Wetlands account for just 3% of the world’s land surface, and are amongst the world’s most economically valuable ecosystems, essential regulators of the global climate, and also help reduce disaster risk, as they mitigate floods and protect coastlines. Apart from this, the wetlands are critical to human and planet life, because, they either directly or indirectly, provide almost all of the world’s freshwater, and more than one billion people depend on wetlands for a living.  They are also among the most biodiverse ecosystems, providing habitat up to 40% of the world’s species to live and breed, store twice as much carbon as forests, playing a pivotal role in delivering global commitments on climate change, sustainable development and biodiversity. Despite their essential role, wetlands remain undervalued by policy and decision-makers in national plans, which necessitated an intergovernmental treaty. The Convention on Wetlands is an intergovernmental treaty that provides the framework for national action and international cooperation for the conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources.

“Wise use of wetlands is the maintenance of their ecological character, achieved through the implementation of ecosystem approaches, within the context of sustainable development.”– Ramsar

It is a global treaty ratified by 170 countries and India became a party to the Convention on 01.02.1982, and the Wetlands Division of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is the nodal point for implementation of the Convention in the Country. The triennial meeting will be held between the Contracting Parties to assess progress in implementing the Convention and wetlands conservation, share knowledge and experiences on technical issues and mitigation plan. The Ministry had also notified Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017 and guidelines for its implementation under the provisions of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 as regulatory framework for conservation and management of wetlands in the Country.

Approximately 35% of the world’s wetlands were lost between 1970-2015 and the loss rate is accelerating annually since 2000. Losses have been driven by megatrends such as climate change, population increase, urbanization, particularly of coastal zones and river deltas, and changing consumption patterns that have all fueled changes to land and water use and to agriculture. Whereas, the world’s remaining wetlands are under threat due to water drainage, pollution, unsustainable use, invasive species, disrupted flows from dams and sediment dumping from deforestation and soil erosion upstream. The convention states that,

“wetlands disappearing three times faster than forests” – UNFCCC

In addition, The IUCN’s Red List Index indicates that,

“the biodiversity crisis is just as alarming with more than 25% of all wetlands plants and animals are at risk of extinction.”

The Global Wetland Outlook is a wake-up call – not only on the steep rate of loss of the world’s wetlands but also on the critical services they provide. Without them, the global agenda on sustainable development will not be achieved, and

“we need urgent collective action to reverse trends on wetland loss and degradation, and secure both the future of wetlands and our own at the same time.”

The Global Wetland Outlook emphasizes the necessity of developing effective wetland management plans and integrating wetlands into the planning and implementation of national plans on sustainable development, climate change and other key global commitments. The report also stresses:

good governance and effective institutions at local, national and global levels as a crucial factor in preventing, ending, and reversing trends in wetland loss and degradation.