Ramsar Convention on Wetlands' Secretariat: written contribution

The critical role that wetlands play in the water cycle, as well as their role as nature-based solutions should be highlighted in the assessment.  Despite their importance for nature and people, wetlands continue to be degraded and lost. More information about the importance of this ecosystem (and its linkages to water, as well as to biodiversity, climate change, food and health) is needed to enable informed decision-making.

Wetlands are amongst the most biodiverse ecosystems on earth, ranging from streams, rivers, mangroves, peatlands, marshes and coral reefs to rice paddies. They play critical ecological functions in nature, such as regulating the water and climate cycles. They are important for soil formation, nutrient cycling and harbouring biodiversity. They also provide a myriad of ecosystem benefits/services, which are critical to humans, including food and water provision, water purification, recreation and tourism. Wetlands can be natural based solutions helping reduce the impacts of natural disasters, through shore stabilisation, flood control and storm surge protection, and providing mitigation and adaptation to the impacts of climate change.

The wise use and conservation of wetlands can help attain global policy goals and commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Land Degradation Neutrality under the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and the Aichi Targets under the Convention on Biodiversity. The role of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, as a framework for the wise use and Conservation of wetlands, and as co-custodian of SDG 6.6.1 should also be highlighted in the assessment.

Finally, the assessment should ensure alignment with the data of IPBES thematic assessments and assessments carried by Multilateral Environmental Agreements, such as the Ramsar Convention’s Global Wetland Outlook.