parties to the convention on the protection and use of transboundary watercourses and international lakes held in Bonn (Germany) last 20-22 November 2006, launched a declaration, they called "Bonn Declaration". The meeting marked a milestone in the history of the Water Convention: the tenth anniversary of its entry into force. At the meeting, Parties adopted new policy tools to support transboundary water management, such as the Model provisions on transboundary flood management, the Rules on the payments for ecosystem services in integrated water resources management, the Safety guidelines and good practices for pipelines and the Strategies for monitoring and assessment of transboundary rivers, lakes and groundwaters. Parties also considered a preliminary assessment on the status of transboundary waters in the UNECE region which is under preparation for the sixth Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” (Belgrade, 10-12 October 2007). In addition, Parties agreed on the workplan for 2007-2009, which will include implementation projects to support transboundary water management in the region, development of new guidelines or other kind of soft-law instruments, capacity building activities, the establishment of a well designed information system under the Convention and the transfer of the Convention’s experience to other regions of the world. Activities will focus on aspects of crucial importance for transboundary water cooperation, such as IWRM in a transboundary context, flood management, joint monitoring and assessment, payments for ecosystem services, transboundary groundwaters management, water and industrial accidents, etc. In light of the entry into force of the Protocol on Water and Health in August 2005, Parties to the Convention made also arrangements for cooperation with the Parties to the Protocol on joint activities.