Side event details

Firstly, the World Wetland Network (WWN) will present the findings of a recent survey of our civil society members showing how the aims of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands are being delivered in their home countries, how NGOs and CSOs interact with the Ramsar Convention, what are the gaps in the system and what can be done to improve it.

Secondly, we will present the findings of the 2020 Global Wetland Watch (GWW) citizen science survey, discuss plans for developing the GWW and invite participants to discuss the next steps for this exciting approach at assessing the state of the world’s wetlands. The first two rounds of this survey in 2017 and 2020 each had responses from around 500 local groups across the world. It revealed that although more wetlands were described as being in a good state rather than poor, almost twice as many wetland are deteriorating as opposed to improving, and a third of wetlands have decreased in area since the last Ramsar COP. Most alarmingly, Ramsar designated wetlands appeared to be in no better state than non-Ramsar sites. Further details will be presented at this event.

Join us to find out how you can take part in the future of this survey with experts from across the wetland conservation field. Help answer questions such as: should we broaden the accessibility by using wider social media?; how can we reach active local experts as well as the general public?; and what format should the survey take? We need your input to create a global tool that will provide a reliable picture of how wetlands are doing.

Relevance to the COP: CEPA and engaging local communities; Informs the State of the Worlds Wetlands; supports the work of the STRP.

Speakers: Jacky Judas (chair of WWN); Rob McInnes /Matt Simpson/Nick Davidson/Max Finlayson (Society of Wetland Scientists); Moderator: Chris Rostron (WWT)