Report to SPWG – 1st Draft of 4th Ramsar Strategic Plan
Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar, Iran, 1971)
Standing Committee Working Group on the Strategic Plan
Consultant’s Report to the Meeting of the Strategic Plan Working Group
September 16 – 17, 2014
Ramsar Headquarters, Gland
Submitted by Peter Hislaire, September 2, 2014
Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Ramsar 4th Strategic Plan 3
RATIONALE FOR THE STRATEGIC PLAN 3
MISSION 7
VISION 7
GOAL(S) and structure of the Strategic Plan 7
Possible Outcomes for Strategic Plan 2016 – 2021 8
Ramsar 4th Strategic Plan - Possible Strategies and KRAs 9
Goal 1: Wise Use of Wetlands 10
Goal 2: Valuing wetland benefits and ecosystem services 12
Goal 3: Communicating and advocating for wise use of Wetlands 13
TABLE 1 – Alternative structure 16
Annex 1 - 4TH Strategic Plan preparation process 17
Annex 2 - Review and evaluation of the implementation of the 3rd SP and issues for the future 18
Global overview 19
Regional Overviews 22
Africa 22
Asia 24
Americas (Neotropics & North American regions) 27
Europe 28
Oceania 29
Annex 3 - Feedback from the questionnaires 31
Acknowledgements
The Consultant wishes to thank the Ramsar Secretariat as well as the Strategic Plan Working Group Co-Chairs for their constant support. That said, the shortcomings of the 1st draft of the 4th Ramsar Strategic Plan which is hereby offered are entirely my own.
I look forward to the opportunity to discuss this report, the 1st draft of the Strategic Plan, and ways to improve on the 1st draft with Strategic Plan Working Group members their next meeting September 16 & 17, 2014
Peter Hislaire
Introduction
This note is prepared for the 2nd meeting of the Strategic Plan Working Group (September 16 & 17, 2014) in the context of the process[1] to prepare the 4th Strategic Plan of the Ramsar Convention. The main elements for the new Strategic Plan highlighted for consideration by the Standing Committee in its Decision SC 47-08 included:
· Review and evaluation of the implementation of the 3rd Strategic Plan
· Review of new issues emerging since the current Plan was adopted
· Focus on strategies to improve the visibility and stature of the Convention
· Consideration of how to relate to ongoing Strategic Plans of other Conventions
· Appropriate representation of global, regional and national aspirations
Review of Implementation of 3rd Strategic Plan and of New Issues
The Reviews of 3rd Strategic Plan implementation and of new issues for the 4th Strategic Plan, based on COP 11 National reports, COP 11 Regional Overviews, Reports of the Secretary General, responses to the Questionnaires circulated to Contracting Parties and Administrative Authorities, and conversations of the Consultant with Ramsar Secretariat staff, are presented in Annex 2 - Review and Evaluation of the Implementation of the 3rd Strategic Plan and issues for the future and Annex 3 – Feedback from the questionnaires.
Visibility and Stature of the Convention
Questions concerning strategies to improve the visibility and stature of the Convention, the relation of the Ramsar Convention Strategic Plan to the Strategic plans of other conventions are covered in the Reviews (Annexe 2) and then carried forward into the suggestions outlined for the content of the 4th Strategic Plan.
Appropriate representation of global, regional and national aspirations
The appropriate representation of global, regional and national aspirations has also been considered though not resolved. The current draft assumes that the Strategic Plan would be a document targeted at a global level, including language that accommodates regional and national diversity.
Based on the information summarised in the Annexes, this report presents:
ü A rationale for the 4th Strategic Plan
ü Options for Mission and Vision of the 4th Strategic Plan
ü Options for Goals, Strategies, KRAs and outcomes
Ramsar 4th Strategic Plan
1st draft for discussion by SPWG
RATIONALE FOR THE STRATEGIC PLAN
1. The purpose of the Strategic Plan is to focus the attention and efforts of Contracting Parties, complemented by the Secretariat, by the STRP, by Ramsar International Organisation Partners (IOPs) and other partner organisations and MEAs as well as the private sector in support of the Convention and its objectives.
2. The first SP was prepared in 1997 at the threshold of the new millennium. Following the adoption of the Wetlands and Water Resolution of COP 6 in 1996 which signalled the centrality of wetlands in the looming crisis of freshwater scarcity, the first SP (1997 – 2002) recognised that a key issue for the 21st Century would be water, and that wetlands provide important services such as water supply, water purification, sanitation, flood control, resilience to disasters and food resources to human societies. The recognition of the wider role of wetlands has stimulated a growing interaction between the Ramsar Convention and other policies and programmes, notably in the biodiversity and water sectors and in connection with the provision of essential needs such as climate protection, food security and water security.
3. In the intervening period[2], steady progress has been made in expanding the network of Ramsar sites, in ensuring that wise use principles are understood and applied in the management of Ramsar sites and other wetlands of importance, in developing the capacities of national Administrative Authorities to effectively manage wetlands using wise use principles, in promoting an understanding of wetlands amongst local, national and global development and biodiversity actors that reflects the multiple benefits and ecosystem services of wetlands, and in developing cooperative working relationships between and amongst Contracting Parties, the Secretariat, the STRP, Ramsar International Organisation Partners (IOPs), Ramsar Regional Centres and Regional Networks and other partner organisations and MEAs as well as the private sector.
4. In spite of these and other achievements (see box 1) progress and successes have been limited.
5. At a global level, the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment[3] found that inland and coastal wetland ecosystems were (2005) being lost at a rate faster than that of any other ecosystem and that the trend towards loss of wetlands resources has not been reversed.
6. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment also noted that:
· Wetlands deliver a wide range of ecosystem services that contribute to human well being, such as water supply, water purification, climate regulation, flood regulation, coastal protection, food, fish and useful fibres, recreational opportunities and tourism.
· Wetland ecosystems (including lakes, rivers, marshes aquifers, estuarine and coastal areas down to a depth of 6 metres at low tide) are estimated to cover more than 1,280 million hectares, an area 50% larger than Brazil or 33% larger than the United States.
· In parts of Europe and North America, Australia, New Zealand, more than 50% of specific types of wetlands were destroyed in the twentieth century.
7. The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment also identifies the primary indirect drivers of degradation and loss of inland and coastal wetlands (population growth and increasing economic development) and the primary direct drivers of degradation and loss (infrastructure development, land conversion, water withdrawal, eutrophication and pollution, overharvesting and overexploitation, and the introduction of alien invasive species).
8. A new study[4] that has assessed values of ecosystem services has found that the benefits from tidal marsh / mangroves can be valued as high as US$ 194,000/ha/yr. on account of the storm protection, erosion control and waste treatment value of these systems. The same study indicates that tidal marsh / mangroves declined from 165 million ha to 128 million ha, while freshwater wetlands shrank by nearly two-thirds between 1997 and 2011, from 165 million ha to 60 million ha.
9. The Report “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity for Water and Wetlands”[5] notes that values of inland and coastal ecosystems services are typically higher than for other ecosystems, that the “nexus” between water, food and energy is one of the most fundamental relationships – and increasing challenges – for societies, that wetlands provide natural infrastructure that can help to reach a range of policy objectives, that wetland loss can lead to significant loss of human wellbeing and have negative economic impacts on communities, countries and businesses, and that wetlands and water related ecosystem services need to become an integral part of water management in order to make the transition to a resource efficient, sustainable economy,
10. Ramsar National Reports[6] reflect the concerns of Contracting Parties in stemming and reversing the loss and degradation of wetlands and in establishing effective and efficient management of Ramsar sites and wetlands. These concerns vary from region to region and within regions between countries. These concerns include:
11. The development of wetland policies and plans at a national level and the integration and coordination of wetland policies and plans with other relevant water, biodiversity and development policies and plans.
12. The establishment of platforms to ensure coordination of wetland policy and wetland management practice with activities related to water and biodiversity management on the one hand, and economic development plans and investments on the other.
13. The documentation and appropriate expression of wetland benefits and services. Wetlands deliver a wide range of ecosystem services and benefits and underpin the water cycles that sustain both human well being and economic opportunity. The values of the services and benefits offered by wetlands remain not well understood outside of specialised circles and are therefore not always taken account of in planning of water management and economic and urban development initiatives.
14. The non-recognition of the values of wetlands – for poverty alleviation as well as in the provision of ecosystem services - is seen as a major factor in both their decline and in the low levels of wetland restoration efforts.
15. Ramsar National Reports note the importance of analysing and expressing these wetland benefits and services at river basin / catchment level as a way of taking account of the connection between wetlands and upstream and downstream water dynamics and of integrating infrastructural, economic and cultural considerations in management planning.
16. Ramsar National Reports show partial compliance with the Ramsar provisions concerning site updates, inventories of important wetlands, maintenance of ecological character and reporting under the Montreux Record, management and the preparation of management plans for the wise use of wetlands of international importance, and implementation of the Convention on the ground through the presence of staff on the ground and appropriate infrastructure. The improvement of financial and managerial capacity remains a key challenge for some Contracting Parties.
17. Ramsar National Reports note the continuing and increasing impact of climate change, extractive industries, of urbanisation, of changing land use, and of invasive species on the ecological character of Ramsar sites and wetlands.
18. Ramsar National Reports also note that Contracting Parties view with growing concern the potential risk for Ramsar sites of climate change. The critical importance of wetlands for mitigating the effects of climate change by carbon capture and resilience to effects of climate change is also noted. The impact of climate change induced sea-level rise, changes in hydrology and temperature of water bodies, coral bleaching as a result of climate change will in turn reduce the capacity of wetlands to mitigate the impacts of climate change[7].
19. Contracting Parties recognise the relevance of the Convention, Ramsar sites and wetlands for other processes and particularly those related to the development of Sustainable Development Goals and Targets for the post – 2015 period and those related to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
20. Sustainable Development Goals are currently under discussion. Ramsar Site management, the wise use of wetlands and of wetland resources and ecosystem services, the measuring and management of the functions and values of wetland resources and ecosystem services, will have direct relevance for Sustainable Development Goals related to water quality and supply, food and water security, adaptation to climate change, energy supply, healthy living, biodiversity and sustainable use of ecosystems, sustainable human settlements, poverty eradication, innovation and the development of appropriate infrastructure.
21. The Convention on Biological Diversity’s Strategic Plan for 2011 – 2020 and the Aichi Targets (organised under five strategic goals) are also relevant for Ramsar sites and wetlands. The effective management of the 208, 6million ha. of Ramsar sites[8] and more widely of the world’s wetlands would constitute a major contribution to reducing the direct pressure on biodiversity and promoting sustainable use (CBD Strategic Goal B) and towards improving the status of biodiversity by safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity (CBD Strategic Goal C). Reducing the direct pressures on wetlands and Ramsar sites implies addressing the underlying causes of wetland loss through a mainstreaming of wetland values across government and society, in coherence with Strategic Goal A of the CBD. The way that Strategic Goal E of the CBD Strategic Plan is addressed by CBD Parties and partners will have an influence on how participatory planning, knowledge management and capacity-building can be addressed within the Ramsar Convention.
22. Water, wetlands and wetland services are at the base of the pyramid to produce a decent life for humanity and are the source of sustainable development. Realization of this fact and taking of this into account in planning and decision making will require that wetland resources and wetland ecosystem benefits are measured and valued and understood widely within societies.
Box 1: Key developments of the Convention
Expanding from 300 Wetlands of International Importance and 35 Contracting Parties in 1984 at COP 2 to 2,187 wetlands and 168 Contracting parties in 2014.
Ramsar is the world’s largest network of managed wetlands of international importance, covering 208, 6 million ha.
The expansion of concerns of the Convention has developed from an early waterfowl focus to a broader understanding of wetlands in relation to sustainable development, wise use and the importance of considering ecosystem and water basin aspects. This has been reflected notably through the Convention guidance.
Increasing worldwide recognition of the role of wetlands in sustainable development with a particular emphasis on the role of wetlands in:
· Water security and food security
· Water quality and human health
· Cities and human settlements