Act now on wetlands for Agenda 2030s

All major global policy agreements conclude: Wetlands are vital ecosystems in the landscape and are indispensable to achieve a sustainable and secure world.

Wetlands and Sustainable Development Yet, 64% of wetlands have been lost since 1900 through Wetlands link and regulate water in our landscapes, from drainage and conversion and much of those that remain are mountains to the sea. They act as water sources, sinks and under growing pressure from economic and infrastructure purifiers. They protect our shores, help make cities and development that has failed to value their role. This makes settlements safe and resilient and help recover after disaster people and nature vulnerable. strikes. They are Earth’s greatest natural carbon stores. They support abundant and unique nature. They are vital to reverse The world needs landscape scale and system approaches that land degradation and desertification. They are centres of take full account of wetlands interactions and the full range of economic growth, and the engines for the local economy. They benefits these provide to society and nature. Such approaches are the sources for plentiful food and fish, clean drinking water are cost-effective, flexible and ‘no regret’ options. and sanitation services.

Global policy commitments on wetlands have been made for a number of interlinked purposes Now global policy frameworks acknowledge this and give all countries the responsibility to mainstream the protection and restoration of wetlands or freshwater systems and their services as a vital strategy for a sustainable and secure world:

Reduce disaster Reduce CO2 risks Sustainable food emmisions production systems

Adaptation to climate Conserve, restore and Achieve sustainable change impacts sustainably use wetlands development

Combat Halt biodiversity desertification Water security and Halt and reverse land loss sanitation degradation It’s time to transform our world...

SDG Goals and targets where wetlands The central role of wetlands to meet this Goal Priorities for Action play a key role

2.4 By 2030, ensure Wetlands combine rice and fish production in Safeguarding and restoring wetland sustainable food Asia. Seasonal wetlands on river floodplains agro-ecosystems is needed to sustain production systems are the lifeblood of smallholder farming and improve food production, and and implement while providing resilience against floods and increase adaptive capacity to climate resilient agricultural drought in much of sub-Saharan Africa. risks. practices that increase Drainage, water diversions and pollution in Effective approaches include: productivity and production, that help wetlands reduces food security of especially • sustain and restore flow maintain ecosystems, that strengthen the rural poor. Increasingly intensified dynamics to Sahelian floodplains capacity for adaptation to climate change, agricultural management has a high water • integrate mangroves into extreme weather, drought, flooding and demand and hence wetlands are targets for aquaculture ponds in South-east other disasters and that progressively conversion and land grabs. Poor wetland and Asia improve land and soil quality. water governance and management facilitate • regulate for responsible soy and over-exploitation. palm oil production that avoids wetland drainage and pollution

6.4 By 2030, Wetlands are the integrating ecosystems in Safeguarding and restoring high substantially increase the landscape that store and regulate water mountain lakes, peatlands and water-use efficiency flows. floodplains, is needed to reduce across all sectors and droughts downstream. ensure sustainable Ensuring supplies of freshwater will require withdrawals and an improvement in the condition and extent To become sustainable, investments in supply of freshwater to address water of key wetlands. WASH services need to use landscape scarcity and substantially reduce the scale assessments and measures number of people suffering from water that will safeguard water sources scarcity. Investments in and avoid compromising ecosystem functioning. 6.5 By 2030, implement integrated wetlands are water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary needed to achieve cooperation as appropriate. the Sustainable 6.6 By 2020, protect and restore water- related ecosystems, including mountains, Development Goals forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers, lakes.

11.5 By 2030, Alone or in combination with traditional Over-reliance on engineered significantly reduce the infrastructure wetlands protect cities and infrastructure solutions to number of deaths and communities against inundation and flooding development means that more the number of people from the sea and rivers, reducing loss of life cost effective, multifunctional affected and and damage to property. Coastal wetlands natural infrastructure solutions are substantially decrease such as mangroves and saltmarshes dissipate overlooked. Incorporation of wetlands the direct economic losses relative to wave power. Floodplains, lakes and peatlands in urban planning, minimising global gross domestic product caused by retain and detain floodwaters, reducing flood encroachment on wetlands and disasters, including water-related peaks reaching urban areas and communities. rehabilitating wetlands in cities and disasters, with a focus on protecting the Wetlands supply freshwater for domestic use, their surrounding landscapes, reduces poor and people in vulnerable situations. irrigation of crops and sources of protein. water risks and safeguards valuable wetland services.

12.2 By 2030, achieve When sustainably managed, wetlands can be Accelerated global action to safeguard the sustainable the engines of local economies. Production and rewet peatlands is urgently management and systems requiring drainage exist all over needed. Peatlands can be cultivated efficient use of natural the world, but the situation is most dramatic on a small scale with crops adapted resources. in South-east Asia where palm oil and pulp to the wet soil conditions – a practice production drives land drainage, leading to known as paludiculture. alarming GHG emissions, floods, fires, poverty and health hazards and biodiversity loss. SDG Goals and targets where wetlands The central role of wetlands to meet this Goal Priorities for Action play a key role

13.1 Strengthen Around 90% of disasters are water-related Safeguarding and restoring resilience and adaptive and the poorest people are disproportionately wetlands like floodplains, mudflats, capacity to climate- vulnerable. Fragmentation and loss of saltmarshes and mangroves and related hazards and wetlands is increasing the severity of adaptive management of deltas, natural disasters in all water-related hazards along river systems, helps to safeguard the prosperity and countries. in deltas and along coasts. Located at the resilience of vulnerable communities. interface of land and water, wetlands are For example: crucial for risk management. Wetlands in good • restored mangrove belts can condition help regulate the water cycle, by protect coasts against high waves reducing peak flood flow, storing excessive and storm surges. precipitation, recharging groundwater • well-functioning floodplains and serving as a buffer against storms and slow the flood pulse and reduce saltwater intrusion. flooding downstream.

14.2 By 2020, Coastal wetland ecosystems like estuaries, Protection, rehabilitation and sustainably manage mangroves, lagoons, seagrasses, coral reefs restoration of coastal wetlands as an and protect marine and and kelp forests serve as nurseries for both integral part of fisheries management, coastal ecosystems to inshore and offshore fisheries and they economic development and flood avoid significant support the rapidly expanding coastal tourism risk management schemes is a adverse impacts, industry. Coastal wetlands are facing dramatic cost-effective and adaptive solution. including by strengthening their development pressures worldwide. Building with Nature (see www. resilience, and take action for their ecoshape.nl) is an effective approach restoration in order to achieve healthy to counteract erosion and increase and productive oceans. resilience along heavily modified coasts.

5.1 By 2020, ensure Since 1900 more than 64% of wetlands have Reversing the trend of wetland the conservation, been lost through drainage and conversion, loss and degradation through restoration and and much of the rest have been degraded. improvement of policies, investments sustainable use of Nature that depends on freshwater is in a and practices is essential to achieve terrestrial and inland major decline. As wetlands are lost, people the Sustainable Development Goals. freshwater ecosystems are deprived of their well-being and chance Priorities for concerted action by and their services, in particular forests, for development. The poor, women and girls governments, industry and civil wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line are the most affected. Desertification is society include: with obligations under international accelerating as natural wetlands diminish and • Safeguarding Arctic wetlands agreements. land subsidence caused by wetland drainage • Protecting and rewetting leads to loss of productive land through peatlands 15.3 By 2030, combat desertification, flooding and saltwater intrusion. • Safeguarding and restoring arid restore degraded land and soil, including and semi-arid wetlands land affected by desertification, drought • Reversing river fragmentation and floods, and strive to achieve a land and restoring floodplains degradation-neutral world. • Safeguarding high mountain wetlands • Ecosystem-based approaches to delta and coastal management Recommended approaches for implementation of the SDGs:

Wetlands are a focus for innovation, needs to be underpinned and supported We therefore recommend to: for example in connection with coastal by technical knowledge, an enabling engineering and flood defence, water policy environment and sufficient 1. Incentivise integrated, inter-sectoral management and management of agri- environmental and social safeguards. approaches to implementing the SDGs ecosystems. We have developed and are across whole landscapes; and witness to many innovations of approach It is vital to bring actors together to and pilot initiatives that demonstrate share knowledge, facilitate dialogue, 2. Recognize and support the role of solutions to achieve sustainable broker solutions, advise governments civil society to help drive synergies development at a small scale. Currently on policy adjustments and enable local in SDG implementation forward by there are some initiatives which attempt community participation. We have found brokering and facilitating integrated to scale up small scale pilots that that institutional, policy and financial approaches. transform whole landscapes. barriers to integrated approaches are very often the main bottleneck to In these examples, joined up action by replicating and scaling up the impact of different sectors is key to realization of these successes. successful outcomes. Local community action and private sector investment

Some innovative approaches that we use to transform the world:

Reverse land degradation, enhance livelihoods and climate adaptation Partners for Resilience (PfR) is working in ten countries to reduce disaster risk. In the last 5 years PfR has strengthened the resilience of millions of vulnerable people to cope with different types of hazards and whose livelihoods are affected by droughts, floods and other hazards which partly result from degraded ecosystems and a changing climate. PfR combines the skills of humanitarian, development and environmental sectors in carrying out vulnerability assessments to disasters and in the formulation of risk reduction strategies, resulting in increased community resilience and bottom-up influence of policies and investments on water- related disasters at different geographic scales. www.partnersforresilience.nl

Helping local women to ‘live with the floods’ in the Mahanadi Delta, India Use innovative financing strategies to leverage Wetland restoration to mitigate climate change long-term investment in areas critical for SDGs Wetlands International and its partners are developing a Strategic Recommended approaches for where the business case is less clear Plan for peatland restoration and sustainable management in Rehabilitation of Sahelian floodplain wetlands is a critical part Mongolia. Mongolia’s peatlands preserve permafrost and other of the solution to desertification of the drylands. For more water reserves in its riverine and highland landscapes which implementation of the SDGs: than a decade, Wetlands International has applied our “Bio- prevents desertification and supports livelihoods and biodiversity rights approach” which provides communities with support for downstream. They are also the most productive pastures and sustainable livelihoods measures in return for their engagement important carbon stores. Their current rapid loss leads to disasters in rehabilitation of the wider landscape. Communities pay for people and their cattle during long periods of droughts. back their loan with interest, and upon successful delivery of Funded by the Asian Development Bank, Wetlands International conservation services, the loans revolve into future rounds of collaborates with the Mongolian government and international lending. Incomes are also raised from increased economic benefits knowledge institutes to implement a rapid assessment study, derived from recovering ecosystems. The Bio-rights approach is a build capacity of key stakeholders at the national and local levels, promising means to catalyse the implementation of several SDGs and identify national priority actions for sustainable peatlands in remote, poverty-stricken regions where populations have a management in Mongolia. This approach can be replicated in high dependency on the natural resources of ecosystems. More other peat-rich countries. More information: www.wetlands.org/ information: www.wetlands.org/publications/biorights-in-theory- publications/briefing-paper-accelerating-action-to-save-peat-for- and-practice less-heat

Enabling communities to safeguard and restore Sahelian wetlands

Local people rely on Mongolia’s peatlands Put in place low-carbon and Use market and investment climate-resilient infrastructure opportunities to catalyse SDG Dutch-based water engineering firms implementation and synergies have joined forces in the pre-competitive Permian Global, an investment firm, is space to invest in developing and sharing working with Wetlands International to knowledge about Building with Nature establish a global portfolio of long-term solutions to vulnerable coasts and deltas. Ecosystem Restoration Projects through We help to identify opportunities, raise which they will protect and rehabilitate resources, develop the enabling policy wetlands (especially targeting peatswamp environment, engage and empower local forests) for their ecosystem, livelihood, communities, coordinate collaboration biodiversity and carbon values, so and communicate the results. More contributing to several of the SDGs. information: www.wetlands.org/casestudy/ Permian will leverage finance through the building-with-nature-indonesia and www. carbon credit markets - verified credits ecoshape.nl generated through emissions reductions will be sold through the voluntary carbon market and emerging compliance markets. www.katinganproject.com Building with Nature solutions to reduce coastal erosion in Java

How Wetlands International helps make this happen

Wetlands International works in collaboration with civil society groups, corporates and governments in all regions of the world, from local communities to global NGOs, companies, research institutions and inter- governmental conventions to safeguard and restore wetlands.

Support us and work with us for nature and people. It’s urgent! Stay in touch Wetlands International Receive our news: www.wetlands.org/sign-up-for-our-newsletter @WetlandsInt

Wetlands International For more information: www.wetlands.org [email protected]

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