Side event details

The Indo-Burma Ramsar Regional Initiative (IBRRI) was developed by the Ramsar Contracting Parties of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam, with the support of IUCN. The initiative was endorsed by the Ramsar Convention in 2016, and aims to serve as a transboundary facilitation platform for the regional implementation of the Ramsar Convention.

IBRRI is guided by a six-year Strategic Plan, that is developed by the Contracting Parties and regional and national partners working on wetlands. The structure of the IBRRI Strategic Plan 2025-2030 has been revised from the 2019-2024 Strategic Plan to address identified gaps and reflect future programmes and priorities of IBRRI CPs. Most notably, it centres the role of wetlands for climate change adaptation, in a region that is increasingly impacted by flood and drought events, and where communities are highly dependent on wetlands and their associated services. The Indo-Burma Wetland Outlook 2022, published by IBRRI, highlighted that “Wetlands and their dependent species are experiencing present and increasing threats resulting in progressive deterioration and loss”, “Climate change is currently impacting wetlands, their biodiversity and human wellbeing across the region. These impacts are predicted to increase over time,” and “Without urgent and coordinated responses across the region, the fate of wetlands, their dependent species, and the overall well-being of almost 250 million people will be further compromised.”

The Strategic Plan is therefore structured around five Operational Objectives including:
Operational Objective 1: Wetlands ecosystem services and biodiversity are enhanced through the management, restoration and conservation of priority wetlands and their connectivity.
Operational Objective 2: Support mainstreaming of wetlands-based adaptation into regional and national policies and sectoral planning.
Operational Objective 3: Support wetlands communication, capacity building, education, participation and awareness (CEPA).
Operational Objective 4: Align and leverage sustainable financing to support wetlands as NbS.
Operational Objective 5: Ensure sound and sustainable governance and management of IBRRI and its contribution to the implementation of the Ramsar Convention.

The side event aims to highlight IBRRI’s key accomplishments under the previous Strategic Plan and share lessons on how the outcomes of the past Strategic Plan influenced the development of the new Plan. The discussion aims to inspire other RRIs to design practical and implementable Strategic Plans to guide their regional work, in line with the priorities of the Contracting Parties and the Convention.

The panel discussion will spotlight how the IBRRI platform has strengthened regional knowledge sharing and cooperation, building on IBRRI accomplishments to develop new regional programme proposals that will unlock funding to support the wise use of wetlands. Pipeline programmes, funded by the GEF and GCF, and developed with regional and global partners, aim to support the implementation of the Strategic Plan at scale, a template that can be replicated by other RRIs.

The side event will highlight perspectives from the five IBRRI Contracting Parties of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam, as well as IBRRI partners including the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity and Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. IUCN, which acts as the IBRRI Secretariat will facilitate the discussion.