Welcome to the United Nations
Introduction
Wetlands are among the most diverse and productive ecosystems. They provide essential services and supply all our fresh water. Wetlands are indispensable for the countless benefits or ecosystem services that they provide humanity, ranging from freshwater supply, food and building materials, and biodiversity, to flood control, groundwater recharge, and climate change mitigation.
All these ecosystem services improve water security, including security from natural hazards and climate change adaptation.
The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands uses a broad definition of wetlands 1. It includes all lakes and rivers, underground aquifers, swamps and marshes, wet grasslands, peatlands, oases, estuaries, deltas and tidal flats, mangroves and other coastal areas, coral reefs, and all human-made sites such as fish ponds, rice paddies, reservoirs and salt pans.
Conserving wetlands is a global challenge and the Convention presently counts over 170 countries as Contracting Parties, which recognize the value of having one international treaty dedicated to a single ecosystem.
The mission of the Ramsar Convention is “Conservation and wise use of all wetlands through local and national actions and international cooperation, as a contribution towards achieving sustainable development throughout the world”.
The wise use of wetlands, defined as “the maintenance of ecological character, achieved through the implementation of ecosystem approaches, within the context of sustainable development”, contributes to poverty eradication, as has been expressed in Resolutions of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention.
In addition to direct water services, wetlands can offer cost effective solutions for other global environmental challenges, such as climate change mitigation through peatlands protection and restoration and climate change adaptation through mangroves, which can help reduce damage from increasingly frequent storms.
Wetlands are essential for sustainable development and human well-being. It underpins the provision of food, fibre and water; it mitigates and provides resilience to climate change; it supports human health, and provides jobs in agriculture, fisheries, forestry and many others sectors.
Without effective measures to conserve wetlands and use its components in a sustainable manner, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will not be achievable.
The multiple benefits and services provided by wetlands are essential in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Ramsar Convention’s fourth Strategic Plan (2016-2024) identifies four overarching goals and 19 specific targets that directly support achievement of both the SDGs as well as the Aichi Targets set up by the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The Ramsar Strategic Plan 2016-2024 contributes to the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 1 (Poverty eradication), Goal 2 (End hunger and promote sustainable agriculture), Goal 6 (Ensure water and sanitation for all), in particular target 6.6.1 , Goal 13 (Combat climate change), Goal 14 (Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources), Goal 15 (Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems) and Goal 17 (Strengthen means of implementation).
