Side event details

Securing critical freshwater ecosystems requires working across spatial and institutional scales. This is especially the case with transboundary river systems such as the Okavango, Cuando and Zambezi River Basins that transverse across several national boundaries. All these river basins constitute large wetland systems including peatlands and floodplains – as life supporting systems- essential for ecological resilience against shocks and threats such as climate variability. In addition, local, national and regional economies and cooperation are sustained by these freshwater systems through ecosystem goods and services. Over the last decade, degradation of these ecosystems through habitat conversion, degradation and unsustainable infrastructure projects has resulted in significant reduction in the extent and distribution thereby affecting their overall integrity and functionality.
The dynamic nature of these transboundary river basins requires a combination of various protection measures such as legal designations, community-based management measures and basin compacts among others. This side event aims to highlight some of the lessons and opportunities in working across through community led protection and initiatives at local level and through transboundary governance entities such as KAZA and OKACOM at transboundary level.
This side event (including partners, WWF Zambia, IUCN and Slovenia) aims to promote local-to-transboundary cooperation in wetland habitats. It further aims to make the case for synergy across the UN Water Convention and the Ramsar Convention and creation of joint bodies of work and collaboration among existing transboundary regional platforms. This reinforces ongoing global discussion on the road to the 2026 Water Conference on the need of conserving and restoring transboundary freshwater ecosystems and reinforcing synergies – as described in COP 15 DR 14 “Enhancing the Convention’s visibility and synergies with multilateral environmental agreements and other international institutions”