Wetlands need "urgent" attention as global plan makes no reference to them

Wetlands International has presented “an urgent case” to establish global wetlands targets in a recent white paper.

The not for profit organisation has set out what it described as “the critical need to restore wetlands with urgency and at scale.” Currently, it said, the protection and restoration of wetlands is not accounted for in global nature and climate agreements, and “the first draft of the post 2020 Global Biodiversity Framework failed to mention wetlands in the text.”

Wetlands International is calling for five global, science-based targets by 2030:

• remaining undrained peatland carbon stores remain intact, and 10m ha of drained peatland are restored;

• a net gain of 20% in global mangrove cover;

• remaining free-flowing rivers and floodplains are preserved and river connectivity is enhanced, restoring floodplain ecosystem functionality and area;

• a net gain of 10% in area of tidal flats; and

• 50% of some 7,000 critically important sites identified along flyways come under favourable management.

Chief of Wetlands International, Jane Madgwick, said: “Wetlands are vital to securing a liveable future for people and nature yet they continue to be undervalued and overlooked. Wetlands are literally going up in smoke and down the drain.

“It is astonishing that we have no global wetlands targets to reverse these negative trends.”

Head of Wetlands International South Asia, Dr Ritesh Kumar, added: “The Convention on Biological Diversity must not lump wetlands in targets for land and sea, rather affirm specific targets on these ecosystems.