Background notes concerning limitations of the Resource

Initially, we sought only to include the First national communications of Annex I Parties. However, since they were published some time ago, around 1993, in several cases the files were not available electronically, or only in part. As a result we decided to include the Second national communications wherever possible, that is if they had been submitted to the Secretariat and were available electronically. For those countries whose communications were not available electronically, and with few complicated graphics, we were able to scan the document and convert it to electronic form using optical character recognition software. With more complicated formats, this was not possible due to the number of errors introduced. For the reasons above, for some Parties the first national communication is available, for others the second national communication, and for a few Parties both communications are available on the Web. However, these pages have been structured so that the framework is present and communications will be added to the site at a later date.

In addition, for the above reasons, certain figures, graphics or tables may not be available. This has been indicated by the message " Fig * is not available electronically". In that case, readers should refer to original printed document for the figure or table. We have tried to ensure that this occurs infrequently.

In the case of the First National Communications, some Parties were unable to locate the original electronic files of the document as published at the time. In that situation, the document published on the web may include some errors, and readers should refer to the version printed bi its respective Party. However, the second communications should reflect the printed version exactly, although this is not guaranteed. The secretariat shall not be held responsible for conflicts or omissions from the printed versions of the National Communications, although we have tried to ensure that they do not arise.

We have maintained the original layout of the National Communications by publishing them in Acrobat pdf format. Therefore the versions published here appear as on the diskettes provided to us by Parties. In several cases additional formatting and graphics may have been introduced to the printed version by printing companies which cannot be reproduced here. Users should not assume that the layout of the Web version is identical to the printed version. The secretariat shall not be held responsible for any discrepancies.

Users should also note that the Inventory data here is that as published in the printed document. Inventory data becomes obsolete very rapidly, and that printed here was valid only at the date of issue of the national communication. The data is recalculated in the light of new scientific techniques, agreed guidelines and error estimates. For example, data in a First National Communication for 1990 is unlikely to be the same as data for 1990 in a Second NC. If readers wish to use up-to-date inventory data for calculations, they are advised to use that contained in the most recent communication, or contact the relevant Party.