Esteemed Colleagues, I hope that you and your families are doing well in these unprecedented times. These past six months Contracting Parties, our partners and the Secretariat have continued working within challenging circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the fact that the current situation has had an impact on the implementation of the Convention, I would like to thank Contracting Parties and our partners for demonstrating your determined commitment and continuing to take action to conserve and wisely use wetlands. Your continued work on designation and management of Ramsar Sites is an example and testimony of such commitment. The Secretariat has embraced new technologies to continue to work from home and to facilitate the work of Contracting Parties despite the inability of governing and subsidiary bodies of the Convention to meet in person. In this regard, I would like to thank Contracting Parties and especially the Standing Committee and its Working Groups as well as the STRP for finding ways to ensure that the Convention continues its operations. The Secretariat is committed to support your work in every possible way, particularly during these weeks as we prepare for SC59 within the new timeline for COP14 to be held in 2022. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the Secretariat and to the Standing Committee’s regional representatives if you have any questions and need support. This year we mark and celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. It is a key moment to raise the awareness about wetlands’ critical role and the work of the Convention. For this purpose, the Secretariat has designed a year-long communications campaign with the intention for Contracting Parties and partners to spread the message about the value of wetlands and thus easily share content adapted to their national and local audiences. A number of communications assets and resources have been produced and will continue to be produced during 2021. All campaign resources are available on a special 50th Anniversary website. The campaign’s official hashtag #RestoreWetlands has already gained11.08M impressions and we observe that those participating in the campaign are primarily younger, aged 18-34 years old. This special anniversary of the Convention is also particularly important for our work and engagement within environmental global processes, particularly the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework. The Secretariat continues to engage actively in the CBD’s preparatory process for this critical post-2020 roadmap and provides support in building a common narrative for “Building Back Better” with an environmental focus. Below in this newsletter you can read about our engagements and activities to support implementation of the Convention these last 6 months. I look forward to the important work to be conducted at SC59 and further advancing the work of the Convention towards COP14. Martha Rojas Urrego |
