Notification
Message from the Secretary General
Date: 19.12.2025
Dear Contracting Parties,
I hope that this end of year note finds you all well and in good health.
What a year 2025 has been. For me it was a steep learning curve with many interesting and unexpected moments—which is, after all, what life truly is.
We started the year with the 63rd meeting of the Standing Committee here in Gland just before the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Contracting Parties (COP15) in July in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. After this meeting it was a deep dive into the preparations for COP15.
By the time July came, we had launched the 3rd edition of the Global Wetland Outlook (GWO) on the margins of African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) to great success. Since the launch, we have already seen the GWO inform regional dialogues and spark conversations on how countries can strengthen their national responses. It has been encouraging to see its data and stories being picked up so quickly.
I was equally pleased to see wetlands featured so prominently at AMCEN itself, thanks to the leadership of the incoming COP15 President and the engagement of other Contracting Parties. Throughout these discussions, it was clear that wetlands are returning to the centre of global environmental conversations. Across regions, countries shared new commitments, new designations and community-led stories that demonstrate how momentum for wetlands continues to grow.
When the team and I arrived in Vic Falls a few days ahead of the COP, we were greeted with such enthusiasm from the Zimbabwe team. What happened in the following weeks unfolded with real engagement.
The excitement in the air was palpable from the moment HE President Mnangagwa arrived in the company of the Prime Minister of Eswatini Russel Dlamini and the Vice President of Malawi Michael Usi. Heads of MEAs and international organisations came in full force—including the participation of the DG of UNESCO, the first time the head of our repository has participated in a COP. It was especially poignant because Victoria Falls is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I remain grateful to the leadership of Zimbabwe and to the remarkable engagement of Contracting Parties. During those days in Victoria Falls, I saw multilateralism come alive in a very real way. Your confidence in me and in the Secretariat team meant a great deal. With the adoption of the Fifth Strategic Plan, we now carry forward a renewed sense of purpose for the future of wetlands.
This year we also prepared a comprehensive timeline of our meetings of the Conference of the Contracting Parties, capturing the evolution of the Convention. The timeline reflects more than five decades of collaboration, learning and shared ambition, and I am pleased to share it with you as a reminder of how far we have come—and how much more we can achieve together.
In the months that followed, thanks to your guidance, we forged ahead and engaged in various meetings, discussions and activities both at Headquarters and beyond. The team and I briefed the Geneva diplomatic community together with the Zimbabwean Ambassador to the UNOG on the outcomes of the COP15 on 17 November. This was warmly welcomed by all the Contracting Parties present and other international organisations. The team has been busy and we have been engaged in many meetings and processes including supporting the COP Presidency on many occasions.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Excellencies—as we end 2025 I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank you for all the support that you have accorded me and the team at the Secretariat here in Gland. It has been a year of great learning accompanied by real growth.
I also would like to extend my profound gratitude to Deputy Secretary General Jay Aldous, who is leaving at the end of 2025 having spent more than eight years at the Secretariat. He has been an incredible source of support and guidance. I am so grateful for his kindness, diligence and honesty.
I thank you, Contracting Parties, for your confidence in me through the extension of my term for another three years. As we approach 2026 and our annual celebration of World Wetlands Day on 2 February, I look forward to reading your stories and watching the inspiring videos shared from across the world. We have much in store for you as well.
As the Secretariat enters the new triennium, we do so with a renewed mandate and a clear direction of travel. The implementation of the Fifth Strategic Plan will guide us, but so will your ideas, your innovations and your national priorities. I am encouraged by the growing global momentum for wetlands and look forward to working together to elevate wetlands across climate, biodiversity and sustainable development discussions in the year ahead.
May the holidays be healing, rejuvenating and affirming.
Thank you.
Dr Musonda Mumba
Secretary General
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Secretariat of the Convention on Wetlands
28 rue Mauverney, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland Tel: +41 22 999 0170 |