R-METT: the management effectiveness tracking tool for Ramsar Sites

This document is a draft manual (v1, October 2021) outlining the methodology for Rapid Village Assessments (RVA) as part of a Darwin Initiative-funded project titled “Community-based integrated catchment management for conserving the Upper Chindwin River”. The manual provides a structured framework to collect field data from priority villages to identify and prioritize wetlands for community management and screen them against Ramsar international importance criteria.

• The Rapid Village Assessment (RVA) methodology employs seven specific tools and steps to gather data: a Contextual Information Cover Sheet, a Village Profile Datasheet, Sketch Mapping and Ground Truthing Transects, the Rapid Assessment of Wetland Ecosystem Services (RAWES), a Wetland Site Threats Assessment, a Rapid Reptile Survey, and a Rapid Bird Survey.
• The project intends to conduct these assessments in 10 villages located near priority wetlands in the Upper Chindwin River area, divided into two clusters: Wetlands 1-6 near and north of Hkamti, and wetlands 7-10 between Hkamti and Maing Naing.
• The assessments are designed to screen wetlands against nine Ramsar criteria to determine if they are 'internationally important'. These criteria include supporting vulnerable or endangered species, maintaining biological diversity of a biogeographic region, and regularly supporting specific thresholds of waterbirds (e.g., 20,000 or more) or 1% of a species population.
• The Rapid Assessment of Wetland Ecosystem Services (RAWES) tool, adapted from the Ramsar Regional Center – East Asia, evaluates three categories of services: provisioning (e.g., fresh water, food, fuel, fibre), regulating (e.g., air quality, flood regulation, water purification), and cultural (e.g., spiritual value, recreation, education).
• The Wetland Site Threats Assessment categorizes potential threats into 12 types, including residential and commercial development, agriculture and aquaculture, energy production and mining, transportation corridors, biological resource use, human intrusions, natural system modifications, invasive species, pollution, geological events, climate change, and cultural/social threats.
• The methodology includes specific biological surveys: a Rapid Reptile Survey focusing on turtle presence and trends through key informant interviews, and a Rapid Bird Survey requiring at least 3 hours of observation to identify species and approximate numbers across various categories such as wildfowl, waders, and raptors.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (n.d.). R-METT: the management effectiveness tracking tool for Ramsar Sites. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/rapid-wetland-assessment-manual-v2-for-comms-rd.pdf

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. R-METT: the management effectiveness tracking tool for Ramsar Sites. n.d. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/rapid-wetland-assessment-manual-v2-for-comms-rd.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=R-METT: the management effectiveness tracking tool for Ramsar Sites |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/rapid-wetland-assessment-manual-v2-for-comms-rd.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitutendrmett, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{R-METT: the management effectiveness tracking tool for Ramsar Sites}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/rapid-wetland-assessment-manual-v2-for-comms-rd.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }